Back in March, just five days from opening, the cast and crew of Chicago were putting the finishing touches on this classic musical when it was decided that Orcas Center would need to close down and the run of the show be postponed. And here we are, two months later, still closed, and the Chicago set is still on the stage, still awaiting dancing feet.

So in the meantime, to keep those dance moves well-oiled, we’ve put together our own “Stay at Home” edition of the opening overture and musical number, the timeless classic All That Jazz sung by island treasure Grace McCune and many of the rest of the ensemble. Each video was recorded at home by the cast member with some specific lighting and location requirements to keep the look as similar as possible. For Grace’s performance, we shot on the actual set, and used a bit of the show lighting to give you a glimpse of what you hopefully may one day see in person. Even the inset scenes between Roxy (Katie Zwilling) and Fred (Caleb Summers) were shot separately, socially distanced, and then assembled to look like they were in fact – ahem – quite close!

The submitted audio and video was assembled piece by piece, with no attempt to time-correct the movements into sync. The result is fascinating to watch: an ensemble cast used to moving together on a stage, kept apart by time and space, but still somehow working together as a whole. Strange times indeed!

Many thanks to the cast and crew of Chicago for riding the wave and keeping the faith! We will prevail!