Pittsford Musicals presents Chicago!

Due to subject matter, Chicago is recommended for mature audiences.

Chicago, set in the Prohibition era, is a satire on criminal justice and the public’s thirst for details of these high profile criminals.

The musical version of Chicago is based on a play of the same name, written by a reporter assigned to cover the 1924 murder trials of two women. Chicago reunited Cabaret partners John Kander and Fred Ebb who styled Chicago in the vaudeville format. Through song and dance, they chronicle how these criminals were able to raise themselves to celebrity status. Chicago also showcased the incomparable dance styling of Bob Fosse. Also directed by Fosse, the original Broadway production of Chicago opened June 3, 1975, and ran for 936 performances. Chicago's 1996 Broadway revival holds the record for the longest-running musical revival on Broadway. The story was brought to the big screen in 2002 and won multiple Academy Awards™ including Best Picture.

In the mid-1920s in Chicago, Illinois, Velma Kelly is one half of a mildly successful sister act on the vaudevillian circuit. Velma’s notoriety and fame increases after she murders both her husband and her sister when she finds them in bed together. The opening song ("All That Jazz") sets the atmosphere and tone of the roaring 20’s. The story then shifts to chorus girl Roxie Hart and the murder of her lover, nightclub regular Fred Casely.

Roxie tearfully convinces her husband, Amos, that the victim was a burglar. Amos leaps to her defense by taking the blame and Roxie expresses her appreciation of her husband's thick skull ("Funny Honey"). Amos eventually figures it out when he learns the true identity of the deceased. The truth comes out, and Roxie is arrested. She joins Velma and the other murderesses at the Cook County Jail ("Cell Block Tango"). The block is presided over by the corrupt Matron "Mama" Morton, whose system of mutual aid ("When You're Good to Mama") perfectly suits her clientele. She has helped Velma become the media's top murderer-of-the-week and is acting as a booking agent for Velma's big return to vaudeville.

Velma is not happy to see Roxie, who is stealing not only her limelight, but also her lawyer, Billy Flynn. Roxie tries to convince the gentle-hearted Amos to pay for Billy Flynn to be her lawyer ("A Tap Dance"). Eagerly awaited by his all-girl clientele, Billy sings his anthem, complete with a chorus of fan dancers ("All I Care About is Love"). Billy agrees to take Roxie's case and re-arranges her story for consumption by sympathetic tabloid columnist Mary Sunshine ("A Little Bit of Good"). Roxie's press conference turns into a ventriloquist act with Billy dictating a new version of the truth ("We Both Reached for the Gun") while Roxie mouths the words.

Roxie becomes an overnight sensation and she reveals her true aspirations to become a vaudeville star ("Roxie"). As Roxie's fame grows, Velma's notoriety wanes and in an "act of pure desperation," she tries to talk Roxie into recreating the sister act ("I Can't Do It Alone"), but Roxie turns her down, only to find her own headlines replaced by the latest sordid crime of passion. Separately, Roxie and Velma realize there's no one they can count on but themselves ("My Own Best Friend"), and the ever-resourceful Roxie cooks up a fake pregnancy to put her back on the front page.

Velma again welcomes the audience and informs them of Roxie's continual run of luck ("I Know a Girl") despite Roxie's obvious falsehoods ("Me and My Baby"). Amos proudly claims paternity but still nobody notices him ("Mr. Cellophane"). Velma tries to show Billy all the tricks she's got planned for her trial ("When Velma Takes the Stand"). Roxie has a heated argument with Billy, and fires him. She is later brought back down to earth when she learns that a fellow inmate has been executed.

The trial date arrives, and Billy calms her, telling her if she makes a show of it, she'll be fine ("Razzle Dazzle"), but when he passes all Velma's ideas on to Roxie, she uses each one, to the dismay of Mama and Velma ("Class"). As promised, Billy gets Roxie her acquittal but just as the verdict is given, some even more sensational crime pulls the pack of press bloodhounds away, and Roxie's fleeting celebrity life is over. Billy leaves, done with the case. Amos stays with her, glad for his wife, but she then confesses that there isn't really a baby, making Amos finally leave her. Left in the dust, Roxie pulls herself up and extols the joys of life ("Nowadays"). She teams up with Velma in a new act, in which they dance and perform ("Hot Honey Rag") until they are joined by the entire company ("Finale").