CHICAGO Souvenir Program

Lyrics by
Fred Ebb
Barry & Fran Weissler
in association with
Kardana/Hart Sharp Entertainment
present
Music By
John Kander
Book by
Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse
WELCOME.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE A
STORY OF
MURDER,
Scenic Design
John Lee Beatty
Sound Design
Scott Lehrer
Script Adaptation
David Thompson
Original Production Directed and Choreographed by Bob Fosse
Supervising Music Director
Rob Fisher
Based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins
Costume Design
William Ivey Long
Orchestrations
Ralph Burns
Musical Coordinator
Seymour Red Press
Music Director
Leslie Stifelman
Lighting Design
Ken Billington
Dance Music Arrangements
Peter Howard
Hair Design
David Brian Brown
GREED,
CORRUPTION,
VIOLENCE,
Casting
Duncan Stewart and Company
Technical Supervisor
Arthur Siccardi
Dance Supervisor
Gary Chryst
Original Casting
Jay Binder
Production Stage Manager
David Hyslop
EXPLOITATION,
Executive Producer
Alecia Parker
General Manager
B.J. Holt
SM
Based on the presentation by City Center’s Encores!
Choreography by
Ann Reinking
in the style of Bob Fosse
Directed by
Walter Bobbie
Cast Recording on RCA Victor
Presented in Association with
Broadway Across America
Press Representative
Jeremy Shaffer
The Publicity Office
ADULTERY &
TREACHERY
– ALL THOSE THINGS WE HOLD
NEAR AND DEAR TO OUR
HEARTS.
AMY SPANGER

STEPHANIE POPE
This production isn’t just smoke and mirrors. It’s flesh and blood shaped by discipline and artistry
into a parade of vital pulsing talent. If there’s any justice in this world (and Chicago insists
there isn’t), audiences will be exulting in that parade for many, many performances to come.
BEN BRANTLEY, THE NEW YORK TIMES

CHICAGO still glitters hypnotically! It remains the best adult
entertainment in town… and still bubbles with the joy of performing!
-THE NEW YORK TIMES
ALWAYS CREATIVE
AMRA-FAYE WRIGHT

