ALL ABOUT THE MUSICAL "CHICAGO"
Broadway’s longest-running American musical, Chicago is a dazzling and satirical look at fame, justice, and the media machine.
​
10w, 9m plus ensemble
​
Set in 1920s Chicago and based on real-life murders and trials, Chicago follows Roxie Hart, a wannabe vaudevillian star who murders her lover and is arrested, despite her attempts to convince her pushover husband, Amos, to lie for her. In the Cook County Jail, Roxie meets her hero, the famed double-murderess and nightclub performer Velma Kelly. When both acquire the same greedy superstar lawyer Billy Flynn, tensions come to a head as they vie for the spotlight -- though instead of onstage, they’re mugging for the flashbulb of the newspaper reporters. With catchy music and timeless lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, and a funny, intelligent, and utterly engaging book by Kander and Bob Fosse, Chicago is a musical spectacular that is as addictive as gossip rags and as unforgettable as any trial of the century.
​
-
TIME PERIOD: The late 1920s.
-
SETTING: Chicago, Illinois.
-
FEATURES: Period Costumes
-
DURATION: 90 minutes
-
Although this show has been modified for younger performers, it includes adult content, staged violence, gun violence, and depictions of death.
CASTING
Generally, at ACT-1 we are open to gender-blind/re-gendered casting. Therefore, please audition for whatever roles you are attracted to!
​
However, please try to choose the roles that best reflect your talents. Just because you like a role doesn't mean you are well-suited for it, and you'll want to have the strongest audition possible!
As you get to know the show and the music, please pay attention to the characters' vocal ranges and required skill sets. Sometimes we can slightly adjust the key of a character's solo song, but we do prefer to keep accompaniment close to the original key, as much as possible.
​
Carefully read the character descriptions and requirements below, and let us know if you have any questions!
​
​
ROLES/CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS
​
Velma Kelly
Vocal range: Alto, E3-D5
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 25-40
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Tough, sexy, and sarcastic, Velma Kelly is a vaudeville performer who resides in Cook County Jail after she murdered her cheating husband and sister in jealous rage. Hardened by fame, she cares for no one but herself and her attempt to get away with murder. Used to being the “main attraction”, Velma fiercely competes with up and coming rival superstar Roxie for the attention of the press and to preserve her celebrity status. In Brechtian style, Velma often breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly to explain certain events within the show and express herself in the style of Fosse. She's smart, confident and fast on her feet.
Special skills: Dynamic singer and dancer
​
Roxie Hart
Vocal range: Mezzo-Soprano, F3-B4
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 20-30
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Roxie Hart’s unrelenting search of fame and glory forms the spine of “Chicago.” Not very bright and never thinking about the consequences of her actions, Roxie makes bad decisions throughout the show – all in the name of public recognition. Her wannabe vaudeville mindset lasts throughout the entire show. Despite being a generally dislikable character, Roxie remains strangely sympathetic to the audience because we understand that her selfishness isn’t malevolent. Rather it is immaturity that propels Roxie’s fall from integrity. Above all, Roxie Hart is a character that embodies the corruption that fame can bestow upon a person.
Special skills: Dynamic singer, actor and dancer
Note: We are looking for CHARACTER!!!!
​
Matron "Mama" Morton
Vocal range: Alto, F#3-Bb4
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 30-50
Character's Ethnicity: Any
The tough, sassy warden of the Cook County Jail, “Mama” treats the inmates under her watch like family - as long as they make her money in return. Shrewd and business savvy, she accepts bribes for favors - from laundry service to making calls to lawyers. “Reciprocity” is her motto. Mama’s philosophy represents much of what is wrong with the justice system - she is the total essence of corruption.
This role does not require dancing, but should be played by a talented singer and actress who can command the stage and isn't afraid to make bold character choices. Someone with maternal maturity would be a good fit for this role.
​
Mary Sunshine
Vocal range: Soprano, Bb3-Bb5
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 25-55
Character's Ethnicity: Any
A sappy, 'sob-sister' tabloid columnist from the Evening Star, who relies more on emotion than thought when it comes to writing her stories, Mary Sunshine is a person who believes that no matter what horrible atrocities a person has committed, somehow there must be a little bit of good in them. She will believe anything she is fed that matches up with her beliefs.
