Even if you are not a fan of musicals, you will certainly love Chicago. In the Chicago musical, it is full of catchy songs, snappy dialogue and great dancing. This musical is an adaptation of a play and staged its debut in 1975. The legendary Bob Fosse was the director and choreographer. Chicago is set in the 1920s, when times were turbulent. Its music has vaudeville and jazz inspiration. Do not look for a saccharine story here, because the plot consists mainly of betrayal, prison and murder.

The main characters of Chicago musical are Roxie Hart, Billy Flynn and Velma Kelly. Velma was imprisoned for killing her husband and sister who she caught in a situation that was compromising. Roxie killed her boyfriend. Now, they are both on death row.

All That Jazz is one of its catchy songs. Soon, the Chicago musical made the move to Broadway. Both stars and unknown talents have played roles in Chicago. Liza Minelli had the role of Roxie, while Bebe Neuwith played Velma. In 1997, the Chicago musical performed in London’s West End stage and won the Outstanding Musical at the Olivier Award. This time, the role of Roxie went to Ruthie Henshall while Ute Lemper was cast as Velma. Currently there are many productions of the Chicago musicals all over, in countries like Brazil, Japan, China, France and Sweden. Chicago is the world’s  8th most long running musical.

A movie was inevitable, given the Chicago musical’s huge success. In 2000, the film version was released. It was a huge hit. The movie was critically acclaimed, garnering the Best Picture Award at the Oscars. Director Rob Marshall had a unique cast for the leading roles. Renee Zellwegger played Roxie, although she never sang or did a dance before. It was truly gutsy. Catherine Zeta Jones was Velma. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Oscars. Billy Flynn was played by Richard Gere. This is a surprise for many, because Gere is not known for musicals, though he was into musicals in the first part of his career. The other roles were filled by Queen Latifa, Lucy Lui of Kill Bill and Charlie’s Angels, and Christine Baransky from Cybill.

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