Chicago: A Musical Vaudeville (commonly known as
Chicago) opened on
Broadway on June 3,
1975, it had the misfortune of debuting opposite the musical blockbuster:
A Chorus Line.
Gwen Verdon (Fosse's ex-wife but with
Sweet Charity and
Damn Yankees behind her, a Broadway star) starred as Roxie Hart. When
surgery demanded she leave the
cast temporarily,
Liza Minelli stepped into the
role. Verdon returned, and when she left the cast for good, and
Ann Reinking took over.
Chita Rivera created the role of Velma Kelly.
The original production ran for over two years on Broadway, with 898 performances. The show earned eleven Tony Award nominations but lost in every category as A Chorus Line swept the awards. It is thus remembered as a failure, perhaps because its smart cynicism didn't play as well in the mid-1970s as did A Chorus Line's sentimentality.
Kander, Ebb, and Fosse based the musical on a
1926 play of the same title, a modest Broadway hit authored by Chicago Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins. Covering the criminal courts gave her material for her play (Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner were on trial for killing their respective boyfriends), a 1927 film adaptation, and the 1942 Ginger Rogers film Roxie Hart. The show has earned over US $100 million dollars on Broadway, plus receipts from the London, Las Vegas, Holland, Berlin, Sweden, Australia and U.S. touring productions bringing the gross to US $334 million.
Sources:
<http://www.broadwayseries.com/backstage/chicagosback/> 22 September 2000.
Gillespie, Evan. "Sensational." Whatzup. 13 April 2000. <http://www.whatzup.com/Archives/cover041300.html> (22 September 2000)