Stage Sounds: Chicago

I have never seen Chicago on stage, but it was one of the first movie musicals that I really latched on to as a kid so it still has a special place in my heart. While the stage musical and the film adaptation are fairly different from each other, the movie is still really fun to watch and all versions of the soundtrack are full of talent and extremely catchy tunes that will stick with you long after it's over.

Chicago is a musical with a book by Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Inspired by the 1926 stage play of the same name, the show opened in 1975 at the 46th Street Theater (now known as the Richard Rodgers Theatre located on 46th Street), where it remained in residence until 1977 after over 900 performances. The show returned to Broadway in 1996 back at the Richard Rodgers, and then moved to the Shubert Theatre on W 44th Street in 1997, and again to the Ambassador Theatre on W 49th Street in 2003 where its remains in residence to this day, becoming the second longest running Broadway show of all time after The Phantom of the Opera. The original Broadway run was nominated for eleven Tony Awards and one Grammy Award in 1976 and unfortunately won none of them. Meanwhile, the revival was nominated for eight Tonys in 1997, winning six (Best Revival of a Musical; Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical - James Naughton; Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical - Bebe Neuwirth; Best Direction of a Musical; Best Choreography; and Best Lighting Design). The revival production also won Best Musical Show Album at the 1998 Grammy Awards. Apart from Broadway, the show has enjoyed success on The West End in 1977 and again in 1997 as well as in Australia in both 1981 and 2022. The film adaptation was released in 2002, directed by Rob Marshall and stars Renee Zellweger as Roxie, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma, and Richard Gere as Billy. It was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards in 2003, winning six (Best Picture; Best Supporting Actress - Catherine Zeta-Jones; Best Art Direction; Best Costume Design; Best Film Editing; and Best Sound); nominated for eight Golden Globes in 2003, winning three (Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy; Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Richard Gere; and Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Renée Zellweger); and nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2003, winning one (Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media).

Like the previous Stage Sounds posts, I will focus on one song for each main cast member. I will be discussing the original and revival cast recordings as well as the film soundtrack, all of which are currently available on Apple Music. There will be honorable mentions again because all of the music in this show is just so good and it's always hard to pick just one. Therefore, here we go! Warning: I don't think any slipped in here, but just in case, potential spoilers ahead.

Roxie Hart (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: Roxie

Honorable Mentions: Funny Honey; We Both Reached For The Gun; Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag

Original Broadway Cast (1975): Gwen Verdon

Broadway Revival Cast (1996): Ann Reinking

Film Cast (2002): Renée Zellweger

Roxie is the main character of the show, but she's not exactly my favorite. She's whiney, manipulative, and entitled, and the post of the show isn't really to like her, but she has some really incredible songs in the show and has been played by some incredibly talented actresses. My favorite song of hers is definitely Act 1's Roxie, where she's imagining how famous her murder trial is going to make her. Each of the ladies listed above brought their own flair to the role, but my personal favorite recording was Gwen Verdon on the original soundtrack. She's so sassy and brings so much energy to the number, but no matter which version you listen to the song is undoubtedly fun.

The name on everybody's lips is gonna be Roxie/The lady raking in the chips is gonna be Roxie/I’m gonna be a celebrity, that means somebody everyone knows/They're gonna recognize my eyes, my hair, my teeth, my boobs, my nose/From just some dumb mechanic's wife, I’m gonna be Roxie/Who says that murder's not an art/And who in case she doesn't hang can say she started with a bang/Roxie, Roxie Hart

Velma Kelly (Alto)

Spotlight Song: I Can't Do It Alone

Honorable Mentions: All That Jazz; Cell Block Tango; Class; Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag

Original Broadway Cast (1975): Chita Rivera

Broadway Revival Cast (1996): Bebe Neuwirth

Film Cast (2002): Catherine Zeta-Jones

Even though she's really no better than Roxie, Velma IS my favorite character in the show. She is just so much more fun than Roxie, I'm not even sorry about it. Velma is a part of almost every memorable number in the show, but my favorite is Act 1's I Can't Do It Alone, where she tries to convince Roxie to take her dead sister's place in their double act. It's a fun, boppy number with incredible choreography, and I have incredible respect for the actresses who play her because of how challenging this number (and most of her other ones, to be fair) are. Of the three recorded actresses, I'd have to say Catherine Zeta-Jones is my favorite followed fairly closely by Bebe Neuwirth. They both bring their own confidence and attitude to the role, and the thinly veiled desperation in this song comes across as an almost manic energy and is accompanied by really incredible vocals by both women.

