Again an well-organised coach and theatre trip enjoyed by thirty plus members and friends who joined the trip to the musical on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon to the Victoria Theatre in Woking.

This was the musical Chicago, first produced in 1926 covering, murder, greed, violence, corruption, exploitation, adultery, treachery. It took a wee while to sort out the ethos of the play, it was a musical different from the many from the American scene which are basically songs, girls and a simple theme to sort out.

The musical Chicago jumps in with a shooting, dazzle, style, and a great deal of dry American style humour. Chicago is the kiss-and-tell tale of Roxie Hart, a night-club dancer who cynically kills her lover when he decides to drop her. She is introduced via a madam to Billy Flynn, a sharp lawyer who turns Roxie into a celebrity to get her acquitted, but at that stage the media loose interest and her star status vanishes with the not guilty verdict. In the same time sequence another long legged dancer called Velma Kelly, she is a dancing jailbird who also is indicted for murder and needs Billy to get her acquitted. Both have an ear for the headlines and an eye for talent.

It is a loving look back at old times, a satire on the US corrupt justice system, the pay off bribe figures need to be evaluated in 1926 terms where 3,000 US dollars represents a huge sum if translated into 2002 value.

Roxie's husband plays a delightful cameo of the man that nobody sees the wife runs him around, even to the tune of the potential baby, which in the end is only a publicity gimmick.

Sexy and sophisticated, with exhausting dancing from a well disciplined troupe of the country's hottest performers, the excellent score included the classic "All That Jazz".

The night-club dancers seeking celebrity and fame, Velma and Roxie take off the gloves as they vie for the attention of the press, but the limelight always seems to elude them. In the end they wind up partners on the stage. Velma did, after all, need a new partner; the person she shot was the other half of her 'sister act'. A local flavour to the production was noted by members when they learnt from the programme that a number of the cast were trained at the Laine Theatre Arts College in Epsom.

Whilst this production was breathtaking and most of the members enjoyed the outing, the choice did not appeal to a wider membership. But Derek Youell our President is to be congratulated in organising the trip and thanks to Sainsbury for allowing us to use their car park free of charge for a very long period.

A Report

Well organised by Derek Youell a full busload with no tickets to spare set off in good spirits from Sainsbury's car park. Leaving our cars in the car park thanks to the goodwill and by kind permission of Sainsbury's management.

The fifty-seven members/friends travelled by coach in comfort to the Woking Theatre. There we enjoyed a sparkling production combining the comic genius of Noël Coward and the impressive acting talents of the delightfully English Susan Hampshire

A glittering comedy set in the early 1950s, Coward's masterpiece is a delightful collision between starry Hollywood and the stiff upper lip British.

Having fallen for a glamorous movie starlet, the Earl of Marshwood takes his fiancée to the ancestral home to the absolute horror of his mother and servants. In the very best Coward tradition, chaos escalates from one farcical turn to another, spurring delicious dialogue, skilful asides and hilarious repartee.

Witty and sophisticated, this glittering gem from the master of wit and irony, is a beautifully mannered and charming comedy that had all the Probus members smiling with delight.