Artist:Rachel York
Song:Chicago, Illinois
Album:Victor/Victoria: Original Broadway Cast Recording
You may recall the 1982 film Victor/Victoria based on a 1933 German film Viktor und Viktoria. Julie Andrews starred as a cross dressing actress. Her husband Blake Edwards wrote, produced and directed. The film was very successful. Then Edwards decided to turn it into a Broadway musical. It premiered on Broadway in 1995. Historically it usually goes the other way around. The Broadway show comes first and is adapted into a film. Edwards said he always wanted to direct a Broadway show and Victor/Victoria could be easily adapted. And Julie as star could guarantee success. Edwards wrote the book for the show. Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse wrote the songs. Mancini wrote the music for the film. Bricusse is usually Anthony Newley's songwriting partner. Sadly, Mancini died before he was finished with the show and Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde) was brought in. Along with Julie Andrews, the cast included Tony Roberts, Michael Nouri and Rachel York. Rachel played Norma Cassidy and Chicago, Illinois is her big song in the show. She was new to Broadway at the time but she's still there. She was born Rachel Lemanski Aug. 7,1968 ni Orlando, FL. Her family moved to Boulder, CO when she was nine. She started out in local dinner theater and earned a scholarship at the American Center for Music Theater in Los Angeles. Her coach Aaron Speiser suggested she move to New York. She made her Broadway debut in the 1989 musical City of Angels. Victor/Victoria was her second show. She was critically acclaimed for both shows and continues to perform on Broadway today. Most recently she appeared in the 2018 musical Head Over Heels and a 2021 revival of Anything Goes at London's West End. She also does regional theater. She hasn't done much film but she has done some TV. Broadway is still recovering from the pandemic so we'll see her there in the future. Here's Rachel York performing Chicago, Illinois from a Japanese TV production of Victor/Victoria 1995.
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