Ridgewood High School New Players Jazz Things Up with "Chicago", Playing July 25–28

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — The Ridgewood High School New Players are mere days away from staging their last show of the 2023-24 season, and they are determined to go out with a bang. They will adapt Chicago , the legendary 1975 musical that has won a Tony Award and Laurence Olivier Award, staging performances from July 25 - 28 at Ridgewood High School.

It is an ambitious choice — as far as musicals go, Chicago casts a large shadow. It is one of the most seminal musicals of all time, with multiple successful Broadway runs and a feature film adaptation that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The New Players production will be appropriately large in scale, boasting a cast and crew of over 100 RHS students. Undaunted, Director Morgan Knight is determined to tackle the iconic source material head-on. “I choose to think about it like this: Chicago is famous for a reason,” Knight said. “Simply put, it's an excellent musical. In a way, that makes my job easier. I am not bogged down by a clunky script or boring music. When students are given iconic material, it offers them the opportunity to set their bar very high. There is some pressure to give the audiences what they expect to see. Since so many of them will have seen the Broadway revival and the excellent movie. But that just offers me a goal for which to strive. It motivates me.”

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Watching the cast rehearse, it is clear what Knight means — the show matches what one would expect from a professional rendition of Chicago . Much like the current Broadway revival, the show uses minimalist sets and burlesque-style costumes that blend 1920s fashion with a 1990s flare. Concurrently, Knight is determined to make the production his own.

“[We have the same] black costumes, sleek silhouettes, simple staging, straightforward scenery — however, we have added our own razzle-dazzle,” said Knight. “More sparkle, more pizzazz. More humor, I think. I've also staged a few sequences in a new way I can claim as entirely my own -- in particular, the number "Me and My Baby". Anyone coming to see our production of Chicago will be offered something exciting and fresh, while also familiar.”

Knight gushed about the work of his production team, who he believes have successfully rendered the big-budget smash writ small, but more than anything, he is excited to send the New Players' senior class out with a bang. As this is the last show of the season, it will be the final production for many of the senior members of the New Players.

"At the end of the day, however, the only thing that really matters is that we are sharing a student production with the community," he said. "The kids are the only reason we do any of this. Their talent, their work, their growth  — that is what I am most excited to offer the audience. There's no magic without the kids."

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“I am also excited to share this performance with the entire cast and get to perform with all of my senior friends for one last time” agreed Mary Ann Wright, who plays “Roxie”. “The amazing thing about performing is it bonds all of the cast together. We all get to experience and bring the story to life. Our New Players bond bleeds throughout the walls of Little Theater, and is a critical aspect to why our shows are successful."

To see the show for yourself, purchase your tickets online at the link here .

Read more Arts & Entertainment news from around Ridgewood here:

• Rocks Rock: Ridgewood Parks & Recreation Offering "Rock On" Geology Summer Camp for Kids
• Story Walk Returns to Ridgewood for Reading of “Keep Your Ear on the Ball”
• Ridgewood Public Library to Host Workshop Exploring the Future of Artificial Intelligence on Thursday, July 18

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