This role does not require dancing. Seeking a strong actor who can hold her own next to Billy Flynn.
​
Liz
Vocal range: Ensemble, A3-C#5
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 18-45
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Prisoner at Cook County Jail. She is imprisoned after shooting two warning shots at her husband... into his head. She is quite matter-of-fact about the whole ordeal.
Merry Murderesses must use excellent diction, have a great sense of rhythm, and be effective storytellers. Strong dancers and actors.
Annie
Vocal range: Ensemble, A3-C#5
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 18-45
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Prisoner at the Cook County Jail. Murders her love after finding out he already has six wives: “one of those Mormons, ya’ know.”
Merry Murderesses must use excellent diction, have a great sense of rhythm, and be effective storytellers. Strong dancers and actors.
June
Vocal range: Ensemble, A3-C#5
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 18-45
Character's Ethnicity: Any
June is the toughest prisoner at Cook County Jail. After her husband accuses her of cheating with the milkman, he mysteriously runs into her knife... ten times.
Merry Murderesses must use excellent diction, have a great sense of rhythm, and be effective storytellers. Strong dancers and actors.
​
Hunyak
Vocal range: NON SINGING ROLE
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 25-45
Character's Ethnicity: Hungarian
Hungarian Prisoner at Cook County Jail. The only English she speaks is the phrase, “Not Guilty," which sadly follows her to her grave.
Although all the women in the Cook County jail claim they aren’t guilty, Hunyak is perhaps the only one who is truly innocent. The audience should sympathize with her, making the news of her execution even more shocking.
Merry Murderesses must use excellent diction, have a great sense of rhythm, and be effective storytellers. Strong dancers and actors.
This role has a stylized execution, and the monologue is in Hungarian, so we are seeking an expressive actor who is able to convey the message without being overwhelmed by the language.
​
Mona
Vocal range: Ensemble, A3-C#5
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 18-45
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Prisoner at Cook County Jail. Murders her man after he has a round of affairs. I guess you could say it was “artistic differences?”
She appears sweet and un-assuming while telling her story.
Merry Murderesses must use excellent diction, have a great sense of rhythm, and be effective storytellers. Strong dancers and actors.
​
Go-to-Hell-Kitty
Vocal range: Ensemble, A3-C#5
Character's Gender: Female
Character's Age: 21-40
Character's Ethnicity: Any
An opinionated, wealthy socialite. Steals the spotlight from Velma and Roxie when she murders her husband and three other women.
Seeking a solid actor who can make a big impression in a short amount of time onstage.
​
Billy Flynn
Vocal range: Baritone Bb2-G4
Character's Gender: Male
Character's Age: 35-50
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Suave, educated, and a master of manipulation, Billy Flynn is the best criminal lawyer in Chicago - he hasn’t lost a woman’s case yet. He makes celebrities of his clients in order to gain them sympathy from the media and sway the public’s opinion – a perk that Roxie tries to take advantage of. Both Velma and Roxie hire Flynn to represent their cases and use him as their claim to fame. With a perfect track record under his belt, good looks and charm to boot, Billy will take on any case - if you can fork up the hefty $5,000 fee.​
Seeking an actor with confidence, charisma and charm. This role does not require dancing.
​
Amos Hart
Vocal range: Baritone, C3-F#4
Character's Gender: Male
Character's Age: 30-50
Character's Ethnicity: Any
An auto mechanic and husband of Roxie. He truly loves Roxie and wants what's best for her, so he lies for her and tries to take the blame. After realizing that he has been two-timed by her, he is at first angry, and then willing to forgive her and believe what others tell him. Though not very good looking or smart, is a lovable and good natured man, he is the only character in the show whose motives are pure and never selfish. Despite this, he’s also the only character who really loses out in the end. Amos represents the average man who is faithful and pushes hard to do the right thing, but never gets any recognition for it.
This role does not require dancing.
