A MURDER… AN ARREST… AND A SURPRISE ENDING.

"If you'd been there, if you'd seen it. I betchya you would have done the same!" So declares the chorus to "Cell Block Tango" that the merry murderesses of CHICAGO affirm to an engaged audience. But the lyrics that the women sing are not far from the truth behind the real story of CHICAGO. Both the characters of Roxie and Velma are based on two actual murderers: Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner.

The real scenes took place in 1924 in Chicago when Beulah Annan (Roxie) was accused of killing the "intruder" Harry Kalstedt while Belva Gaertner (Velma) was charged with murdering her husband. Both murders become front-page stories in the Chicago Tribune when reporter Maurine Watkins realized the sensational appeal the two personalities could draw through her tongue-in-cheek reports. The supposed pregnancy used to speed up the trial, the sleek lawyer who helped define the media frenzy and the acquittal of both ladies sounded like a page out of Hollywood, when in fact they were actually real life. Tribune reporter Maurine decided to turn her experience with Chicago's famed murder-row darlings into a comedy titled CHICAGO that reached Broadway in 1926. A film version was created two years later and a second film version, "Roxie Hart," starred Ginger Rogers in 1942.

These original productions of CHICAGO eventually inspired the musical that continues to wow audiences today. Nearly 70 years after Beulah Annan rocked Chicago, media manipulation in the justice system continues to seem all too familiar, which explains why audiences are still captivated by the blunt tale of criminal celebrity.

The storied tale of CHICAGO's rise from real life court drama to certifiable Broadway smash hit is one only showbiz can claim.

WHO SAYS MURDER'S NOT AN ART?

Casting

- Josefina Gabrielle (Roxie Hart)

Josefina trained at the Arts Educational school in London.

Her theatre work includes Nicholas Hytner's production of Carousel (the National and Shaftesbury Theatres): Dream Laurey in a national tour of Oklahoma!: Iris Kelly in the original London cast of Fame (Cambridge Theatre): Maggie in A Chorus Line (Derby Playhouse): Jenna in The Goodbye Girl (Albery Theatre): Cassie in a national tour of A Chorus Line and Laurey in Trevor Nunn's production of Oklahoma! (the National and Lyceum Theatres). The choreography was by Susan Stroman, and Josefina made history by being the first actress to dance her own Dream Ballet. For her performance she was nominated for an Olivier Award. She then went on to reprise the role on Broadway where she was nominated for Outer Critics' Circle and an Astaire Awards. She also plays Laurey in the film of the same production.

Other theatre work includes Dot/Marie in Sunday in the Park With George (Leicester Haymarket Theatre): Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Cannizaro Park): two other pleasurable visits to the Adlelphi Theatre as Roxie Hart in Chicago: Alexandra Spoford in The Witches of Eastwick (Prince of Wales Theatre): Cassie in A Chorus Line (Sheffield Crucible) and most recently, Kathy Seldon in Singing in the Rain (Saddlers Wells and Leicester Haymarket Theatres).

Her television work includes guest appearances in Sunburn, Heartbeat, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and the coming series of Born and Bred.

Cast recordings include Carousel, Fame, The Goodbye Girl and the Oklahoma! CD, video and DVD.

Josefina has also made numerous concert appearances, most recently guesting with the late, very dear Sacha Distel at the Cafe de Paris and with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in a production of Chess in Concert, singing the role of Svetlana.

- Amra-Faye Wright (Velma Kelly)

Amra-Faye hails from the farmlands of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. She trained in classical ballet, and obtained a diploma in Contemporary Music at Allenby in Johannesburg.
Amra-Faye returns to the London stage having recently performed in the 10th Anniversary of Chicago on Broadway along with Anne Reinking, Chita Rivera, and Bebe Neuwirth, and after a run at the Ambassador Theatre on Broadway, opposite Huey Lewis. She is, to date, the longest running Velma Kelly having performed the role at the Ambassador Theatre twice on Broadway (2005/2006), and at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End (2005) and at the Cambridge (2006), also at the Civic Theatre (Johannesburg) (Naledi Award for Best Actress) and Artscape Theatre (Cape Town) (Fleur du Cap Award for Best Actress), in addition to UK and European tours.
　

