Long-running slick and sexy musical Chicago tells the deliciously naughty story of cabaret singer Roxie Hart, who murders her lover and ends up in jail, ruled over by buxom prison warden Mama Morton. Desperate to get acquitted, Roxie turns to sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn, who has a reputation for saving his charges from the gallows. As fame-hungry and attention-seeking as each other, Roxie and Billy’s partnership brings them both the press attention they desire – that is, until another pretty, young, ‘wrongly-accused’ girl comes along and Roxie finds her case is no longer Billy’s priority.
Instead, Roxie teams up with another of Billy’s former clients, fellow murderess Velma Kelly, to form an unusual nightclub act which they hope will keep both of them in the public eye.
Kander and Ebb musical Chicago, which won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production, includes the songs All That Jazz, Class and All I Care About.
The show celebrated its 10th birthday at a gala performance in December 2007, reuniting original cast members Ruthie Henshall, Ute Lemper, Henry Goodman and Nigel Planer. In the decade that followed their premiere performances, numerous stars have stepped into the roles they made famous, including Marti Pellow, Tony Hadley, Duncan James, Darius Danesh, David Hasselhoff, John Barrowman, Sacha Distel, Jerry Springer (Billy) Claire Sweeney, Michelle Williams, Denise Van Outen, Suzanne Shaw (Roxie), Brenda Edwards, Gaby Roslin, Alison Moyet, Kelly Osbourne (Mama Morton).
Since the London production of the musical Chicago opened at the Adelphi theatre in 1997 – it transferred to the Cambridge theatre in 2006 – it has used 581 metres of fishnet fabric, 871 metres of black lace fabric, 2,321 litres of washing up liquid and 9,666 hairgrips to create its unmistakable razzle dazzle.
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