A NOTE FROM
When Gwen Verdon and Bob Fosse came to Fred and me with
the idea for this project (it must have been about 1973, because
we opened in 1975), Fred was ecstatic and I was less so. I didn’t
admit to my lack of enthusiasm to Bob, but I did to Fred, because
I thought to myself “oh my God, another ‘show business is a
metaphor for life’ piece,” which I felt we had already done.
As it usually happened in my collaborations with Fred, however,
when one of us showed enthusiasm over something and the
other was not so inspired, we would still support each other
and go along to see where it took us. With Chicago, as we
began to write and particularly as we worked on the score, I
began to fall in love with the piece and felt very strongly about
its run on Broadway.
So, it was very startling to me after we opened in 1975 to
receive such lackluster reviews. We had some bad reviews…we
had some good reviews, but overall nothing wildly overboard.
The show ran for two years and was a moderate success, but
disappointing to say the least.
JOHN KANDER
MUSIC
Then, lo and behold, all these years later, the show was
revived into a stunning production and became (and still is) an
enormous success. Although the revival is more spare and stark
then the original, it is the same choreographic approach, the
same dialogue (with expert trims by Tommy Thompson), the
same orchestration and the same attitude towards life. The two
productions are basically the same and the question I’ve had
these ten, wonderful years is why? Why, has the revival been so
much more successful than its predecessor?
I’ve yet to get a satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon.
Perhaps it was the O.J. Simpson case or the increased awareness
of corruption in our society. Perhaps our culture had changed
in the twenty-one years between the two productions or the
climate and competition of the rest of Broadway is different.
I still don’t know, but whatever the case, I’m glad to have the
mystery.
JASON PATRICK SANDS, AMOS WOLFF, RYAN WORSING
A NOTE FROM
WALTER BOBBIE
DIRECTOR
DENISE VAN OUTEN
“Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to see a story of
murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery
and treachery,--all those things we hold near and dear to our
hearts.”
So begins the musical Chicago—and creators John Kander,
Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse never back off from that bold and
sinister promise. A promise they fulfill with wit, danger, dazzle,
style and a great deal of humor. The prickly delight of Chicago
is that the musical is both showbiz savvy and theatrically rich,
so that while it sets toes tapping, it also entertains the mind.
But first the story; Roxie Hart, a nightclub dancer who dreams
of headlining in vaudeville, kills her lover, then convinces her
husband to come up with $5,000 to hire Chicago’s shrewdest
lawyer, who ultimately turns her crime into celebrity headlines
and gets his client acquitted. By telling its tale in the sexy jazzy
style of modern vaudeville, the killers (and there are five more
of them) set out to seduce the audience as well as the jury.
This 1975 musical based on the 1926 play by Maurine Dallas
Watkins now looks like it was ripped from today’s headlines.
In recent years, America has experienced a new wave of
celebrity trials. The abuses, manipulation of and by the press,
and the complexity of our judicial system can make the search
for truth and justice seem like different goals. Chicago’s plot
was shocking in 1926, cynical and satirical in 1975, and today
feels like a documentary.
The motor of any musical is its score, and Kander and Ebb
have written a “hummer.” Each song enhanced by Ralph Burns’s
brassy jazz band orchestrations, evokes the 1920s, reveals
character, makes us laugh, drives the story, and simultaneously
sustains an insistent beat, an edge which (like its characters)
is as desperate to entertain as it is entertaining. A score of
show-stoppers. Our production had its beginnings at City
Center’s “Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert.”
It was conceived as an homage to Bob Fosse, one of the great
theatrical minds of any generation. Rather then reproduce
his1975 Broadway production, we chose to reawaken its
themes by honoring Fosse’s choreographic style, and filling
his production with stylistic images that spanned his brilliant
career.
Our minimalist set and lighting reflect Chicago’s themes of
entrapment. Less site-specific, the production moves fluidly
not from place to place, but from one emotional context
to the next. The characters in Chicago are trapped—either
in prison and in the legal system, or trapped by their own
fame, lust, greed, ambition. Likewise, our cast is trapped on
stage, the orchestra confined in an exaggerated jury box,
and our lighting shadows these images with prison bars and
the glamorized solitude of the spotlight. The costumes are
as sexually manipulative as any contemporary advertising.
Black became the color—black, and of course, skin. Stripping
Chicago bare has revealed a piece of writing sturdier, richer,
funnier and certainly more relevant than ever.

A NOTE FROM
ANN REINKING
CHOREOGRAPHER
When I was young, I read a wise and surprising quote from the great Martha Graham as told to Agnes de Mille. This perception has
stayed in my soul deeply and somehow in a grown-up way. It goes like this:
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all
time, this expression is unique.
You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work, you have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you.
Keep the channel open.
No artist is pleased.
There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction;
A blessed unrest that keeps us marching
And makes us more alive than the others.”
I have known and treasured the exquisite growing pains of three great men. John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, who created
the musical of Chicago. No matter how someone does a different highly creative version of, say, the opera “Carmen” by Bizet,
it is still Carmen by Bizet.
Most of us have lived long enough to know that it was the writers that made a true classic—and they did it! We have added, loved,
and respected it. We gave all of our talent, love and passion to it. Because we all had the true privilege to be a part of a great classic
created by great and kind men!
A NOTE FROM
BARRY WEISSLER
PRODUCER
From its appearance at “Encores!” in 1995, Walter Bobbie and Ann Reinking’s new take on Chicago wowed audiences with
its sleek, sexy style and choreography based on the Fosse style. The rapturous reception of the limited run of “Encores!”
performances led to immediate plans to move the show to Broadway where it once again received blissful reviews. Critics
and pundits commented on the show’s timeliness in the current celebrity-obsessed culture, and ten years hence, with the
reality TV and celebrity scandals unabated, the show created in 1975 seems more prophetic than ever.
The terrific songs of Kander and Ebb, reinvented, reinterpreted, belted and chirped by performers around the world in
varied languages combined with a stream of celebrity and theatrical cast replacements has kept the show sharp, entertaining
and current. The popularity of the 2003 Oscar ® -winning film gave the show another boost, bringing the musical to an even
broader audience. Chicago has enjoyed productions in over thirty different countries and has been performed in at least
seven different languages, making this timeless production a true international triumph, appealing to audiences young and
old across many different cultures.
Perhaps Ben Brantley of The New York Times said it best in his original 1996 review. “This production isn’t just smoke and
mirrors. It’s flesh and blood shaped by discipline and artistry into a parade of vital pulsing talent. If there’s any justice in this
world (and Chicago insists that there isn’t), audiences will be exulting in that parade for many, many performances to come.”

