Chicago

Catch the hit musical that’s been bringing crime, pizzazz, and all that jazz to Broadway for more than 25 years — it would be a crime to miss it. Get Chicago tickets on TodayTix and prepare to be razzle-dazzled.

Chicago is the longest-running revival in Broadway history for a reason. See this sultry, sordid story of murder and fame from the minds of three Broadway legends: songwriting duo John Kander and Fred Ebb, and director/choreographer Bob Fosse. Plus, with a rotating lineup of celebrities in the lead roles, you’re almost guaranteed to see a star. Don’t miss the show New York Theatre Guide describes as “a living, breathing piece of musical theatre history, which rightfully remains at the Ambassador Theatre and reminds us that all you need is class and, of course, all that jazz!”

Chicago on Broadway is still killing it after all this time with famous tunes like “All That Jazz,” “Razzle Dazzle,” and “Cell Block Tango”; iconic Fosse dance; and a gripping plot about two showgirls trying to keep their talent and good looks in the papers instead of their allegedly murderous acts.

This stylistic trip down Murderer’s Row will leave you tap dancing in your seat, so paint the town at Chicago in New York. Get Chicago tickets on TodayTix now.

True crime stories are popular nowadays, but the obsession is nothing new. This tale of murderesses in Prohibition-era Chicago is based on a 1926 play, also titled Chicago, by former crime journalist Maurine Dallas Watkins. She based her play on two 1920s court cases involving a housewife and cabaret singer, respectively, accused of murdering their husbands.

The Chicago musical, similarly, follows housewife Roxie and vaudevillian Velma, who mimic each other’s publicity stunts and hire the same lawyer in the hopes of making front-page news. It’s the only way to get acquitted, and maybe even make it big.

The original production starred Chita Rivera as Velma and Fosse’s wife, Gwen Verdon, as Roxie and played from 1975 to 1977. The current production, Chicago’s first revival, opened in 1996 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, hopping to the Shubert in 1997 and the Ambassador in 2003. This production has far surpassed the original production’s success and set multiple Broadway records. Chicago is the second-longest-running Broadway show of all time, only behind The Phantom of the Opera.

Chicago borrows heavily from 1920s vaudeville variety shows. These included singers, dancers, acrobats, ventriloquists, and more. Different events in Chicago on Broadway — like a trial, a press conference, and even an execution — are staged like these different types of acts. An emcee also introduces the songs as though they were a lineup of vaudeville performances.

What to Watch For

• The Chicago musical inspired a 2002 film, which won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Picture. It starred Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart, Catherine Zeta Jones as Velma Kelly, and Richard Gere as Billy Flynn.
• Watkins wrote her play Chicago while at Yale Drama School about her experience as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. The show was originally called Brave Little Woman, and it’s now called Play Ball when performed to avoid confusion with the musical.
• This production began as a concert presentation at New York City Center’s Encores! in May 1996 and then transferred to Broadway in November that year. Because it was originally a concert, the sets and costumes were, and still are, minimalist, but the full orchestra plays on stage.
• Ann Reinking, who replaced Gwen Verdon in the original Chicago production and originated Roxie Hart in this one, choreographed the revival “in the style of Fosse.” Fosse was nominated for the Best Choreography Tony for his work on the original, but Reinking won for the revival! The choreography of “Hot Honey Rag” remains intact from the original.
• The Chicago Broadway cast has featured plenty of celebrities, including Usher, Brandy, Taye Diggs, Michael C. Hall, Wayne Brady, Melanie Griffith, Brooke Shields, Ashlee Simpson, Jerry Springer, Patrick Swayze, Sofia Vergara, Rita Wilson, Jamie Camil, NeNe Leakes, Rumer Willis, Todrick Hall, Jennifer Nettles, Pamela Anderson, Angelica Ross, and many more.
• Make eye contact with the ensemble at your own risk, as Fosse famously told the cast in 1975: “Dare the audience to look at you, and then look back at them with murder in your eyes.”