Other theatre credits include Sheila in a Chorus Line (Civic Theatre Jnb), Sandy in Grease (Jnb. Stadium Spectacular), Vi Moore in Footloose (UK tour),
Mother Superior in Nunsense (Sneddon Theatre, Durban), Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk (Guild Theatre, East London), Lead Lady in Elvis Las Vegas (South African Tour) (Vita Award for Best Actress), Lead Lady in Viva Sun City (Sun City Theatre)

Amra-Faye has written and performed many one-woman shows including; Rouge Pulp; Drinks on Me; and; It's not where I Start. (Vita Awards for all three)

Highlights of her career also include: Soloist for Spar International at Sun City Super bowl; and for the South African VIP Gala at the Sydney Olympics; Europride 2006 (Royal Albert Hall). She has also starred as guest artist in many world-wide Musical Spectaculars. She has recently recorded an album of her original material.

Creatives

JOHN KANDER AND FRED EBB
(Music / Book / Lyrics)


For the Theatre: FLORA, THE RED MENACE; CABARET; THE HAPPY TIME; ZORBA; 70, GIRLS, 70; CHICAGO; THE ACT; WOMAN OF THE YEAR; THE RINK; THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND - THE KANDER AND EBB MUSICAL; KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN.
For Films: CABARET; NORMAN ROCKWELL: A SHORT SUBJECT; LUCKY LADY; NEW YORK, NEW YORK; FUNNY LADY; KRAMER VS. KRAMER; A MATTER OF TIME; PLACES IN THE HEART; FRENCH POSTCARDS; STEPPING OUT.
For Television: LIZA WITH A Z (Liza Minnelli); GOLDIE AND LIZA TOGETHER (with Goldie Hawn); OL' BLUE EYES IS BACK; BARYSHNIKOV ON BROADWAY; AN EARLY FROST; LIZA IN LONDON. Upcoming: THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH and STEEL PIER, with Scott Ellis, Susan Stroman, and David Thompson.

John Kander and Fred Ebb have been writing together since 1965. Both had written with other partners, but their music publisher, Tommy Valando, thought they would work well together.

OPENING NIGHTS OF KANDER AND EBB MUSICALS ON BROADWAY

-May 11, 1965 - FLORA, THE RED MENACE at the Alvin Theater
-November 20, 1966 - CABARET at the Broadhurst Theater
-January 18, 1968- THE HAPPY TIME at the Broadway Theater
-November 17, 1968- ZORBA at the Imperial Theater
-April 15, 1971 - 70, GIRLS, 70 at the Broadhurst Theater
-June 3, 1975 - CHICAGO at the 46th Street Theater
-October 29, 1977 - THE ACT at the Majestic Theater
-March 29, 1981 - WOMAN OF THE YEAR at the Palace Theater
-February 9, 1984 - THE RINK at the Martin Beck Theater
-October 20, 1992 - KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN opened prior to Broadway at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London
-November 14, 1996 - CHICAGO at the Richard Rodgers Theatre
-February 12th, 1997 - CHICAGO Moved to the Shubert Theatre

BOB FOSSE
(Co-Author, Original Director, and Choreographer)


A director, choreographer, dancer, and actor for films and stage, Fosse was especially famous for his innovative and spectacular staging, with the emphasis on exhilarating dance sequences.

Bob Fosse began his career in Chicago where he studied ballet, tap, and acrobatic dance from an early age. While still a teenager, he performed with a partner as the Riff Brothers in vaudeville and burlesque theatres. After graduating from high school in 1945, he spent two years in the U.S. Navy before moving to New York and studying acting at the American Theatre Wing. He then toured in the chorus of various productions before making his Broadway debut in the musical revue DANCE ME A SONG.

As a dancer, he performed in two long-running musicals, CALL ME MISTER and MAKE MINE MANHATTAN, followed by such Hollywood films as GIVE A GIRL A BREAK and KISS ME KATE.

As a choreographer, his first show-stopping number was Steam Heat from THE PAJAMA GAME. This he followed with such hits as DAMN YANKEES with Gwen Verdon, BELLS ARE RINGING with Judy Holiday, NEW GIRL IN TOWN again with Gwen Verdon, and HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING with Robert Morse.

