Chicago musical when was it set

Ebb and Fosse penned the book of the musical, and Fosse also directed and choreographed. In the mids 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. 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.

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 and 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's 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.

Velma again welcomes the audience with the line "Hello, Suckers," another reference to Texas Guinan , who commonly greeted her patrons with the same phrase. A little shy on the arithmetic, Amos proudly claims paternity, and still nobody notices him "Mr. With her ego growing, 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'll be fine "Razzle Dazzle" , but when he passes all Velma's ideas on to Roxie, she uses each one, down to the rhinestone shoe buckles, to the dismay of Mama and Velma "Class".

As promised, Billy gets Roxie her acquittal 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 isn't really a 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".

Songs such as "R. P" and "Keep It Hot" which were instrumental pieces in the "Finale" were removed from the licensable music, but were included in original production and script. Other songs such as "Ten Percent" sung by a deleted character who was Velma's agent, and "No" sung by Roxie and Boys were cut soon into the production and only appear on demo recordings and in the original Playbill, but are not in the original script.

Source for West End:overthefootlights. According to Fred Ebb, he wrote the book in a vaudeville style because "the characters were performers. It was through the initial production, and not the writing, that many of the "traditional" Chicago staging conventions were developed:. Kander explains: "I remember when we wrote "Razzle Dazzle", before we took it in and played it for Bob, you [Ebb] said with absolute confidence 'Try adding a couple of finger snaps to it. Bobby will love that.

Fosse was talked out of allowing this staging, when Jerry Orbach "convinced him that he was missing the Brechtian subtlety intrinsic in the number. The original finale was "Loopin' the Loop", a doubles act with Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera; however, "the scene seemed too much like an amateur act so Fosse asked for something more 'glamorous in pretty gowns'".

The piece was cut and replaced with "Nowadays". Sections of "Loopin' the Loop" can still be heard in the Overture. Another principal character, a theatrical agent named Harry Glassman, was played by David Rounds, whose role was to exploit the notoriety of the prisoners for his own gain. He also served as the evening's M. This character's role and the song "Ten Percent" was cut, [12] with the character folded into that of Matron Mama Morton, and various members of the chorus shared his M.

In a reversal of roles, Fosse decided the lyrics to the number "Class" were too offensive and censored Kander and Ebb's original version of the song. Chicago: A Musical Vaudeville opened on June 3, at the 46th Street Theatre , and ran for a total of performances, closing on August 27, Velma Kelly had been a comparatively minor character in all versions of Chicago prior to the musical rendering. The musical received mixed reviews.

The Brechtian style of the show, which frequently dropped the fourth wall , made audiences uncomfortable. According to James Leve, "'Chicago' is cynical and subversive, exploiting American cultural mythologies in order to attack American celebrity culture. The show opened the same year as Michael Bennett 's highly successful A Chorus Line , which beat out Chicago in both ticket sales and at the Tony Awards.

Her run lasted a month, boosting the show's popularity, and Gwen Verdon recuperated and returned to the show. Ann Reinking , who would go on to star in the highly successful revival [19] and choreograph that production in the style of Bob Fosse, was also a cast replacement for Roxie Hart during the show's original run.

The first West End , London production opened at the Cambridge Theatre in April and ran for around performances. Template:Refimprove section City Center Encores! That's exactly what Ms. Reinking and her ensemble do. But these performers know just how to take off the chill. Barry and Fran Weissler brought the concert version of Chicago retitled Chicago: The Musical to Broadway, after some revision and expansion, but retaining the spare and minimalist style in costumes and set.

There are also chairs along the sides of this central piece, in which the actors at times sit or lounge, when not directly involved in the action. The show opened on November 14, , at the Richard Rodgers Theatre [29] with a script adapted by David Thompson , [30] eventually setting a record for recovering its initial costs faster than any other musical in history, likely due in part to the stripped down design elements.

The CurtainUp reviewer noted "The show garnered ecstatic reviews, enviable box office sales and enough awards to warrant a special Chicago trophy room.

Simpson murder case , and audiences were more receptive to the criminal-as-celebrity theme of the show. During its run, the show has played in three Broadway theatres — the Richard Rodgers Theatre the same theatre where the original production played, at the time called the 46th Street Theatre , the Shubert Theatre and the Ambassador Theatre.

August 12, July 2, Michael C. Hall stars as Billy Flynn. June 9, June 4, May 20, April 26, Ruthie Henshall takes over as Roxie Hart. April 16, April 15, March 29, Matthew Settle begins his Broadway run as Billy Flynn. March 6, February 20, February 8, Michelle Williams begins her Broadway run as Roxie Hart. January 10, Ashlee Simpson makes her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart.

November 26, November 15, Number of Acts. First Produced. Dark Comedy. Cast Size. Orchestra Size. Samuel French. Ideal for. Casting Notes. Mostly female cast Includes young adult, adult characters.

Lead Characters. Roxie Hart Chicago - Musical. Log in to add to your bookmarks! Velma Kelly Chicago - Musical. Amos Hart Chicago - Musical. View More. Half-Price Tickets. View More Ticket Discounts. This page is only accessible by StageAgent Pro members.