Chicago tickets provide a look at a sensational murder trial is the center of this Jazz Age, darkly comic, musical. This winner of six Tony Awards in 1997, including the Best Revival of a Musical, has been playing at New York's Ambassador Theatre for almost 10 years and is said to be Broadway's longest-running revival. First produced in 1975, the musical was based on the play Chicago by Maurine Dallas Watkins, a former reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
This vaudeville musical, set in the roaring 1920's, is all about fame, fortune, greed, exploitation, adultery, treachery and murder. Centering on the ambitious, and in a few short turns, murderess, Roxie Hart, Chicago is the retelling of two very public murder trials in 1924.
Consisting of such legendary jazz songs as "Cell Block Tango," "Mister Cellophane," "Razzle-Dazzle," and of course," All That Jazz." Tony Award winner John Kander wrote Chicago's scintillating music and the lyrics are by Fred Ebb, another Tony Award winner.
Chicago, the longest-running recent musical revival on Broadway, is directed by Walter Bobbi and choreographed by Ann Reinking. Ken Billington designed the lighting and all of the above won Tony Awards for their work in 1997.
The original cast in 1957 consisted of Chita Rivera, veteran Broadway actress, as Velma Kelly, Gwen Verdon, veteran choreographer, as Roxy Hart, and Jerry Orbach, of Law and Order fame, as Billy Flynn. Liza Minelli was Verdon's replacement for one month in 1975 and her subsequent honors and publicity was attributed to the show's long run. When Verdon left the show permanently, Ann Reinking, the Tony Award winning choreographer, stepped into the role.
When the show was revived in 1997, Bebe Neuwirth stepped into the role of Velma Kelly; Ann Reinking as Roxie Hart, and James Naughton as Billy Flynn. Over time the cast has welcomed many famous entertainers from stage and screen such as Rita Wilson, the wife of Tom Hanks in her Broadway debut; Melanie Griffith, Wayne Brady, Brooke Shields, Usher and Huey Lewis.
In 2002, Chicago was given the Hollywood treatment and made into a feature film featuring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah and Richard Gere. The film won Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Best Picture (Martin Richards) in 2003
Chicago, the Musical tickets are currently available for the national tour across the U.S. as well as for the Ambassador Theatre in New York.