My sister and I had an act that couldn't flop/My sister and I were headed straight for the top/My sister and I earned a thou a week at least, oh, yeah/But my sister is now, unfortunately, deceased/Oh, I know it's sad, of course, but a fact is still a fact/And now all that remains is the remains of a perfect double act/Watch this/Now you have to imagine it with two people/It’s swell with two people/First I’d/Then she’d/Then we’d/But I can't do it alone/Then she’d/Then I’d/Then we’d/But I can't do it alone/She'd say, "What's your sister like”/I’d say,"Men“/She'd say,"You're the cat's meow”/Then we'd wow the crowd again/When she'd go/I’d go/We'd go/And then those ding-dong daddies started to roar/Whistled, stomped and stamped on the floor/Yelling, screaming, begging for more./And we'd say, "O.k. fellas, keep your socks up/You ain't seen nothin' yet”/But I simply cannot do it alone

Billy Flynn (Bass-Baritone)

Spotlight Song: Razzle Dazzle

Honorable Mentions: All I Care About; We Both Reached For The Gun

Original Broadway Cast (1975): Jerry Orbach

Broadway Revival Cast (1996): James Naughton

Film Cast (2002): Richard Gere

Billy is your classic scheming lawyer stereotype, with nothing he does being super surprising, yet he manages to make me like him despite being more than a bit of an ass. He also has some great numbers in the show, but I chose to highlight Act 2's Razzle Dazzle as Billy coaches Roxie on how to "convince" the jury that she's innocent. This is a song that's grown on me as I've gotten older, and now it's one of my favorites in the show. Hands down, my favorite rendition of this song I listened to was the original by the incomparable Jerry Orbach. He's just so wonderful and has such a powerful voice, and his version of this song is an absolute must listen.

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle, razzle dazzle 'em/Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it and the reaction will be passionate/Give 'em the old hocus pocus, bead and feather 'em/How can they see with sequins in their eyes/What if your hinges all are rusting, what if, in fact, you're just disgusting/Razzle dazzle 'em, and they’ll never catch wise

Amos Hart (Baritone)

Spotlight Song: Mister Cellophane

Original Broadway Cast (1975): Barney Martin

Broadway Revival Cast (1996): Joel Grey

Film Cast (2002): John C. Reilly

Amos is undoubtedly a pathetic character, but I think he's pretty tragic as well. It's really heartbreaking to watch him come to terms with the fact that he's so mediocre that he borders on forgettable, even to his wife that he's spent almost a decade being faithful to. Act 2's Mister Cellophane is actually my favorite number in the whole show - I remember my best friend and I making a huge production out of dancing down my parents' staircase singing this song at the top of our lungs and thinking we were so funny. Each of the actors above do an incredible job portraying Amos completely differently: Barney Martin plays him completely flat, as though he accepted his fate long ago; Joel Grey plays him with a bit of quiet desperation, as though hoping that he can possibly catch someone's attention; and it feels like you can actually witness John C. Reilly's heart break as he realizes how little his wife that he adores cares about him. Reilly's version in the film is my absolute favorite, and cannot recommend it enough.

If someone stood up in a crowd and raised his voice up way out loud/And waved his arm and shook his leg, you'd notice him/If someone in the movie show yelled "Fire in the second row/This whole place is a powder keg,” yyou'd notice him/And even without clucking like a hen, everyone gets noticed now and then/Unless, of course, that personage should be invisible, inconsequential me/Cellophane, Mister Cellophane/Shoulda been my name, Mister Cellophane/‘Cause you can look right through me, walk right by me/And never know I'm there/I tell ya, Cellophane, Mister Cellophane/Shoulda been my name, Mister Cellophane/‘Cause you can look right through me, walk right by me/And never know I'm there

Matron "Mama" Morton (Alto)

Spotlight Song: When You're Good to Mama

Honorable Mentions: Class

Original Broadway Cast (1975): Mary McCarty

Broadway Revival Cast (1996): Marcia Lewis

Film Cast (2002): Queen Latifah

Mama is an interesting character, and her big number in Act 1's When You're Good to Mama is another favorite of mine. The way she manipulates the girls on Murderer's Row while still caring about them makes her a likable character when she easily couldn't be. My favorite version of this song is Queen Latifah's from the film, absolutely no contest. She has such a great voice and threw so much charisma into her performance that it's one of the most entertaining scenes in the whole movie.

Ask any of the chickies in my pen/They'll tell you I'm the biggest mother hen/I love them all and all of them love me/Because the system works, the system called reciprocity/Got a little motto, always sees me through/When you're good to Mama, Mama's good to you/There's a lot of favors I’m prepared to do/You do one for Mama, she'll do one for you/They say that life is tit for tat, and that's the way I live/So, I deserve a lot of tat for what I've got to give/Don't you know that this hand washes that one, too/When you're good to Mama, Mama's good to you

Mary Sunshine (Countertenor)

Spotlight Song: We Both Reached For the Gun

Original Broadway Cast (1975): Michael O'Haughey

Broadway Revival Cast (1996): David Sabella-Mills

Film Cast (2002): Christine Baranski

Mary Sunshine isn't a large role in the show, but she is memorable and, in the stage production, holds one of the biggest twists in the plot line. Her "big" musical moment is in my second favorite number from the show, Act 1's We Both Reached For the Gun. While Billy takes the lead in this song, O'Haughey and Sabella-Mills get to show off their impressive countertenor ranges and Baranski gets to just be her wonderfully talented self.

Understandable. understandable/Yes, it's perfectly understandable/Comprehensible, comprehensible/Not a bit reprehensible, it's so defensible

I highly encourage you to listen to Chicago, watch the movie, anything to check this show out because it's definitely deserving of the attention it gets. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!