Chicago (The Musical)
Chicago is a musical based off of Maurine Watkins's play entitled Chicago written in 1927. Once Bob Fosse attained the rights to the play, he worked with composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb to help relaunch the success of Chicago by turning it into a musical in 1975 (Miller) . The musical is about a women named Roxie Hart who is an aspiring vaudevillian and will do anything to be famous. Her life changes when she shoots her lover after finding out that he never had any intentions of making her famous but only to sleep with her. The cops come to the scene and her husband Amos rats Roxie out after he realizes that she has been cheating on him. The cops then take her away to Cook County Jail, there she meets Velma Kelly who is a current vaudevillian Roxie has looked up to. While in Jail the women experience a ridiculous amount of fame due to their trials and it becomes a competition between the two women. However, as Roxie becomes more popular Velma asks her to join a sister act with her, but Roxie turns her down. Soon people lose interest in Roxie to focus on the new girl inducted into Cook County Jail. Roxie realizes that she has to do something drastic to get her popularity back, so she fakes being pregnant which puts her back on top. When Roxie enters the court her Lawyer Billy Flynn tells her to treat the trail as if it was a show and "Razzle Dazzle" them. Soon Roxie's tricks work and she is acquitted. As soon as she is let go, she is no longer in the public eye because the press has already moved on to the next murderess. Soon Roxie and Velma create an act together and sing "Hot Honey Rag" as their final performance.
Vaudeville in Chicago
During the 1880's to the 1920's vaudeville was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in America, a typical show consisted of numerous acts including singing, dancing, acting, acrobatics and many other odd talents ("Vaudeville"). Since vaudeville had a large variety and was family friendly it was enjoyed by thousands of Americans. Vaudeville began to die out with the invention of television and movies, because the entertainment was more accessible at home. Chicago the play was set in the 1920's when vaudeville was still being performed everywhere, although it is not a vaudeville piece, Bob Fosse was able to turn the play into a symbolic work of art when he was able to get his hands on the script's rights. Fosse knew and grew up around vaudeville actors during his life time so when he got a chance to work on Chicago he wanted to showcase and preserve the art of vaudeville into his musical (Miller).
He was always fascinated with the notion of people acting in their everyday lives, and that no one is truly genuine anymore. So with this central theme, he incorporated the aspect of over glorifying crimes and made his characters "act" out of their troubles to fool people into thinking they're innocent hence the song "Razzle Dazzle" (Miller). With the collaborative work of John Kander and Fred Ebb, Bob Fosse was able to showcase America's beloved Vaudeville into the characters and songs in Chicago.
The way in which Chicago is set up is similar to the way a typical vaudeville show is structured. On the side of the stage, the dialogue takes place between the characters like a regular play. While on center stage, an "act" of some sort is taking place which is where the vaudeville aspect comes in. While the acts on center stage are being performed it's as if the audience is transported to a vaudeville show because the actors are performing directly to the spectators. Where in regular musicals, the numbers are performed while interacting with each other, without breaking the third wall. Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb, and John Kander felt it was necessary to incorporate the stylistic aspects of vaudeville into Chicago to emphasis the fact that they are putting on a show for the audience. This way of story telling transports the viewers into the shoes of the audience members of the 1920's, giving the show a more realistic feeling. Using vaudeville skits to transition into each scene also gives variety to the show, which appeals to a broader audience.
He was always fascinated with the notion of people acting in their everyday lives, and that no one is truly genuine anymore. So with this central theme, he incorporated the aspect of over glorifying crimes and made his characters "act" out of their troubles to fool people into thinking they're innocent hence the song "Razzle Dazzle" (Miller). With the collaborative work of John Kander and Fred Ebb, Bob Fosse was able to showcase America's beloved Vaudeville into the characters and songs in Chicago.
The way in which Chicago is set up is similar to the way a typical vaudeville show is structured. On the side of the stage, the dialogue takes place between the characters like a regular play. While on center stage, an "act" of some sort is taking place which is where the vaudeville aspect comes in. While the acts on center stage are being performed it's as if the audience is transported to a vaudeville show because the actors are performing directly to the spectators. Where in regular musicals, the numbers are performed while interacting with each other, without breaking the third wall. Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb, and John Kander felt it was necessary to incorporate the stylistic aspects of vaudeville into Chicago to emphasis the fact that they are putting on a show for the audience. This way of story telling transports the viewers into the shoes of the audience members of the 1920's, giving the show a more realistic feeling. Using vaudeville skits to transition into each scene also gives variety to the show, which appeals to a broader audience.