Seeking an actor who can mine the comedy from this role without making Amos into a cartoon character.
​
Sergeant Fogarty
Vocal range: Ensemble/Part Flexible
Character's Gender: Male
Character's Age: 35-55
Character's Ethnicity: Any
A hard-boiled, streetwise cop, Fogarty is the policeman who is assigned to Roxie’s crime and interviews Amos. After asking the right questions, he manages to get Roxie to confess.
​
Fred Casely
Vocal range: Ensemble/Part Flexible
Character's Gender: Male
Character's Age: 30-50
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Roxie is a furniture salesman. He’s short-lived fling, who is murdered for trying to leave Roxie.​
Though for much of the show he is onstage through the lens of Roxie’s imagination, he should be easily recognizable by the audience. This role can be double cast as an ensemble member or a reporter, so long as long as he isn’t recognizable as Fred Casely.
The actor playing Fred does not have to be a singer, but he should be a good actor and mover.
Martin Harrison
Vocal range: Ensemble/Part Flexible
Character's Gender: Male
Character's Age: 18-45
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Ensemble member who plays the Chicago DA and the prosecutor.
Harry
Vocal range: Ensemble/Part Flexible
Character's Gender: Male
Character's Age: 21-40
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Go-To-Hell Kitty's husband (who she murders).
This is a great cameo for an ensemble member.
Judge
Vocal range: Ensemble/Part Flexible
Character's Gender: Male
Character's Age: 40-65
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Judge overseeing Roxie’s Trial.
Court Clerk
Vocal range: Ensemble/Part Flexible
Character's Gender: Any
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Swears people in with their hand on the bible. “Blah, Blah, Truth, Truth. 'Selp-you God.”
​
Master of Ceremonies
Vocal range: Ensemble/Part Flexible
Character's Gender: Any
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Appears throughout the show to introduce the various “acts." Existing outside the events of the play, the M.C. speaks to the audience directly and often provides insight into the characters or situations.
​
Reporter
Vocal range: Ensemble/Part Flexible
Character's Gender: Any
Character's Ethnicity: Any
Breaks the story of Kitty murdering Harry and his girlfriend and also
interrupts Juror One just before Roxie’s verdict is declared.
Seeking a standout actor in this featured role.
​
Chorus/Ensemble​​​​
Includes MC, Go-To-Hell Kitty, Reporters, Sergeant Fogarty, Court Clerk, Judge, Martin Harrison, Harry, and the Jury.
Ensemble members serve as the show’s narrators and all have important lines that set the scene for different parts of the show.
Seeking good actors and singers in these roles.
Actors may play multiple roles.
ADDITIONAL INFO
RESOURCES
Please watch these production of Chicago (on Broadway) and Chicago (the Teen Edition)!
SHOW HISTORY
​​​
ORIGINS
​
Original Broadway Play: 1926
Silent Film: 1927
Original Film ("Roxie Hart"): 1942
Musical World premiere​:​ 1975 at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia.
Musical Original Broadway Production​:​ 1975​-1977 at the 46th Street Theatre in NYC
Musical Broadway ​Revival: 1996-present. The ongoing 1996 revival of Chicago is the longest-running show currently on Broadway. It is the second longest-running show ever to run on Broadway, behind only The Phantom of the Opera​, and holds the record as the longest-running musical revival and the longest-running American musical in Broadway history.
Film Adaptation of the Musical: 2002 - Won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
​
​​
​
​​​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Chicago: The Musical is a 1975 American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Bob Fosse directed and choreographed the original production, and his style is strongly identified with the show.
​
Set in Chicago in the Jazz Age, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same title​ by Maurine Dallas Watkins​, about actual criminals and crimes on which she reported. Chicago Tribune​ reporter and playwright Maurine Dallas Watkins​ was assigned to cover the 1924 trials of accused murderers Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner. In the early 1920s, Chicago's press and public became riveted by the subject of homicides committed by women. Several high-profile cases arose, which generally involved women killing their lovers or husbands. These cases were tried against a backdrop of changing views of women in the Jazz Age, and a long string of acquittals by Cook County juries of female murderers (juries at the time were all male, and convicted murderers generally faced death by hanging). A lore arose that, in Chicago, feminine or attractive women could not be convicted. The Chicago Tribune generally favored the prosecution's case, while still presenting the details of these women's lives. Its rivals at the Hearst papers were more pro-defendant, and employed what were derisively called "sob-sisters" – women reporters who focused on the plight, attractiveness, redemption, or grace of the female defendants. Regardless of stance, the press covered several of these women as celebrities.
