Kendall Langley

For the 2025 spring musical, the Rolla High School Theatre Department decided to bring the bustling city of Chicago and the scandalous lives of its inhabitants to Rolla. RHS’ “Chicago: Teen Edition” highlights the lives of its main characters, Roxie Hart (played by Jersy Stinson) and Velma Kelly (played by Audrey Smith), as they attempt to navigate their respective murder trials and boost themselves into the limelight during the height of the jazz era.
The show was originally meant to run from Mar. 14-16, but was forced to reschedule because of the tornado that hit Rolla on opening night. The performances have been moved to May 9 and 10, and are supposed to take place in RHS’ new Performing Arts Center. Even with the adversity that came with the storm, the cast and crew are excited and ready for a fantastic show.
Rolla’s rendition of the classic musical cuts out some of the more obscene sections and language from “Chicago,” which is widely known for its risque nature. While the teen version of the show is more suited for a wide age range, the central themes of the original musical are still prevalent in the edited version.
The head of the RHS Theatre Department, Kelli McNeven, said that she chose the show very carefully, considering the possible cast and what sort of show would suit the group best.
“We lost a lot of seniors last year, and so I knew this was kind of going to be a rebuilding year where we’re going to bring in a lot of students who are underclassmen, and so I wanted a show that was going to be a challenge to them, but that was still going to allow us to have to fill the roles that needed to be filled,” McNeven said.
Since the opening of the original musical in 1975, “Chicago” has been revered for its unique dance style. The show was originally choreographed by Bob Fosse, who is known for his intricate and genre-bending routines. McNeven acknowledged that adopting this specific style of dance had been a challenge for the cast, but was a valuable learning experience.
“Our big focus is that it is a dance-heavy show. So there’s so much choreography and so much music, it’s just really nailing all of those dances…The majority of the people on stage are learning how to dance while they’re doing this show, and everybody’s working their tails off to learn all of those things,” McNeven said.
The show was choreographed by one of its leads, Audrey Smith. Smith has an extensive background in dance and has helped with choreography in some previous RHS productions. Smith commented on the responsibilities and tribulations that came with carrying out such an integral role in the making of the musical.
“It was definitely a different experience this time around, with a different cast who are not necessarily trained dancers, so making sure I have the right choreography, that it fits them, and also working with my cast to make sure we understand things and we’re on the same level…We’ve had a lot of people missing, so it’s a lot of organizing and putting people in last minute, which has been tough, but it’s a good challenge,” Smith said.
The bouts of bad weather in the winter and spring presented another challenge for the cast and crew. Although the team lost rehearsal time and is dealing with rescheduling they have been able to pull together a great product.
“Chicago: Teen Edition” serves as a final goodbye to some of the veteran actors. Many people in the main cast are seniors, who are taking part in their last show as a member of the RHS Theatre Department. The two leads, Stinson and Smith, who had become very close throughout their time acting together, are able to share a special parting moment with their duo dance number “Hot Honey Rag” that closes out the show.
“She’s my best friend, so it’s really nice to be able to do that for our last show together. When we heard it was ‘Chicago,’ that really touched us, and we wanted to be able to do this well as a send off for us,” Smith said.