Keeping ‘Chicago’ strutting in style

How do you measure a Broadway show’s lengthy run?

There are statistics, of course -- how many performances a production has played, how much money it has grossed (important to producers) and how many theatergoers have seen it.

And then there are the people -- on and offstage.

Consider the revival of “Chicago,” celebrating its 10th anniversary Tuesday with a special performance that will feature dozens of cast members from throughout its decadelong existence, from its original cast, such as Ann Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth, to more recent alums, including Brooke Shields, Huey Lewis and Ashlee Simpson (direct from the London production).

A lot of famous folk -- add to the list Melanie Griffith and Usher -- have helped contribute to the longevity of a show about a conniving chorine’s quest for celebrity. But so have those who never get a nightly curtain call.

Peek into the cramped, dungeon-like basement of the Ambassador Theatre, right below the stage where the John Kander-Fred Ebb-Bob Fosse musical is playing eight times each week. It is the domain of Kevin Woodworth. He’s the “Chicago” wardrobe supervisor who came aboard a month after the production opened on Broadway in November 1996. He has been with the show ever since, including its moves from two other theaters.

Roz Ryan, the musical’s current Mama Morton, calls Woodworth’s work area “the joint.”

“We do everything down here,” she says one Saturday between the matinee and evening performance. It’s a place where actors and the backstage crew often gather to eat dinner, bring in costumes or shoes to be repaired or just sit around, gossip and snitch candy from a jar Woodworth perpetually keeps filled. On Sundays -- a two-performance day, he brings in bagels.

The focal point is a dingy, white table, presided over by the cheerful Woodworth, a native of Ames, Iowa, who came to New York by way of San Francisco and found his calling in the intricacies of wardrobe. His resume is impressive -- “The Wiz” in the 1970s, touring with Harry Belafonte, “Crimes of the Heart,” “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby” and more.

“I have to make sure everybody has the right costume,” he says, explaining his duties as the man in charge of designer William Ivey Long’s creations. “Most everything in this show is special order. So if you buy a pair of shoes, it will be ordered specifically for your foot.”

On one side of the table are rows of bins filled with pantyhose, bras, bust pads and more, for each of the show’s female performers. They sit on top of laundry baskets stocked with undergarments. Once a week, Woodworth asks the cast what they need, and the baskets are refilled. “It’s all very, very low-tech,” he says with a laugh.

But labor-intensive, judging from the persistent sounds of a nearby washer and dryer that always seem to be humming.

On the other side of the table, clothes, mostly pants and shirts, hang in a neat row -- divided by performer. “Everybody has a clean set of laundry up there,” Woodworth says. “A dirty set gets washed at the end of each performance,” with the show’s nearly 20 actors getting a clean set every day.

Repairs are inevitable. Gabriela Garcia, who plays Hunyak, the show’s Hungarian murderess, walks in. “I need a little help here, Kevin,” she says. Garcia wants to shorten the elastic in her shoe to give it a tighter fit. And Woodworth is there to oblige.

His most useful tool for those unexpected stage mishaps? The safety pin. “When something happens quickly, we just pin it up,” he says, estimating that he has gone through 50 gross of safety pins in the last decade. “There’s always a Janet Jackson moment on stage,” he says with a laugh.

Among his other estimates: “Chicago” has gone through 500 gallons of soap to wash the actors’ clothes, 8,000 pairs of pantyhose, 700 bust pads, 600 bowler hats, 1,500 dance belts, 400 pairs of suspenders, more than 3,000 pairs of shoelaces and 1,200 inner soles for shoes.

Above one side of the table hangs a large TV monitor where Woodworth can watch a show in progress, but usually doesn’t. During a performance, he relaxes. It’s his downtime.

In the decade since “Chicago” opened, its costumes have changed a bit. Gotten sexier, according to Woodworth. Pants are much lower for the guys. “We are going further and further south,” he says. “And some things that may have been a little risque 10 years ago are not now. And the underwear has changed for the women. Sexier too.”

Woodworth says he doubts he will ever leave “Chicago” -- unless it closes. “I’ve invested 10 years in the show. In for a penny, in for a pound -- whatever that means. You might as well stick it out,” he says.