​
Annan, the model for the character of Roxie Hart, was 23 when she was accused of the 1924 murder of Harry Kalstedt​ (the basis for the Fred Casely character​). Her husband Albert Annan inspired the character Amos Hart. Albert was an auto mechanic who bankrupted himself to defend his wife, only for her to publicly dump him the day after she was acquitted. Velma Kelly is based on Gaertner, who was a cabaret singer and society divorcée. The body of Walter Law was discovered slumped over the steering wheel of Gaertner's abandoned car​ in 1924. Two police officers testified that they had seen a woman getting into the car and shortly thereafter heard gunshots. A bottle of gin and an automatic pistol were found on the floor of the car. Lawyers William Scott Stewart and W. W. O'Brien were models for a composite character in Chicago, Billy Flynn. Just days apart, separate juries at the Criminal Courts building acquitted both women.
Watkins' sensational columns documenting these trials proved so popular that she wrote a play based on them. The show received both good box-office sales and newspaper notices and was mounted on Broadway in 1926, running 172 performances. Cecil B. DeMille produced a silent film version, Chicago (1927)​. It was later remade as Roxie Hart (1942) starring Ginger Rogers, but in this version, Roxie was accused of murder without having really committed it, due to content restrictions on Hollywood films of the era.
​
In the 1960s, Gwen Verdon read the play and asked her husband, Bob Fosse, about the possibility of creating a musical adaptation. Fosse approached playwright Watkins numerous times to buy the rights, but she repeatedly declined; Watkins may have regretted Annan and Gaertner's acquittals, and felt that her treatment of them should not be glamorized.​ Nonetheless, upon her death in 1969, her estate sold the rights to producer Richard Fryer, Verdon, and Fosse. John Kander and Fred Ebb began work on the musical score, modeling each number on a traditional vaudeville number or a vaudeville performer. This format made explicit the show's comparison between "justice​," "show business​," and contemporary society.
​
BROADWAY
Chicago: A Musical Vaudeville opened ​in 1975 at the 46th Street Theatre​, and starred Chita Rivera as Velma Kelly, Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart, Jerry Orbach as Billy Flynn, and Barney Martin as Amos Hart. ​ The musical received mixed reviews. The Brechtian style of the show, which frequently dropped the fourth wall, made audiences uncomfortable.​ The show opened the same year as Michael Bennett's highly successful A Chorus Line, which beat out Chicago in both ticket sales and at the Tony Awards​.The show was on the verge of closing when it ran into another setback: Verdon had to have surgery on nodes in her throat after inhaling a feather during the show's finale.​ The producers contemplated closing the show, but Liza Minnelli stepped in and offered to play the role of Roxie Hart in place of Verdon.​ Her run lasted slightly over a month,​ boosting the show's popularity, until Verdon recuperated and returned to the show. ​
​
The 1996 Broadway revival production of Chicago was directed by Walter Bobbie with choreography "in the style of Bob Fosse" by Ann Reinking, who also ​p​layed Roxie Hart.​ Bebe Neuwirth ​was Velma Kelly, Joel Grey as Amos Hart and James Naughton as Billy Flynn.​ The show was well-received​.
​
​The production tetain​ed the spare and minimalist style in costumes and set. The set design includes the presence of the band center stage in an evocation of a jury box, around and upon which the actors play some scenes. There are also chairs along the sides of this central piece, in which the actors at times sit or lounge, when not directly involved in the action. ​ Unlike the original production, the revival was met with praise from critics.
​
On November 23, 2014, Chicago became the second longest-running Broadway show, surpassing Cats.
​
