Nida Butt has come a long way. From starring in a local adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera in 2003 to creating her own theatre company, Made4Stage, and directing her first musical, The Producers in 2006, she finally arrived with Chicago in 2008.

It`s been a long ride but judging not only by the hype but also the success of the latter musical, it seems almost worth it. Nida Butt`s Chicago has been so successful that it is currently being performed a second time - though with a slight change in cast - and will also be taken to Lahore.

But times are tough for this theatre buff. Lack of adequate sponsors this time around, have put a slight crunch on their budget and a last minute decision by the Arts Council Auditorium to double-book the venue (which chose instead to give the space to the Napa Repertory Theatre play, Khwabon Ke Musafir) found Nida without a place to host her musical in. Her determination knew no bounds and if there wasn`t an auditorium available to her, she would create her own for the performance.

Hence, she set up an area which housed stage, theatre-style seating arrangement and waiting area in the space behind a popular bowling alley in Karachi. This perhaps allowed her to dictate the ambience on her terms as well the entire venue was shrouded in glittering black.

To quote from The arrival of Chicago (Printed in Images on August 3, 2008) “Chicago the play was penned by Maurine Dallas Watkins which was later adapted into a musical by Gwen Verdon and her husband, Bob Fosse, whereas the original score is by John Kandar and Fred Ebb.

Maurine Dallas Watkins was a journalist assigned to cover the trials of two murderesses, Beulah Sheriff Annan and Belva Gaertner in 1924. The character of Roxy Hart was based on Annan wheras that of Velma Kelly was on Gaertner.

Annan reportedly played the record Hula Lou for two (some newspapers alleged it was four) hours before she called her husband Albert Annan (Amos Hart in the play) to tell him she had killed a man who `tried to make love to her.` Her story differed throughout the trial, the final version being that she was pregnant and shot Harry Kalstedt (aka Fred Casely) in self-defence. Albert, as did Amos, paid for her lawyer and supported his wife throughout. She was found not guilty by the jury and left her husband the day after the trial ended, with the words `I have left my husband. He is too slow.`

On the other hand, Belva Gaertner (aka Velma Kelly) was a thrice-divorced cabaret who shot her lover, Walter Law, in the front seat of her car. She was later found at her apartment in blood-soaked clothes. She claimed circumstantial/temporary-amnesia, confessed to remembering that she was drunk and driving with Law, but nothing beyond that. She was later acquitted and went on to marry William Gaertner, a wealthy industrialist 31 years her senior. She also attended the 1927 opening of Chicago.”

Rachael Viccaji who played the role of Katalin Helinszki (or simply, the Hunyak), the Hungarian inmate in the last installment of Chicago, is now playing the lead role of the femme fatale, Velma Kelly. Although her performance seems a tad inconsistent, she seems to give it her best her dialogues were delivered with the right expressions and she sang her parts well. It was her body language that was perhaps, not as convincing. No fault on her part though, as it will take time for her acting to become seasoned enough and for her stage presence to mature. One did miss Nida Butt`s performance of Velma Kelly together with Sanam Saeed as Roxy Hart - an actor with stage experience and a definitive understanding of comic timing - they were a formidable act on stage.

Another favourite character, Mama Morten, was performed by Zoe Viccaji. Talent seems to run in the family since both Zoe and Rachael are sisters; they also have Cyrus Viccaji (one of the members of the improve stage troupe, Black Fish) for a brother. A larger-than-life character, Mama Morten was known for her tall, imposing presence and judging by Zoe`s leaner physique, one initially had reservations whether she`d be able to pull off the role. As the play progressed, Zoe seemed to grow into the character and delivered Mama`s warm yet conniving personality to the core.

Some of the original cast members from the first installment, who returned for the second were Sanam Saeed (Roxy Hart), Momin Zafar (Amost Hart) and Faraz Lodhi (Billy Flynn). The house band, which comprises Hillary Furtado on the saxophone, was also featured again. Under the supervision of Omar Bilal Akhtar, they sounded just as good, if not better than before. Nida Butt and Rachael Viccaji will be sharing the role of Velma Kelly when the musical goes to Lahore.

Whereas the full original cast of Chicago managed to wow audiences the first time around, the new actors performing in the current installment of the musical are perhaps not as great, but perform well enough to keep audiences entertained. Having said that, the cast, the crew and the woman behind it all, Nida Butt, need to be applauded for putting up a commendable performance despite all of the odds they continuously find themselves up against.