Remember when Broadway was Broadway?
Expanding on tregoweth's definition, Chicago is a Broadway musical themed with "greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, murder, adultery, and treachery."
The story takes place in (you guessed it) Chicago, Illinois, during the 1920s. These are times of hot jazz and cold-blooded killers. After the overture, the audience is introduced to Velma Kelly, who shot the other half of her sister act when she caught her husband with her sister.
Later, the character of Roxie Hart, who murders a nightclub regular by the name of Fred Casely. When her husband Amos finds out, she claims that he was a thief, and he takes the blame. Unfortunantly, the police tells Amos about her intimate affair, and he leaves her to fight for herself. She then goes to jail. Velma happens to be in the prison, too, and doesn't appreciate the attention Roxie draws to herself.
Meanwhile, Roxie finds a lawyer (Billy Flynn). He virtually speaks for Roxie, and makes up the "real story" as a he goes along. Roxie's trial soon becomes the talk of the town, but is sooner replaced by the latest crime of passion. Roxie then plans to get on the front page again by announcing pregnancy.
As promised, Billy gets Roxie her acquittal, but she's soon left in the dust when her news has passed. At the end, she teams up with Verna to become the other half of her old sister act.
Soundtrack: (Soon to be Noded)
- Overture
- All That Jazz
- Funny Honey
- Cell Block Tango
- When You're Good To Mama
- All I Care About
- A Little Bit of Good
- We Both Reached For The Gun
- Roxie
- I Can't Do It All Alone
- My Own Best Friend
- Me and My Baby
- Mr. Cellophane
- When Velma Takes The Stand
- Razzle Dazzle
- Class
- Nowadays
- All That Jazz Reprise