Chicago

     

And All That Jazz!

    Hi again! Welcome back to another review. This week I'll be covering the musical Chicago! This will be a review of the film version, not a stage performance. 

    I'm going to be honest, I'm going into this review with pretty much no prior knowledge. I know two songs and the vague idea of the show, but other than that, I'm diving in blind! I know on some of my posts it may seem a little biased for some shows that I already know and love, but for this show, you're getting my full, candid thoughts for certain. Without further ado, let's pounce right in!

Movie poster

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago 

Renée Zellweger, Chicago

History

    Chicago began as a play in 1962, written by Maurine Dallas Watkins, based off of two actual court cases. Watkins wrote the play as a class assignment! From there, Chicago evolved into a musical and debuted on Broadway in 1975. It made its first West End appearance in 1979. A Broadway revival of the show occurred in 1996.  A West End revival followed shortly after in 1997. In 2002, a movie version of the musical was released, on which this review is focused. 

Who's in the Cast?

     Renée Zellweger starred as Roxie Hart, while Catherine Zeta-Jones starred as Velma Kelly. Richard Gere played Billy Flynn, while Queen Latifah portrayed Matron "Mama" Morton. John C. Reilly played the rolled of Amos Hart. Christine Baranski played reporter Mary Sunshine. The role of The Bandleader was played by Taye Diggs. Lucy Liu portrayed Kitty Baxter, and Dominic West played Fred Casely. Mýa played Mona, Susan Misner played Liz, Denise Faye played Annie, Diedre Goodwin played June, and Ekaterina Chtchelkanova played Katalin Helinszki (Hunyak). 

Overview

     Chicago begins with Velma Kelly performing And All That Jazz as a solo in what was supposed to be a duet with her sister Veronica. Roxie Hart watches her and desires to be a star. She starts an affair with Fred Casely, because he told her that he knows the manager of Velma's show and he can help boost her to stardom (Overture/And All That Jazz). Velma is then arrested for the murder of her husband and sister. 

    One month later, Fred tells Roxie he was lying to her about knowing a manager just to sleep with her. In a hysteric rage, Roxie shoots and kills Fred. Her husband, Amos tells the police that he shot Fred, claiming it was in self-defense as he was a burglar. Roxie daydreams again of being a star, and as Amos is confessing, Roxie sings about how he loves her. However, when the police reveal that the murdered man was Fred Casely, who sold furniture to Amos, he retracts his confession, and Roxie is arrested (Funny Honey). 

    Roxie is told her case is a hanging case. She is taken to Murderess' Row, where she encounters the corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton, who watches over the inmates. Roxie sees Velma in the prison, who ignores her (When You're Good to Mama). Roxie tries to adjust to living in prison. Six other murderesses tell their stories. The first woman, Liz, shot her husband after his annoying gum habits angered her. The second woman, Annie, revealed that her ex was Mormon and had secretly had six wives, so she poisoned him. The third woman, June, said her husband accused her of cheating, so she stabbed him: 10 times. The fourth woman, Katalin "Hunyak" does not speak English, only Hungarian. The only thing she can say in English is, "not guilty." The fifth woman is Velma, who claims she blacked out in shock after finding her husband and sister sleeping together. She was only aware they got killed after finding blood on her hands, implying that she killed them. She still claims innocence. The last woman, Mona, killed her husband after he cheated on her with both men and women. The women claim all of the men deserved their deaths (Cell Block Tango).

    Roxie overhears Mama helping Velma land vaudeville gigs. Roxie asks Velma for advice, but Velma shuns her again. Mama tells Roxie that she should hire Billy Flynn, Velma's lawyer, as her lawyer to help get her acquitted from her case. Billy is introduced and says all that matters to him is getting women acquitted. Roxie asks him to help with her case, but he tells her it'll cost $5,000 (All I Care About). Amos gives Billy $2,000 of the total and Billy agrees to take the case. He decides to paint a picture to the press of Roxie as an innocent woman corrupted by the city. Velma is upset that Billy is devoting more of his time to Roxie's case instead of hers. Billy and Roxie attend a press conference to gain public sympathy, but Roxie ruins it. Billy swoops in and creates a story about Fred jealously attacking her (We Both Reached for the Gun). Miss Sunshine, a reporter, publishes the story, and Roxie quickly become famous throughout Chicago. 

    Mama tells Roxie that she's started to make phone calls to help Roxie land a gig in showbiz once Billy gets her acquitted. Roxie dreams about having her own act (Roxie). Velma is frustrated that all of the attention is going to Roxie's case and not her own. Mama suggests that she team up with Roxie to gain more public attention and traction for her own case. Begrudgingly, Velma invites Roxie to join her in her vaudeville act (I Can't Do It Alone). Although Roxie wants to be a star, she knows that Velma only wants attention, and snubs her. 

    A new woman is arrested and brought to Murderess' Row for killing her husband and the two women he was sleeping with. Her name is Kitty Baxter, and she is a rich and feisty heiress. Billy, Miss Sunshine, and the media direct all of their attention to her, and Roxie is hurt. Velma is triumphant for a moment, when it seems like Roxie is going to take a fall from fame, but her moment is ruined when Roxie tells the press she's pregnant and regains all of her former media attention. Amos believes he is the father, but Roxie is too wrapped up in the press to talk to him. Amos views himself as invisible, saying people never notice him (Mister Cellophane). Billy tells Amos that Fred is the father, Amos divorces Roxie. 

