Chicago (musical)

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Chicago is a musical with the music of John Kander and the lyrics by Fred Ebb . The book is by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse based on the play of the same name by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins from 1926. Bob Fosse directed and choreographed, and Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon took on the female lead in the world premiere .

It premiered on June 3, 1975 at 46th Street Theater, New York . After a total of 936 performances, the last curtain fell on August 27, 1977. On November 14, 1996, a major revival production premiered at the Richard Rodgers Theater (New York), which also reached Vienna via London . In 1997 the show received six Tony Awards .

After Cabaret , Chicago is the most famous musical by Kander and Ebb.

The plot

1st act

The story takes place in Chicago in the 1920s ("Ouverture") . It begins with the murder of the vaudeville dancer ("All That Jazz") Roxie Hart of her lover Fred Casely. During the first questioning at the scene of the crime, her husband covers her ("Funny Honey") until it turns out that she had a relationship with the dead man. Roxie is then sent to prison for remand ("Cell Block Tango") .

There she meets the corrupt Matron Morton, known as "Mama", who explains to her life in prison ("When You're Good to Mama") . Her cellmate and also murderer is the dancer Velma Kelly, who became a media star with "Mamas" help and plans to continue her career after her release. "Mama" suggests the lawyer Billy Flynn to Roxie because he has never lost a lawsuit. Roxie doesn't have enough money, but she gets it anyway through her husband ("A Tap Dance") and Billy accepts Roxie's case ("All I Care About is Love") .

With the help of the tabloid journalist Mary Sunshine ("A Little Bit of Good") , Roxie is becoming more and more popular in the media as a "jazz killer", in the play she holds up a large newspaper with the headline "Roxie rocks' Chicago" and new ones Versions of the truth are spread ("We Both Reached for the Gun") . Velma becomes jealous of her because she steals not only the limelight, but also Billy, and tries in vain to get into a conversation with her and to win her as a partner for her show number ("I Can't Do It Alone") . Independently of each other, both women come to the conclusion that they can only trust themselves (“My Own Best Friend”) .

2nd act

Roxie's lucky streak never ends ("I Know a Girl") , despite her lies, according to which it is said that she attended a convent school and is now pregnant, which should have been her greatest wish for a long time ("Me and My Baby") . However, nobody is interested in the alleged paternity of her husband (“Mr. Cellophane”) .

Meanwhile, Velma and Billy plan some tricks for their negotiation ("When Velma Takes The Stand") . The lawyer uses all of these for Roxie's case ("Razzle Dazzle") , which "Mama" and Velma are not friendly ("Class") .

With all the flattery and lies, Roxie is set free as expected. However, their days in the light of the media also come to an abrupt end when a new, more spectacular case attracts public interest. Roxie accepts it ("Nowadays") and comes back to Velma's former suggestion of a joint career ("Hot Honey Rag") . Ultimately, Velma and Roxie become two acclaimed jazz singers (“Finale”) .

Chicago in German-speaking countries

  • Germany: Hamburg : Thalia Theater : Premiere: May 21, 1977, Derniere: unknown (German premiere)
  • Austria: Vienna : Theater an der Wien : Premiere: February 21, 1979, Derniere: unknown (Austrian premiere)
  • Germany: Munich : Deutsches Theater : Premiere: April 6, 1987, Derniere: unknown
  • Germany: Berlin : Theater des Westens : Premiere: March 24, 1988, Derniere: June 6, 1988
  • Austria: Vienna : Theater an der Wien : Premiere: September 23, 1998, Derniere: April 21, 1999
  • Germany: Berlin: Theater des Westens : Premiere: September 25, 1999, Derniere: July 16, 2000
  • Germany: Munich: Deutsches Theater : Premiere: October 3, 2000, Derniere: December 3, 2000
  • Switzerland: Basel : Musical Theater Basel: Premiere: December 11, 2000, Derniere: February 4, 2001
  • Germany: Düsseldorf : Capitol Theater : Premiere: October 4th, 2001, Derniere: January 19th, 2002
  • Switzerland: St. Gallen : Theater St. Gallen : Premiere: February 18, 2012, Derniere: December 30, 2012 (repertoire: 28 performances)
  • Austria: Linz : Landestheater Linz : Premiere: July 31, 2012, Derniere: August 11, 2012 (Repertoire: 6 performances in English with German surtitles)
  • Germany: Stuttgart : SI-Centrum : Premiere: November 6, 2014, Derniere: September 17, 2015
  • Germany: Berlin : Theater des Westens : Premiere: October 11, 2015, Derniere: January 17, 2016
  • Germany: Munich: Deutsches Theater : Premiere: March 6, 2016, Derniere: April 10, 2016
  • Germany: Ettlingen : Castle Festival, premiere June 21, 2018, Derniere August 11, 2018
  • Germany: Magdeburg : Domplatz-OpenAir, premiere June 14, 2018, Derniere July 7, 2019
  • Germany: Braunschweig : Large House, premiere November 30, 2019, Derniere May 1, 2020

