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©-DR- CHICAGO de Rob Marshall (2003) p13
19/01/2012 13:03
Trivia (suite)
Adapted from a 1975 musical play directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, whose other credits include the films Cabaret (1972), Lenny (1974) and Que le spectacle commence (1979). The stage musical "Chicago" premiered at the 46th Street Theatre (now known as the Richard Rodgers Theatre) in New York on May 12, 1975 and ran for 936 performances. Its opening night cast included Jerry Orbach as Billy Flynn, Chita Rivera as Velma Kelly (Rivera later played Roxie Hart in a 1990s London production and also has a bit part in this film), Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart and Barney Martin as Amos Hart. A 1996 Broadway revival of the musical was even more successful and is still running as of this date (Oct. 2008).
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The 1996 stage revival of 'Chicago' has passed its 5500th performance and was the sixth longest running show on Broadway as of January, 2010.
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Cinematographer Dion Beebe was on his way to a theater in London to watch the musical when he got a phone call from his agent telling him that director Rob Marshall was interested in having him shoot the film. *
Named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the "Best 25 Movie Musicals of All Time".
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The original production of "Chicago" opened at the 46th Street Theater on June 3, 1975, ran for 936 performances and was nominated for the 1976 Tony Awards for the Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score.
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The most recent Best Picture Winner to not win either Best Screenplay or Best Director.
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Mandy Moore auditioned for the role of Kitty Baxter but was passed over because the producers felt she was too young.
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Became Miramax's highest grossing film when its domestic box office hit $171,000,000.
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During "All That Jazz", Velma says that even "Lucky Lindy never flew so high." This was a nickname given to pioneer aviator Charles A. Lindbergh.
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Madonna (specifically for Velma Kelly), Goldie Hawn, Kathy Bates, Rosie O'Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kristin Chenoweth (for Roxie Hart or Mary Sunshine), Cameron Diaz, Whoopi Goldberg (for Mama Morton) and Britney Spears (by Harvey Weinstein for Kitty Baxter), Toni Collette, Winona Ryder, and Marisa Tomei were all considered for roles in the movie.
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Throughout the movie Billy Flynn calls John C. Reilly's character (Amos) "Andy" - a reference to the radio show "Amos 'n' Andy", which later became a TV series The Amos 'n Andy Show (1951). *
The 1996 smash revival of the 1975 musical was one of the very few instances of a Broadway revival that was far more successful than the original. It was still running as of May, 2008. Given the long, difficult history of bringing the show to the screen, many believe that if the Broadway musical had not been so successful in its 1996 revival, the 2002 film would never have been made.
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The original Broadway non-musical play was previously filmed twice: first as the silent film Chicago (1927) and later as Roxie Hart (1942) starring Ginger Rogers. *
This was the first feature film to have its soundtrack recorded using Sony's Direct Stream Digital process and released on the multi-channel SACD format.
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The Broadway musical production of "Chicago" opened at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre) on June 3, 1975 starring Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera (who had a cameo in the film), and Jerry Orbach in the principal roles. During a vacation, Liza Minnelli played Roxie Hart. There were many replacements during the original run, including Ann Reinking as Roxie Hart. The show ran for 936 performances. The original non-musical play "Chicago" opened at the Music Box Theater on December 30, 1926 and ran for five months. The musical version had even more success as a revival, opening again at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on November 14, 1996. It has moved to various other theatres, and as of this writing (May 2008), is still running. *
Rob Marshall had previously been hired by the producers to direct Annie (1999); he had not wanted to direct that earlier film, preferring only to do choreography, but was persuaded to do both. That film's success resulted in his getting the job to direct Chicago (2002).
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In 2005 the movie was named as one of "The 20 Most Overrated Movies of All Time" by Premiere.
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Miramax became involved in a new attempt to film the musical in 1994, and Larry Gelbart was brought in to work on a script, eventually turning out seven drafts while directors Milos Forman, Herbert Ross and Baz Luhrmann turned down the project. *
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