PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: A Two-Show Day With Chicago Star Leigh Zimmerman
Leigh Zimmerman, currently starring as merry murderess Velma Kelly in the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago, offers Playbill.com readers an exclusive look at a recent two-show day, from morning wakeup to final bows.
http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery/1946/?pnum=1
Tuesday 28 December 2010
CHICAGO CELEBRATES 14 YEARS ON BROADWAY
Chicago Celebrates 14th Anniversary Nov. 14
Brent Barrett
The long-running, Tony-winning Broadway revival of Kander and Ebb's Chicago celebrates its 14th anniversary Nov. 14. The production currently plays the Ambassador Theatre.
The company currently boasts Tony nominee Charlotte d'Amboise as Roxie Hart, Leigh Zimmerman as Velma Kelly, Brent Barrett as Billy Flynn, Raymond Bokhour as Amos Hart and Roz Ryan as Matron "Mama" Morton.
The current revival of Chicago began life as one of the three annual Encores! presentations offered by City Center. About that evening, James Naughton — who created the role of slick lawyer Billy Flynn — previously told Playbill.com, "Every single number the whole night long, the audience roared back at us. They literally roared. It's the most wonderful sound I've ever heard in the theatre. And what became apparent that night, and what I thought at the time, was this audience is starved for this kind of performing. All that we're doing is the most basic kind of in-your-face performing. There weren't any falling chandeliers or helicopters. It was just what actors, singers and dancers do best."
Produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, the musical opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Nov. 1996 where it remained through Feb. 1997. The musical transferred to the Shubert Theatre on Feb. 11, 1997, and played that house through Jan. 26, 2003. The revival reopened at the Ambassador Theatre, its current home, on Jan. 29, 2003.
By Andrew Gans
14 Nov 2010
2003: PATRICK SWAYZE (R.I.P.) TO JOIN BROADWAY'S CHICAGO
Patrick Swayze to Join Broadway's Chicago
Film star Patrick Swayze will join the Broadway company of Chicago for a limited engagement this month.
According to the Telecharge website, Swayze will begin his stint as slick lawyer Billy Flynn Dec. 15, playing through Dec. 28. A spokesperson for the musical was unable to confirm the Broadway casting news.
Swayze's New York run will precede his previously announced engagement in the show's national tour. Kander and Ebb's Tony-winning musical is set to play San Diego's Civic Center, Dec. 30, 2003-Jan. 4, 2004. The production will then move on to the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles from Jan. 7-Jan. 18, 2004. On Broadway and in the national tour, Swayze will play opposite the Roxie Hart of Bianca Marroquin and Reva Rice's Velma Kelly.
Patrick Swayze appeared in the Broadway productions of Grease and Goodtime Charley. The actor, however, is best known for his film work, which includes Golden Globe nominations for his performances in "Dirty Dancing," "Ghost" and "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar."
Chicago won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical in 1997 as well as awards for actors Bebe Neuwirth and James Naughton, director Walter Bobbie, lighting designer Ken Billington and choreographer Ann Reinking. The original production was directed and choreographed by the late Bob Fosse.
By Andrew Gans
03 Dec 2003
BROADWAY CARES
December 14, 2010, 1:00 pm Ebb Foundation Donates $1 Million to Broadway Cares
By ERIK PIEPENBURG
The Fred Ebb Foundation has given Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS a gift of $1 million, the largest donation in the organization’s history. The contribution is to be announced on Tuesday.
The foundation, established after the death of the Tony Award-winning lyricist in 2004, has given money annually to Broadway Cares, a New York-based nonprofit HIV/AIDS grant-making organization that is perhaps best known for producing benefits by and for the Broadway community, including the striptease-centered Broadway Bares.
Ebb collaborated with the composer John Kander on several Tony Award-winning musicals, including “Cabaret,” “Chicago” and “Kiss of the Spiderwoman.” One of the duo’s last works, the musical “The Scottsboro Boys,” closed on Broadway on Sunday.
Mitchell Bernard, the foundation’s trustee and a nephew of Ebb’s, said in a phone interview that consistent with his uncle’s wishes, no restrictions were placed on the money.