More than 10 years into its run and giving no signs of cooling down,
CHICAGO remains a sizzler – one extremely sex-see experience!
-STAR LEDGER
ALWAYS ORIGINAL
JENNIFER DUNNE

AND ALL THAT JAZZ
AMRA-FAYE WRIGHT & COMPANY

POP.
SIX.
SQUISH.
UH UH.
CICERO.
LIPSCHITZ!
POP.
SIX.
SQUISH.
UH UH.

OH YES,
OH YES,
OH YES,
THEY BOTH
OH YES,
THEY BOTH
OH YES,
THEY BOTH
REACHED FOR
THE GUN,
THE GUN,
THE GUN,
THE GUN,
OH YES,
THEY BOTH
REACHED FOR
BRENT BARRETT, CHRISTIE BRINKLEY & COMPANY
THE GUN,
FOR THE GUN!

THERE’S
MEN EVERYWHERE
JAZZ EVERYWHERE
BOOZE EVERYWHERE
LIFE EVERYWHERE
JOY EVERYWHERE
NOWADAYS.
AND THAT’S
GOOD, ISN’T IT?
GRAND, ISN’T IT?
GREAT, ISN’T IT?
SWELL, ISN’T IT?
FUN, ISN’T IT?
LEFT: CHRISTIE BRINKLEY, AMRA-FAYE WRIGHT
TOP RIGHT: BIANCA MARROQUIN, AMRA-FAYE WRIGHT
BOTTOM: NIKKA GRAFF LANZARONE, CHARLOTTE D’AMBOISE

CHICAGO is as crazy-fun as ever! Insanely entertaining!
-WCBS TV
ALWAYS CLASSIC
BEBE NEUWIRTH

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: TERRA C. MACLEOD, BRENDA BRAXTON, TERRA C. MACLEOD
OPPOSITE PAGE: AMRA-FAYE WRIGHT
WHAT EVER
HAPPENED TO
FAIR DEALING?
AND PURE
ETHICS
AND NICE
MANNERS?
WHY IS IT
EVERYONE NOW
IS A PAIN IN
THE ASS?
WHATEVER
HAPPENED TO
CLASS?
VELMA KELLY

ROXIE HART
THE NAME ON EVERYBODY’S LIPS
IS GONNA BE ROXIE
THE LADY RAKIN’ IN THE CHIPS
IS GONNA BE ROXIE
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: AMY SPANGER, CHARLOTTE D’AMBOISE, BIANCA MARROQUIN
OPPOSITE PAGE: SAMANTHA HARRIS & COMPANY

THEY SAY THAT LIFE IS TIT FOR TAT
AND THAT'S THE WAY I LIVE.
SO, I DESERVE
A LOT OF TAT
FOR WHAT I'VE GOT TO GIVE.
DON'T YOU KNOW THAT THIS HAND
WASHES THAT ONE TOO?
WHEN YOU'RE GOOD TO
MAMA
MAMA'S GOOD TO YOU!
THIS PAGE: ROZ RYAN
OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP: CAROL WOODS, SOFIA VERGARA, LYNDA CARTER

