Going into its fifth season, CR Productions is scheduled to perform Chicago at the Cohoes Music Hall during the month of September.
CR Productions was founded by Cohoes native Jim Charles and Tony Rivera in 2002. The pair have been producing four shows a year for the past four years. This season (with the installation of air conditioning) the company plans to put on six shows.
`Going into our fifth season is huge. I feel like we can relax now,` Rivera said.
With a cast of 16 actors and actresses, the producers say the show is sure to please any crowd.
The consensus among the cast and crew is the dancing will rock anyone’s boat.
Jessica Costa, 27, who plays Roxie Hart, said the dancing in the show is what people will remember.
`The opening scene alone is worth the price of admission,` she said.
Charles and Rivera hired a veteran of theater productions, Trelan Doler, 29, as the show’s director and choreographer. This is Doler’s seventh show at Cohoes Music Hall.
`I’ve been coming to Cohoes so much I almost feel like a citizen,` he said.
Doler said `Chicago` is an interesting production because its themes will never get old.
`Criminals as celebrities and crime as entertainment — no one ever gets sick of that,` he said.
Doler agrees that the dancers cast for `Chicago` are top notch.
`It pushes me as a choreographer to work with these folks,` he said.
The hardest part about directing and choreographing this production is doing it justice, Doler said. The show’s original directors had such an influence on him that he wants to put on a good show, while still keeping it his own.
`This is a classic piece of theater that somehow has hooked in with audiences. It’s interesting, it’s sexy — it’s all things that we love,` he said.
The actors and actresses in `Chicago` are professionals, most of whom have come to Cohoes by way of New York City.
`This is real small town fun,` Jennifer Davis, who is playing Velma, said. `But this is a good group of people and a great place to work.`
Paul Kelly, who is originally from Florida but now lives in New York City, said he likes coming to Cohoes to perform because it is so close to his home.
`I like the fact that Cohoes is close to New York. I’ve known Jim and Tony since before they formed the entertainment company. Getting a theater off the ground is hard, and this theater has grown enormously,` Kelly, who plays Amos Hart, said.
The Cohoes Music Hall in the heart of historic Cohoes was built in 1874 as a vaudeville theater, so it is the perfect setting for a performance of `Chicago.`
When Charles and Rivera set their sights on the theater in 2000, the stage hadn’t been used for musicals in years.
`Having this gorgeous theater go unused, it just wasn’t right,` Rivera said.
The active theater has enhanced the community, and the community has helped to enhance CR Productions.
`Our motto is: Revitalizing Cohoes one show at a time,` Charles said.
CR Productions is involved with the theater program at Cohoes High School and works with local children and in the community whenever possible. The company also has a close relationship with the local dance school Spendwood Dance and Gymnastics.
`I know what the arts can do for an economy and this has been a great fit,` Rivera said.
Doler said he was apprehensive to be in Cohoes during CR Production’s first season, but now he has seen the difference within the city.
`The arts definitely contribute to the community. All great societies have thriving arts,` he said.
The community has also been supportive of the theater. In its first year there were 250 sponsors, Rivera said. For the fifth season, there are more than 1,000 sponsors.
`Chicago` premieres Friday, Sept. 7, at 8 p.m. Performances will run through Sunday, Sept. 30, every Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. There will be one Saturday matinee on Sept. 29 at 3 p.m. For tickets, call the box office at 237-5858 or visit www.cohoesmusichall.com.“