“He focused his efforts and life in the New York theater community, and the people at Broadway Cares know that,” he said. “We’re interested in the funds being used to help actors, writers, designers and other people in the theater who need assistance for medical or other reasons.”
Last week’s Gypsy of the Year competition, an annual event produced by Broadway Cares, raised over $3.7 million.
Sunday 9 May 2010
WHAT IS CHICAGO LIKE?
Description
Chicago is a musical tale of "murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery—all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts." Paint the town red with merry murderesses Roxie Hart, Velma Kelly, their hotshot lawyer, Billy Flynn, and the iconic choreography of Bob Fosse.
Should I see it?
What Is Chicago Like?
Devilish and delightful, Chicago is an indisputable Broadway landmark that utilizes minimal scenery and simple costumes (we’re talking some seriously basic black) to deliver one big musical bang after another. With one great showstopper after the next, John Kander and Fred Ebb’s now-classic score ...
Story
Set in the legendary city during the roaring “jazz hot” 20s, Chicago tells the story of two rival vaudevillian murderesses locked up in Cook County Jail. Nightclub star Velma’s serving time for killing her husband and sister after finding the two in bed together. Driven chorus girl Roxie’s been tossed in the joint for bumping off the lover she’s been cheating on her husband with. Not one to rest on her laurels, Velma enlists the help of prison matron Mama Morton and slickster lawyer Billy Flynn, who turn Velma’s incarceration into a murder-of-the-week media frenzy, thus preparing the world for a splashy showbiz comeback. But Roxie’s got some of her own tricks up her sleeve…
Should I See It?
What Is Chicago Like?
Devilish and delightful, Chicago is an indisputable Broadway landmark that utilizes minimal scenery and simple costumes (we’re talking some seriously basic black) to deliver one big musical bang after another. With one great showstopper after the next, John Kander and Fred Ebb’s now-classic score keeps the story moving at a gunshot pace. The scantily-clad dancers tip their bowler hats in tribute to original choreography Bob Fosse, whose moves are still as steamy and sexy today as they were when Chicago first appeared in 1975. For a show that stands chin-deep in dirty deeds, it feels like one helluva good time.
Is Chicago Good for Kids?
Although it’s simple in its presentation, kids who appreciate Broadway will certainly respond to the exciting theatricality of this long-running hit. Parents should be warned of the show’s hot topics, including murder, violence and adultery, as well as some off-color dialogue. But in comparison to what’s on TV these days, it’s pretty tame.
CHICAGO IN BROADWAY
Set in the legendary city during the roaring “jazz hot” 20s, Chicago tells the story of two rival vaudevillian murderesses locked up in Cook County Jail. Nightclub star Velma’s serving time for killing her husband and sister after finding the two in bed together. Driven chorus girl Roxie’s been tossed in the joint for bumping off the lover she’s been cheating on her husband with. Not one to rest on her laurels, Velma enlists the help of prison matron Mama Morton and slickster lawyer Billy Flynn, who turn Velma’s incarceration into a murder-of-the-week media frenzy, thus preparing the world for a splashy showbiz comeback. But Roxie’s got some of her own tricks up her sleeve…
Devilish and delightful, Chicago is an indisputable Broadway landmark that utilizes minimal scenery and simple costumes (we’re talking some seriously basic black) to deliver one big musical bang after another. With one great showstopper after the next, John Kander and Fred Ebb’s now-classic score keeps the story moving at a gunshot pace. The scantily-clad dancers tip their bowler hats in tribute to original choreography Bob Fosse, whose moves are still as steamy and sexy today as they were when Chicago first appeared in 1975. For a show that stands chin-deep in dirty deeds, it feels like one helluva good time.
Is Chicago Good for Kids?
Although it’s simple in its presentation, kids who appreciate Broadway will certainly respond to the exciting theatricality of this long-running hit. Parents should be warned of the show’s hot topics, including murder, violence and adultery, as well as some off-color dialogue. But in comparison to what’s on TV these days, it’s pretty tame.
Should I See It?
What Is Chicago Like?Devilish and delightful, Chicago is an indisputable Broadway landmark that utilizes minimal scenery and simple costumes (we’re talking some seriously basic black) to deliver one big musical bang after another. With one great showstopper after the next, John Kander and Fred Ebb’s now-classic score keeps the story moving at a gunshot pace. The scantily-clad dancers tip their bowler hats in tribute to original choreography Bob Fosse, whose moves are still as steamy and sexy today as they were when Chicago first appeared in 1975. For a show that stands chin-deep in dirty deeds, it feels like one helluva good time.