Occupations

Premiere cast in Berlin (1988) :

Premiere cast in Vienna (1998):

Premiere cast in Berlin (1999):

Premiere cast in Munich (2000):

First cast in Basel (2000):

Premiere cast in Düsseldorf (2001):

  • Roxie Hart: Ann Mandrella
  • Velma Kelly: Anna Montanaro
  • Billy Flynn: Nikolas Gerdell
  • Mama Morton: Isabel Weicken
  • Amos Hart: Léon van Leeuwenberg
  • Mary Sunshine: Magnus Karlberg

First cast in St. Gallen (2012):

  • Roxie Hart: Sabrina Harper
  • Velma Kelly: Sabine Hettlich
  • Billy Flynn: Tobias Licht
  • Mama Morton: Brigitte Oelke
  • Amos Hart: Frank Winkels
  • Mary Sunshine: Martin Schäffner

Premiere cast in Linz (2012):

  • Roxie Hart: Ali Bastian
  • Velma Kelly: Tupele Dorgu
  • Billy Flynn: Stefan Booth
  • Mama Morton: Bernie Nolan
  • Amos Hart: Jamie Baughan
  • Mary Sunshine: Alex Weatherhill

Premiere cast in Stuttgart (2014):

  • Roxie Hart: Carien Keizer
  • Velma Kelly: Lana Gordon
  • Billy Flynn: Nigel Casey (December 2014 - March 2015 Pasquale Aleardi )
  • Mama Morton: Isabel Dörfler
  • Amos Hart: Volker Metzger
  • Mary Sunshine: Martin Schäffner

Premiere cast in Berlin (2015) and Munich (2016):

  • Roxie Hart: Carien Keizer
  • Velma Kelly: Caroline Frank
  • Billy Flynn: Nigel Casey
  • Mama Morton: Isabel Dörfler
  • Amos Hart: Volker Metzger
  • Mary Sunshine: Martin Schäffner / alternating in Berlin: Victor Petersen

Occupation Ettlingen (2018):

  • Roxie Hart: Maria Danae Bansen
  • Velma Kelly: Dorothee Kahler
  • Billy Flynn: Marc Lamberty
  • Mama Morton: Gudrun Schade

Awards

Original production 1975
  • Drama Desk Award for Best Lighting Design (Jules Fisher)
Resumption in 1996
  • Tony Award for
    • Best revival of a musical (Barry Weissler, Fran Weissler, in collaboration with Kardana Productions)
    • Best Actor in a Musical ( James Naughton )
    • Best Actress in a Musical ( Bebe Neuwirth )
    • Best lighting design (Ken Billington)
    • Best Choreography ( Ann Reinking )
    • Best Musical Director (Walter Bobbie)
  • Drama Desk Award for
    • Best revival of a musical (Barry Weissler, Fran Weissler, in collaboration with Kardana Productions)
    • Best Actress in a Musical ( Bebe Neuwirth )
    • Best Supporting Actor in a Musical ( Joel Gray )

Film adaptations

From 1976 to 1980, a Chicago film adaptation was discussed several times , as possible actors Liza Minnelli (as "Velma Kelly", previously played on Broadway by Chita Rivera), Goldie Hawn ("Roxie"), Frank Sinatra ("Billy") , Carol Channing , Ann Miller and Nancy Walker ("Mama") were traded; Directed should Martin Scorsese lead. It wasn't until 1991 that it was discussed again, when Lewis wanted to see Gilbert Minnelli as "Roxie", then in 1994 Harvey Weinstein said that he would like to engage Michelle Pfeiffer , Minnelli or Goldie Hawn together with Madonna ; a year later he even promised Minnelli her participation.

A film version was made by Rob Marshall in 2001 and was released in cinemas with Renée Zellweger , Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere . At that time, Minnelli was traded as "Mama Morton", but the role was taken over by Queen Latifah . Chita Rivera made a cameo as a smoking prison inmate. Compared to the musical, the character of Roxie Hart was loosened up a bit and some titles were not included in the film. Zeta-Jones received the 2003 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress .

The actual play by Maurine Dallas Watkins was first adapted as a silent film for the screen under the same title in 1927 . In 1942, the remake Roxie Hart was directed by William A. Wellman ; the title role was occupied by Ginger Rogers .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Chicago" premieres at the Theater des Westens in the Berlin Portal. Accessed on December 9, 2015
  2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from December 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.deutsches-theater.de
  3. ↑ Braunschweig State Theater; Musical theater: Chicago. Retrieved August 7, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Schechter: The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook. 2004, p. 95.