    Roxie fires Billy, claiming that she's tired of people telling her what to do and that she believes she can win her own case from here. However, it is announced that Katalin "Hunyak" has lost her case, and she becomes the first woman hanged in Illinois. Roxie realizes how serious her situation is, and rehires Billy as her lawyer. Roxie's trial begins. Billy turns her story into a big performance (Razzle Dazzle). At the trial, Billy tells Amos that he should have asked Roxie if he was the father, and Roxie acknowledges that he is. The two make up, and the media loves it. Roxie goes on the stand, and she sells a story of Fred attacking her and her shooting him in self-defense of her and Amos's baby. Listening on the radio, Velma is angered that Roxie has stolen her court date and is receiving all of the media attention. Mama gives Velma Roxie's diary.

    Velma surprises Roxie by going on the stand as a witness to the state. She reads a section of the diary out loud describing how Roxie was disappointed that she only got to kill Fred once. Flynn cross-examines Velma, and she announces that the prosecution agreed to drop all of her own murder charges if she testified in the case. Velma then reads again from the diary, where it says that Roxie shot Fred after he lied to her about getting her a gig on a stage. Velma tells the jury that Mama gave her the diary after someone sent it to Mama. Billy takes this information and runs with it, painting a picture of the prosecution tampering with the evidence to win the case. 

    The jury announces they find Roxie not guilty of the murder of Fred Casely. Roxie's biggest moment of fame, however, is tarnished when another woman, who had murdered her husband, murders her lawyer on the steps of the courthouse. Roxie is furious. Billy admits to her that he's the one who tampered with her diary, in order to win the case. This way, he has won both Roxie's and Velma's cases. Roxie tells Amos that there never really was a baby. The only thing she's upset about is the press caring more about the new murderess than herself. Amos finally leaves her.

       Roxie goes on to become a vaudeville actress, but she is unsuccessful (Nowadays (Roxie)). Velma approaches her again and proposes that they work together. Even though they don't like each other, they can still perform together. Roxie agrees, and they begin a successful career together. They incorporate their history of murder into their act, using prop rifles onstage. They thank their fans (Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag). 

    

Thoughts

     Wowza! Like I said earlier, I didn't have a lot of prior knowledge going into this show. I knew it was about women who've murdered their husbands, but that was pretty much it. And it turns out even the main lady didn't murder her husband, but her lover. Huh. 

    Overall I enjoyed it. I don't think it's going to become my new favorite musical, but I did like it. The only two songs I knew going into the show were And All That Jazz and Cell Block Tango, and I will admit that those two were my favorite songs. However, I was surprisingly underwhelmed with the soundtrack. It could perhaps be simply because I knew it in advance, but Cell Block Tango truly is so good. The storytelling, the choreography, the sinister singing, I loved it. The line "it was a murder but not a crime" really popped out to me. I watched that scene twice. It deserved it. 

    I was actually really annoyed by Roxie's character. Like, throughout the show, I just wanted to see more of Velma on the screen than Roxie. I didn't even truly care that deeply about her court case. I felt bad for Amos for his situation, upset for Velma at having her attention stolen, and overall annoyed at Roxie for her ability to only focus on herself. And then I was upset at how easily Billy agreed to take her case back after she fired him! I know, seeing someone else die by hanging scared her, but it would've done her more good to have him reject her, at least for a little. 

    One thing I really appreciated about the film was how every musical number was also a performance. It's hard to describe in the outline, so I'll do my best here. Although we were watching the plotline of the film, before each number, The Bandleader announced the next "act" as though it were a vaudeville performance. As the song progressed, you were able to see the singer as they were in the story but also as a performer on a stage. The duality was impressive, and it was one of my favorite aspects of the show. 

    My favorite actors were definitely Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma and Richard Gere as Billy Flynn, although I was also a big fan of Queen Latifah as Matron "Mama" Morton. Zeta-Jones really brought power and presence to Velma, and like I said, I wish we could have gotten to see more of her. It was like every time she was in the room, I was drawn to watch her. Stellar. And Gere was great as Flynn. One of my favorite moments in the show was during the trial. His character is so confident as a lawyer and he does a great job with that, but while his character is in trial, he's also tap dancing his HEART OUT on a stage. The tap dancing was super impressive, and that whole scene was entertaining and thrilling to watch. And Mama! Maybe I'm just biased because I love Queen Latifah, but I thought she did a paw-some job as Mama. She had a tough demeanor, but you could also tell she cared somewhat about the inmates, while still keeping her strict rules enforced. There were several scenes with Velma and Mama together, which I loved, because Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah were some of my favorites.

    I would recommend this to an older audience. Definitely not for kittens. There's murder (duh) and some pretty raunchy scenes, so use viewer discretion! However, it was good, so I do recommend it. Actually, this is one of the (very) few shows that I've heard is better as a movie musical than a stage version? However, I've never seen the stage version, so I cannot attest to that. Also, I'm not trying to discredit any stage versions! I'm sure the casts are immensely talented. It might just come down to a matter of translation between the stage and the screen.

    I'll admit, this show would be somewhat difficult to weasel a cat into. I think a black cat in the prison would be kinda cool, though. They have a mysterious and spooky demeanor, and seeing one slink about would have increased the "tense factor." 

Ratings

Find the rating scale here.

Soundtrack          ⭐⭐⭐

Acting                  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lighting               ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Set                        ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall                 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cat rating             ⭐

Best song: Cell Block Tango

Best actor: Catherine Zeta-Jones

Best set: The stage

Fun Facts!

• Chicago holds the record for the longest-running musical revival in Broadway history.
• The $5,000 fee Billy Flynn charges Roxie would be worth around $61,500 today. 
• Catherine Zeta-Jones was originally asked to play Roxie, but she knew that Velma's character  sang "All That Jazz." Zeta-Jones asked to play Velma specifically so she could sing that song.