Is Chicago Good for Kids?
Although it’s simple in its presentation, kids who appreciate Broadway will certainly respond to the exciting theatricality of this long-running hit. Parents should be warned of the show’s hot topics, including murder, violence and adultery, as well as some off-color dialogue. But in comparison to what’s on TV these days, it’s pretty tame.
Wednesday 5 May 2010
CHICAGO THE MUSICAL THE PLOT AND THE STORY
THE PLOT
As the OVERTURE ends, we're introduced to Velma Kelly -- a vaudevillian who shot the other half of her sister act when she caught her husband with her sister. Velma invites us to sample ALL THAT JAZZ while showing us the story of chorus girl Roxie Hart's cold-blooded murder of nightclub regular Fred Casely. Roxie convinces her husband Amos that the victim was a burglar, and he cheerfully takes the rap.
Roxie expresses her appreciation in song (FUNNY HONEY) until the police reveal to Amos that Roxie knew the burglar, shall we say, intimately, and Amos decides to let her swing for herself. Roxie's first taste of the criminal justice system is the women's block in Cook County Jail, inhabited by Velma and other merry murderesses (CELL BLOCK TANGO). The women's jail is presided over by Matron "Mama" Morton whose system of mutual aid (WHEN YOU'RE GOOD TO MOMMA) perfectly suits her clientele. She has helped Velma become the media's top murderer-of-the-week and is acting as booking agent for Velma's big return to vaudeville (after her acquittal, naturally.)
Velma is not happy to see Roxie, who is stealing not only her limelight but her lawyer, Billy Flynn. Eagerly awaited by his all-girl clientele, Billy sings his anthem, complete with a chorus of fan-dancers to prove that (quote) (ALL I CARE ABOUT IS LOVE.) Billy takes Roxie's case and re-arranges her story for consumption by sympathetic tabloid columnist Mary Sunshine, who always tries to find A LITTLE BIT OF GOOD in everyone.
Roxie's press conference turns into a ventriloquist act with Billy dictating a new version of the truth (WE BOTH REACHED FOR THE GUN) while Roxie mouths the words. Roxie becomes the new toast of Chicago and Velma's headlines, trial date and career are left in the dust. Velma tries to talk Roxie into recreating the sister act (I CAN'T DO IT ALONE) but Roxie turns her down, only to find her own headlines replaced by the latest sordid crime of passion. Separately, Roxie and Velma realize there's no one they can count on but themselves (MY OWN BEST FRIEND), and the ever-resourceful Roxie decides that being pregnant in prison would put her back on the front page.
Back after the ENTR'ACTE, Velma cannot believe Roxie's continual run of luck (I KNOW A GIRL) despite Roxie's obvious falsehoods (ME AND MY BABY).
A little shy on the arithmetic, Amos proudly claims paternity, and still nobody notices him, MR. CELLOPHANE. Velma desperately tries to show Billy all the tricks she's got planned (WHEN VELMA TAKES THE STAND).
Billy's forte may be showmanship (RAZZLE DAZZLE), but when he passes all Velma's ideas on to Roxie, down to the rhinestone shoe buckles, Mama and Velma lament the demise of CLASS. As promised, Billy gets Roxie her acquittal but, just as the verdict is given, some even more sensational crime pulls the pack of press bloodhounds away, and Roxie's fleeting celebrity is over. Left in the dust, she pulls herself up and extols the joys of life NOWADAYS. She teams up with Velma in that sister act (NOWADAYS), in which they dance their little hearts out (HOT HONEY RAG) 'til they are joined by the entire company for the grand FINALE.
The John Kander-Fred Ebb-Bob Fosse musical CHICAGO is described in its opening number as a "story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery, and treachery--all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts." In short, CHICAGO is a musical that is a parade of highly-creative Broadway show-stoppers that each make a satiric point about the American judicial system...a topic made even more relevant in the recent O.J. Simpson and Menendez Brothers murder trials.