He began his career as a director and choreographer with REDHEAD with Gwen Verdon, LITTLE ME with Sid Caesar, and two more Gwen Verdon musicals, SWEET CHARITY and CHICAGO. He also staged the innovative musical smash PIPPIN, the highly successful dance revue DANCIN', and the 1986 musical BIG DEAL.

For the screen, Fosse directed the films SWEET CHARITY with Shirley MacLaine, ALL THAT JAZZ with Roy Scheider, LENNY with Dustin Hoffman, STAR 80 with Eric Roberts, and, most spectacularly, CABARET with Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey.

n 1973, Bob Fosse had the distinction of winning the three highest awards in three different media. He won a Tony Award for the musical PIPPIN, an Oscar for the film CABARET, and an Emmy Award for the television special LIZA WITH A Z.

In 1960, he married his third wife, Gwen Verdon. From that union came his only child, a daughter Nicole. During the Washington D.C. run of one of his most successful shows, SWEET CHARITY, he died of a heart attack. This occurred shortly before the curtain went up on the night of September 23, 1987.

MAURINE DALLAS WATKINS
(Author of the Original Play)

In 1926, Maurine Dallas Watkins moved out of the amateur playwriting ranks and into the Broadway limelight with her satiric comedy, CHICAGO.

After the great success of CHICAGO, Ms. Watkins was offered many commissions. She accepted only one. This was to adapt for the theatre Samuel Hopkins Adams' story REVELRY.

After REVELRY's modest 48 performance run on Broadway, Ms. Watkins never had another play on Broadway.

Maurine Dallas Watkins was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She attended Hamilton College, Indiana and Butler College, Radcliffe and finally to Yale for a session with Eugene O'Neill's and George Abbott's playwriting teacher, the legendary George Pierce Baker of the drama division.

After her formal education, Ms. Watkins decided that she needed more experience and closer contact with real-life. So she moved to Chicago and was hired as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

Several of her stories took her to the criminal courts. There she gathered her material for the play CHICAGO. Convinced she needed more knowledge of the playwriting technique, she left the Tribune, returning to Yale and reentered Professor Baker's class. It was as part of her class work that she wrote the first draft of CHICAGO.

CHICAGO, produced by Sam H. Harris and directed by George Abbott, opened December 30, 1926 at the Music Box Theatre in New York.Maurine Watkins described her one hit play as "an honest attempt to say something I believed terrifically".

WALTER BOBBIE
(Director)


Walter Bobbie received the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award as Best Director for CHICAGO. He was the artistic director of City Center's acclaimed Encores! series and directed its premiere of FIORELLO!. Other Credits include FOR WHOM THE SOUTHERN BELLE TOLLS at Ensemble Studio Theater; DURANG, DURANG at Manhattan Theater Club; Andrea Martin's NUDE NUDE TOTALLY NUDE for the New York Shakespeare Festival; and A GRAND NIGHT OF SINGING at Rainbow and Stars and the Roundabout Theater, where it received two Tony nominations including Best Musical.

Mr. Bobbie is also an actor whose appearances on Broadway and off-Broadway include GUYS AND DOLLS (Drama Desk nomination for "Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical"). ASSASSINS, GETTING MARRIED, ANYTHING GOES, CAFE CROWN, DRIVING MISS DAISY, UP FROM PARADISE, I LOVE MY WIFE, A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN FILM, the original GREASE, DAMES AT SEA, and the GMHC's benefit ANYONE CAN WHISTLE at Carnegie Hall.

Recent films include THE FIRST WIVES CLUB, Stephen King's THINNER and HBO's EDIE AND PEN, as well as television appearances on "Hill St. Blues", "LA Law", "The Equalizer", "Law and Order", "NYPD Blue", "New York News" and daytime's "Loving", where he portrayed both brothers Denny and Wally Anderson. He is also a frequent radio guest on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion".

Mr. Bobbie is a graduate of the University of Scranton with a Master's degree in Theater from The Catholic University of America.

Last season he co-authored and directed the new Broadway musical FOOTLOOSE.