The world premiere of Chicago: the musical at the 46th Street Theatre, New York, in
June 1975, marked the end of a 25 year struggle to bring Maurine Dallas Watkins' 1926
play to the musical stage. Her career as a journalist for the Chicago
Tribune had brought her into daily contact with the sort of
characters we see in Chicago. The central figures,
Billy, Roxie, Velma and Amos, are all taken from real
life case studies, and the story line is a mixture
of two genuine murder trials.

In the 1975 John Kander/Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse musical
adaption of the play played up the show business side of
the story and cut out some of the 'newspaper world' scene
and also one of the main reporter characters and built up the
role of Velma Kelly. Gwen Verden and Chita Rivera starred
as the pair of dancing killers with Jerry Orbach as Roxies's
fast talkin' lawyer. Chicago played for 898 performances and
closed on August 27 1977. A German production was
mounted in 1977, while a brittish production originated
at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and later transferred
to London's Cambridge Theatre, with Antonia Ellis,
Jenny Logan and Ben Cross featured for 590 performances.

In 1981 the Sydney Theatre Company produced Chicago
with Nancye Hayes, Geraldine Turner and Terence Donovan.
It proved so succesful that the production was bought
back for several more Australian seasons and
Polydor produced a cast album.

The story of Roxie Hart has come a long
way, but the satire is still there, and will
not be lost on Australian audiences.
With the blood of Ned Kelly in their veins,
have always been ready to fete a clever
attractive criminal, and boost newspaper
circulation, to read of their exploits.
Chicago exposes the hypocrisy behind
the cause 'celebre'...it shows us a world
where prison and cabaret are one.

And all that jazz...

edited from the 1998 Aust. Chicago Playbill