The musical CHICAGO tells its story through a series of show-stopping songs. It is based on actual murders in history, written about in a 1926 satirical play by Maurine Dallas Watkins. The character Roxie Hart is based on the real-life murderess Beulah Annan.
One of the healthiest ways of dealing with the intolerable is to make fun of it, or satirize it. The musical "Chicago" is a satire on our judicial system and how the media can at times influence the outcome of court cases.
CHICAGO
THE STORY
Act One
As a jazz band plays a brief OVERTURE, we find out that Roxie Hart has just killed her former lover Fred Casely. Fellow murderess Velma Kelly sings the song ALL THAT JAZZ.
It's just a noisy hall
Where there's a nightly brawl
And all that jazz...
Roxie's husband, Amos Hart, admits to police that he was coerced into committing the murder of Fred Casely, causing Roxie to lament Amos' stupidity in the song FUNNY HONEY.
She is thrown in the Cook County Jail with Velma and other Merry Murderesses who sing about their "innocence" in the song THE CELL BLOCK TANGO. Roxie also meets the overly friendly Mama Morton, the jail matron, who sings WHEN YOU'RE GOOD TO MOMMA. Roxie, Velma and the Murderesses all hope to get out of their murder raps by hiring shyster lawyer Billy Flynn. Billy sings about his love of legal procedure in the song ALL I CARE ABOUT. Billy loves to practice law by manipulating the local gossip columnist Mary Sunshine (who sings her journalistic creed in the number A LITTLE BIT OF GOOD). Billy coaches Roxie in a sob story: runaway marriage, foolish affair and then WE BOTH REACH FOR THE GUN. Soon the headlines scream, ROXIE ROCKS CHICAGO! Roxie muses: "If this Flynn guy gets me off, and with all this publicity, I could get into vaudeville." She sings ROXIE.
Still in jail but glowing in new-found fame, both Roxie and Velma (singing I CAN'T DO IT ALONE), find themselves no longer the hottest item in the media. A new murderess now grabs all the attention. To gain attention back, Roxie and Velma team up to sing MY OWN BEST FRIEND.
Roxie faints. She makes a dramatic announcement to capture attention: she says she's pregnant. All Velma can do is shake her head and sing ALL THAT JAZZ. Flashbulbs pop...Roxie is the center of attention...the curtain falls.
Act Two
The Second Act opens with Roxie singing to her supposed baby in the song ME AND MY BABY. Amos realizes he's been used and calls himself MR. CELLOPHANE.
Mister Cellophane
'Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there
Velma demonstrates her sense of showmanship in the song WHEN VELMA TAKES THE STAND.
Roxie resents being ordered around by Billy, so she fires him. But once she finds out that one of the Murderesses is hanged, she hurries back to Billy, who prepares for his big courtroom performances by trying to look like the legendary lawyer Clarence Darrow. He tells Roxie:
"It's all a circus, kid. A three-ring circus. These trials--the whole world--all show business. But kid, you're working with a star, the biggest."
Billy sings the song RAZZLE DAZZLE. In court, after using Amos to soften the jury's heart, Billy questions Roxie about events leading up to the killing. She recounts that Fred Casely forced his way into her bedroom.
She testifies, "We both reached for the gun. But I got it first." Billy asks, "Then it was his life or yours?" Roxie goes to the jury, pats her stomach, and answers, "And not just mine! And I closed my eyes and shot." Billy asks, "In defense of your life?" Roxie replies, "To save my husband's innocent unborn child!"
Having heard about Roxie's courtroom charade, Mama Morton and Velma reminisce about the good old days in the song CLASS.
The jury finds Roxie not guilty, but another sensational murder steals the press' attention before Roxie can capitalize on her notoriety. Amos remains loyal to Roxie, but she tells him there is no baby. She wonders about the world in the song NOWADAYS.
The scene changes as a night club emcee announces a new act: "Chicago's own killer-dillers--those two scintillating sinners--Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly." Yes, the deadly duo have joined forces as a new vaudeville team. They're a hit as they sing the reprise of ALL THAT JAZZ.
WELCOME
Welcome to my new blog. It's all about CHICAGO THE MUSICAL one of the most applauded musical show ever put on stage. Feel free to contribute to it with your posts and photos. Look forward to hearing from you. All the best, Jake.
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