BILLY
FLYNN
GIVE ‘EM THE OLD RAZZLE DAZZLE
RAZZLE DAZZLE ‘EM
GIVE ‘EM AN ACT WITH LOTS OF FLASH IN IT
AND THE REACTION WILL BE PASSIONATE
NILI BASSMAN, MATTHEW SETTLE, MELISSA RAE MAHON
HARRY HAMLIN & COMPANY
BRIAN O’BRIEN & COMPANY
TOM WOPAT & COMPANY
ARY SUNSHINE
R. LOWE
YOU’RE SO MUCH
BETTER OFFIF YOU
BELIEVE....
THAT THERE’S
A LITTLE BIT OF GOOD
IN EVERYONE
IN EVERYONE
YOU’LL EVER KNOW
YES, THERE’S
A LITTLE BIT OF GOOD
IN EVERYONE
THOUGH MANY TIMES
IT DOESN’T SHOW

The show seems to have discovered the fountain of youth.
As entertaining as ever. Brash, buoyant and utterly irresistible!
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALWAYS FAMOUS
CHRISTIE BRINKLEY

ANN REINKING
ROXIE HART
JOEL GREY
AMOS HART
MARCIA LEWIS
MATRON “MAMA” MORTON
VINCENT PASTORE
AMOS HART
GEORGE HAMILTON
BILLY FLYNN
KEVIN RICHARDSON
BILLY FLYNN
BEBE NEUWIRTH
VELMA KELLY
MARILU HENNER
ROXIE HART
PATRICK SWAYZE
BILLY FLYNN
MELORA HARDIN
ROXIE HART
CHANDRA WILSON
MATRON “MAMA” MORTON
PAIGE DAVIS
ROXIE HART
SANDY DUNCAN
ROXIE HART
RITA WILSON
ROXIE HART
JOHN O’HURLEY
BILLY FLYNN
ASHLEE SIMPSON
ROXIE HART
MICHAEL C. HALL
BILLY FLYNN
KARA DIOGUARDI
ROXIE HART

HUEY LEWIS
BILLY FLYNN
MICHELLE WILLIAMS
ROXIE HART
MELANIE GRIFFITH
ROXIE HART
JAMES NAUGHTON
BILLY FLYNN
AIDA TURTURRO
MATRON “MAMA” MORTON
BROOKE SHIELDS
ROXIE HART
JENNIFER HOLLIDAY
MATRON “MAMA” MORTON
USHER TRACY SHAYNE BRIAN MCKNIGHT
SOFIA VERGARA
CHITA RIVERA
BILLY FLYNN ROXIE HART BILLY FLYNN
MATRON “MAMA” MORTON
ROXIE HART
SAMANTHA HARRIS
ROXIE HART
WAYNE BRADY
BILLY FLYNN
JOHN SCHNEIDER
BILLY FLYNN
JASMINE GUY
VELMA KELLY
UTE LEMPER
VELMA KELLY
BILLY RAY CYRUS
BILLY FLYNN

SEEN BY
20 MILLION PEOPLE
IN MORE THAN 30 COUNTRIES
WINNER OF
50 MAJOR AWARDS
WORLDWIDE
LWAYS INTERNATIONAL
RYOKO YONEKURA

DUBAI
JAPAN
UNITED
KINGDOM
USA
BRAZIL
SYDNEY
KOREA
TORONTO
MOSCOW
MEXICO

CHICAGO is one of the greatest nights I’ve ever enjoyed in the theater.
It’s still the best damn musical in town!
-LIZ SMITH
ALWAYS SEXY
ANGEL REDA

JASON PATRICK SANDS
DONNA MARIE ASBURY
MICHAEL CUSUMANO
NAOMI KAKUK
NILI BASSMAN
LISA RINNA & COMPANY
GABRIELA GARCIA MELISSA RAE MAHON

LWAYS CHICAGO

THE
LONGEST
RUNNING
AMERICAN
MUSICAL.
PHOTOGRAPHY: AMY ARBUS, JASON BELL, JEREMY DANIEL, ANDREW ECCLES,
RICHARD FAHEY, BOB FRAME, JOSH LEHRER, PAUL KOLNIK, JOAN MARCUS,
LEN PRINCE, STEPHANIE PFREINDER STYLANDER, MIRANDA PENN TURIN,
MAX VADUKUL, ULI WEBER