When a venerable stage show is adapted into a successful Hollywood movie, it presents a unique challenge for future productions of the original piece. Do you slavishly try to recreate the movie that likely put many of the butts in your seats? Or do you stick to the original source material, and try to do your own thing?

The folks behind the current touring production of "Chicago" definitely went with the latter, employing a directorial choice true TO the original Broadway version of the show, but one that personally left me cold. Rather than actually tell the story, immersing the characters and the audience in a fictional world, the show is instead much like a Vaudeville review, in which the characters on stage are keenly aware that they're performing for you. The actors deliberately overact and overdo everything. When lead character Roxie Hart shoots and kills her lover - the act of violence that sets off the whole show - she does so smiling and giggling at the audience. Every line out of Velma Kelly's mouth is delivered like a gag, hyper-enunciated and emphasized in places no actual person would ever choose. When the chorus is not singing and dancing, its members are frequently sitting in chairs alongside the huge orchestra risers that take up most of the stage, shimmying in their seats along to the music. The show may not fully break the fourth wall, but it certainly puts some dents in it.

It's a tactic that makes thematic sense for the show, which is all about the blurry line between fame and notoriety, the queasy - albeit fascinating - relationship between crime and celebrity in this country. The scenarios of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly aren't that far removed from most of the women spotlighted on your average episode of "Nancy Grace," that's for sure. So I get that the direction is intended to hold a grimy mirror up to society's baser instincts (I mean really, followers of the Casey Anthony trial: are you not entertained?). I just felt that it detracted from my buy-in to the characters and their plights. 

Take, for example, Roxie. I fully despised the actress playing the role (Bianca Marroquin) for the first 20 minutes or so of the show. She kept flitting across the stage, barely exhibiting anything close to a character, delivering her lines as though she was on speed. But by the time "We Both Reached for the Gun" came around I got what she was going for, and was blown away by her performance in both that number, and especially "Roxie," where she commanded the stage for what had to have been close to 10 minutes in a tour de force that oozed sex appeal, humor, charisma, and outstanding musicality and dance ability.

Terra C. Macleod played Velma, and her singing and dancing lived up to the demands of the role (although she had some mic issues, I think; "All That Jazz" sounded like it was being sung from the far end of a subway tunnel). Velma is one of the great female musical roles, but I also think it's got to be a bitch, since three amazing actresses - Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, and Catherine Zeta-Jones - have all made indelible marks on the character. Macleod did those ladies proud, although I felt that she lacked a bit of the all-consuming hunger and desperation that really define the character for me.

The supporting cast was solid, especially Carol Woods as Mama Morton (she got the most raucous applause of the night for her rafter-ringing "When You're Good to Mama") and Tom Wopat as Billy Flynn. Wopat has charm to spare, which is essential for the slick-tongued lawyer. But he also brings to the role a roughness and assertiveness that I found missing in Richard Gere's portrayal in the film version. The only supporting player I didn't care for was D. Micciche as Mary Sunshine; the character's "A Little Bit of Good" number was nothing but high-pitched warbling from which it was impossible to discern any of the words.

For as good as the main cast is, I found the most enjoyable part of this production of "Chicago" to be the chorus. The ensemble both looked and sounded amazing, and given that almost every member has at least a line or bit or two, they're really more than background players here. Their dedication shone through in the work, as the dancing and singing was very strong - there were no weak links in this bunch, and they were stars as much as, well, the "stars" of the show.

"Chicago"

Presented by the Rochester Broadway Theatre League

Through November 15

Auditorium Theatre, 885 E. Main St.