Chad’s Grade: A
In 1975, director Bob Fosse made a celebrated return to Broadway with his (at the time) new musical Chicago. Fosse had just directed a string of Hollywood hit films, most notably “Cabaret,” where he won the Academy Award for best director (and Liza Minelli for best actress.) Unfortunately, “Chicago” opened against “A Chorus Line,” which was like an atom bomb on Broadway. “A Chorus Line” steamrolled over Chicago at the Tony Awards, winning nine trophies, including best musical.
Despite the bad timing, the original Broadway run of “Chicago,” which starred Jerry Orbach, Gwen Verdon, and Chita Rivera, still ran a decent 600 performances. That pales in comparison to “A Chorus Line,” which ran for 15 years. Yet “Chicago” got a rare second reprieve with a much-celebrated 1996 revival, still on Broadway, making it the longest-running revival musical.
The film version of “Chicago” was first mounted by Fosse himself to follow up to “Star 80.” The director met with Madonna, Michelle Pfeifer, and Jack Nicholson for roles, but the movie musical was considered a dead genre in the mid-’80s, and the project never materialized.
Nearly a decade later, the 1996 revival starring Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reinking became a sensation on Broadway. Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein snapped up the rights, envisioning the project for Goldie Hawn and (once again) Madonna, following her immense success in “Evita.” Several directors were approached, with Miramax settling on Rob Marshall, who had just directed a well-received TV version of “Annie.”
“Chicago” is the story of fame-hungry Roxie Hart, desperate to make it big on the vaudeville stage in 1928. In a fit of rage, Roxie kills her lover and is hauled off to jail. She encounters the other “merry murderesses of Cook County Jail,” including Velma Kelly, who’s in the slammer for a double murder of her sister and husband. Roxie discovers a silver lining to her predicament, as her name is now all over the newspapers, giving her the fame she craves. Roxie and Velma try to out scandal one other through vaudeville-style musical numbers, desperate to keep their celebrity alive through their impending court trials.
The stage show and film explore the thin line between fame and infamy. The movie closely parallels the infamous OJ Simpson trial. And the musical recalls a press hungry for scandal, especially if they involve Martha Stewart, Paris Hilton, and Donald Trump. “Chicago” is a profoundly cynical piece, a biting black comedy that stands as one of the best movie musicals.
Rob Marshall found a novel approach to translating the musical to the big screen. Working with screenwriter Bill Condon, the movie is shot from Roxie’s perspective, as she imagines her dire circumstances through a series of elaborate musical numbers. It’s a trick that Lars Von Tries used in his 2000 film “Dancer in the Dark” starring Bjork. Yet it’s used more effectively here. We are treated to a brilliantly choreographed dance sequence during the film’s best number, Cell Block Tango, where Roxie is introduced to her cellmates. At the same time, clever editing shows us Roxie meeting them in her cold prison reality. This conveys an enormous amount of information in a short amount of time.
“Chicago” also shines through its unexpected casting. Who knew that both Renee Zellwegger and Richard Gere could sing and dance? Zellwegger plays Roxie Hart with a beautiful dichotomy, a craven narcissist with a baby doll face. Her “Roxie” number is a true showstopper, dancing through a maze of mirrors with a monstrous glare, feeding off the approval from the audience. And Richard Gere is having the time of his life playing corrupt lawyer Billy Flynn. Dressed in dapper 1920s suits, he’s the sly Cheshire cat manipulating the court proceedings. The rest of the cast is uniformly strong, including Queen Latifah and John C. Reilly, who received Oscar nominations.
But the true star of “Chicago” is Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly. She won a well-deserved supporting actress Oscar for her performance, although she has nearly as much screen time as Roxie. A trained singer and dancer, Zeta-Jones is more polished than co-star Zellwegger. Her opening number of “All that Jazz” is vintage Fosse, ending with a defiant gaze at the police as they prepare for her arrest. And during the Cell Block Tango, where she confesses to murdering her sister and husband, who were having an affair, she strikes just the right mix of sadness, horror, and righteous anger.
All the musical sequences are so cleverly staged that there isn’t a bad one in the bunch. Queen Latifah’s “When you’re Good to Mama” is a throwback to Ella Fitzgerald in a Harlem nightclub. Reilly performs the tragic “Mr. Cellophane” like a melancholy Chaplin. And in “We Both Reached for the Gun,” Gere gleefully manipulates a ventriloquist doll-like, Roxie, to trick Mary Sunshine and her band of puppet reporters.
“Chicago” is a pitch-perfect example of how to translate a stage musical to film. It takes the same story but reimagines the musical numbers in a cinematic way. Chicago was a massive box office hit in 2002, winning six academy awards, including best picture. Along with 2001’s “Moulin Rouge,” it reignited the movie musical as a viable, bankable genre.
And in a nice twist of irony, there was a film version of “A Chorus Line” way back in 1985. It came and went, long forgotten to the dustbin of history. All that Jazz indeed.
OSCAR BAIT SONG:
The great songwriting duo of John Kander and Fred Ebb (who, in addition to Chicago, also penned Cabaret) were asked to write a new original tune for the film. They came up with “I Move On,” which played over the end credits. It’s not one of their strongest efforts, but they did get an Oscar nomination. In a big upset, they lost to Eminem, yes, that Eminem, for “Lose Yourself” from his “8 Mile” film. We live in a world where Eminem is an academy award winner.
ACTORS WHO CAN’T SING:
As stated in the film’s credits, all the actors did their singing and dancing. The real surprise is Renee Zellwegger. She matches Zeta-Jones step for step and has a strong singing voice. Her renditions of “Roxie” and “Nowadays” are total knockouts. Richard Gere is the odd man out, who is fine as the slick Billy Flynn but has a strange nasally tone when singing. One could imagine Hugh Jackman or Kevin Kline (both were considered) in the role.
OTHER VERSIONS:
The original 1975 Broadway production was one of many Gwen Verdon/Bob Fosse collaborations. It’s worth noting that co-star Chita Rivera (the original Velma Kelly) has a cameo in the film, welcoming Zellwegger’s Roxie to the prison. The most successful incarnation of the show was the stripped-down and stylized 1996 revival. Ann Reinking, who played Roxie, helped reconceive and choreograph the show in the style of Bob Fosse. As of this writing, it’s still playing on Broadway and touring nationwide. You can stream the 1975 Broadway cast album, the 1996 revival, or the motion picture soundtrack. The original Broadway version is a product of its time, so modern audiences might prefer the more polished 1996 revival.