Chicago

Chicago (1926), a satirical comedy by Maurine Watkins, produced by Sam H. Harris. [Music Box Theatre, 172 perf.] Roxie Hart ( Francine Larrimore) shoots her married lover. With the help of Jake ( Charles A. Bickford), a hard‐nosed, cynical reporter; Mary Sunshine ( Eda Heinemann), a sob‐sister newswoman; and, most of all, Billy Flynn ( Edward Ellis), Roxie's venal lawyer, her trial is turned into a three‐ring circus. The attention the publicity brings turns Roxie's head, and she even lies that she is pregnant to obtain another front‐page story. After her acquittal she announces she is going into vaudeville. But her press conference is broken up when the police bring in a new murderess, Machine‐Gun‐Rosie. Roxie obligingly poses with Rosie for one last photograph. The play was the only success by Maurine Dallas WATKINS (1901–69) who was born in Kentucky and later wrote with Leo Ditrichstein. Watkins worked on a Chicago newspaper for a while, then quit to study with George P. Baker at Yale, and the first draft of Chicago was submitted as a class assignment. The play was turned into the 1975 musical of the same name with Gwen Verdon as Roxie, Jerry Orbach as Billy, and Chita Rivera in the expanded role of fellow murderess Velma Kelly. John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote the adaptation and the score and director‐choreographer Bob Fosse turned the sensational tale into a mock vaudeville show with the orchestra onstage and each number announced with sly commentary. Notable songs: All That Jazz; Nowadays; Class; The Cell Block Tango; Razzle Dazzle. The Robert Fryer–James Cresson production ran in the 46th Street Theatre for 898 performances, but a scaled‐down revival opened on Broadway in 1996 and is still running.