Chicago is an American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and
book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, the musical is based
on a 1926 play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins about actual
criminals and crimes she reported on. The story is a satire on corruption in
the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity
criminal".
The original
Broadway production opened in 1975 and ran for 936 performances until 1977. Bob
Fosse choreographed the original production, and his style is strongly
identified with the show. The Broadway revival holds the record as the
longest-running musical revival and the longest-running American musical in
Broadway history. It is the second longest-running show in Broadway history,
behind only The Phantom of the Opera,.
The musical Chicago
is based on a play of the same name by reporter and playwright Maurine Dallas
Watkins, who was assigned to cover the 1924 trials of accused murderers Beulah
Annan and Belva Gaertner for the Chicago Tribune. In the early 1920s,
Chicago's press and public became riveted by the subject of homicides committed
by women. Several high-profile cases arose, which generally involved women
killing their lovers or husbands. These cases were tried against a backdrop of
changing views of women in the Jazz age, and a long string of acquittals by
Cook County juries of women murderesses (jurors at the time were all men, and
convicted murderers generally faced death by hanging). A lore arose that, in
Chicago, feminine or attractive women could not be convicted. The Chicago
Tribune generally took a pro-prosecution "hang-them-high" stance,
while still presenting the details of these women's lives. Its rivals at the
Hearst papers were more pro-defendant, and employed what were derisively called
"sob-sisters" – women reporters who focused on the plight,
attractiveness, redemption, or grace of the women defendants. Regardless of
stance, the press covered several of these women as celebrities.
Annan, the model
for the character of Roxie Hart, was 23 when she was accused of the April 3,
1924, murder of Harry Kalstedt. The Tribune reported that Annan played
the foxtrot record "Hula Lou" over and over for two hours before
calling her husband to say she killed a man who "tried to make love to
her". She was found not guilty on May 25, 1924. Velma Kelly is based on
Gaertner, who was a cabaret singer, and society divorcée. The body of Walter
Law was discovered slumped over the steering wheel of Gaertner's abandoned car
on March 12, 1924. Two police officers testified that they had seen a woman
getting into the car and shortly thereafter heard gunshots. A bottle of gin and
an automatic pistol were found on the floor of the car. Gaertner was acquitted
on June 6, 1924. Lawyers William Scott Stewart and W. W. O'Brien were models
for a composite character in Chicago, "Billy Flynn".
Watkins'
sensational columns documenting these trials proved so popular that she decided
to write a play based on them. The show received both popular and critical
acclaim and even made it to Broadway in 1926, running for 172 performances.
Cecil B. DeMille produced a silent film version, Chicago (1927),
starring former Mack Sennett bathing beauty Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart. It was
later remade as Roxie Hart (1942) starring Ginger Rogers; but, in this
version, Roxie was accused of murder without having really committed it.
Act I
In the mid-1920s
in Chicago, Velma Kelly is a vaudevillian who murdered both her husband and her
sister when she found them in bed together. She welcomes the audience to
tonight's show ("All That Jazz"). Velma eventually is arrested for
her crime. Meanwhile, we hear of chorus girl Roxie Hart's murder of her lover,
nightclub regular Fred Casely.
Roxie convinces
her husband Amos that the victim was a burglar, and Amos cheerfully takes the
blame. Roxie expresses her appreciation of her husband's thick skull
("Funny Honey"). However, when the police mention the deceased's
name, Amos belatedly puts two and two together. The truth comes out, and Roxie
is arrested. She is sent to the women's block in Cook County Jail, inhabited by
Velma and other murderesses ("Cell Block Tango"). The block is
presided over by the corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton, whose system of
mutual aid ("When You're Good to Mama") perfectly suits her
clientele. She has helped Velma become the media's top murder-of-the-week and
is acting as a booking agent for Velma's big return to vaudeville.
Velma is not
happy to see Roxie, who is stealing not only her limelight but also her lawyer,
Billy Flynn. Roxie tries to convince Amos to pay for Billy Flynn to be her
lawyer ("A Tap Dance"). Eagerly awaited by his all-girl clientele,
Billy sings his anthem, complete with a chorus of fan dancers ("All I Care
About is Love"). Billy takes Roxie's case and re-arranges her story for
consumption by sympathetic tabloid columnist Mary Sunshine ("A Little Bit
of Good"). Roxie's press conference turns into a ventriloquist act with
Billy dictating a new version of the truth ("We Both Reached for the
Gun") to the press while Roxie mouths the words.
Roxie becomes the
new toast of Chicago as she proclaims quite boastfully while planning for her
future career in vaudeville ("Roxie"). As Roxie's fame grows, Velma's
notoriety is left in the dust and in an "act of pure desperation",
she tries to talk Roxie into recreating the sister act ("I Can't Do It
Alone"), but Roxie turns her down, only to find her own headlines replaced
by the latest sordid crime of passion ("Chicago After Midnight").
Separately, Roxie and Velma realize there is no one they can count on but
themselves ("My Own Best Friend"), and the ever-resourceful Roxie
decides that being pregnant in prison would put her back on the front page.
Act II
Velma again
welcomes the audience with the line "Hello, Suckers," another
reference to Texas Guinan, who commonly greeted her patrons with the same
phrase. She informs the audience of Roxie's continual run of luck ("I Know
a Girl") despite Roxie's obvious falsehoods ("Me and My Baby").
A little shy on the arithmetic, Amos proudly claims paternity, but still nobody
notices him ("Mr. Cellophane"). Velma tries to show Billy all the
tricks she has planned for her trial ("When Velma Takes the Stand").
Roxie has a heated argument with Billy and fires him. She is brought back down
to earth when she learns that a fellow inmate has been executed.
The trial date
arrives, and Billy calms her, telling her if she makes a show of it, she will
be fine ("Razzle Dazzle"), but when he passes all Velma's ideas on to
Roxie, she uses each one, down to the rhinestone garter, to the dismay of Mama
and Velma ("Class"). As promised, Billy gets Roxie acquitted, but
just as the verdict is announced, some even more sensational crime pulls the pack
of press bloodhounds away, and Roxie's fleeting celebrity life is over. Billy
leaves, done with the case. Amos stays with her, glad for his wife, but she
then confesses that there really is no baby, making Amos finally leave her.
Left in the dust, Roxie pulls herself up and extols the joys of life
("Nowadays"). She teams up with Velma in a new act in which they
dance and perform ("Hot Honey Rag") until they are joined by the
entire company ("Finale").
