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Changed line(s) 42,43 (click to see context) from:
* GirlsBehindBars
* GuiltByAssociationGag: The one innocent person in "The Cell Block Tango" is the one who gets killed. It's implied that the only reason she got blamed/killed in the first place is because no one understands her Hungarian, and it's said that she's the first woman in the area to get executed at all.
* GuiltByAssociationGag: The one innocent person in "The Cell Block Tango" is the one who gets killed. It's implied that the only reason she got blamed/killed in the first place is because no one understands her Hungarian, and it's said that she's the first woman in the area to get executed at all.
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* GirlsBehindBars
GirlsBehindBars: Murderess Row
* GuiltByAssociationGag: The one innocent person in "The Cell Block Tango" is the one who gets killed. It's implied that the only reason she got blamed/killed in the first place is because no one understands her Hungarian, and it's said that she's the first woman inthe area Illinois to get be executed at all.in 30 years.
* GuiltByAssociationGag: The one innocent person in "The Cell Block Tango" is the one who gets killed. It's implied that the only reason she got blamed/killed in the first place is because no one understands her Hungarian, and it's said that she's the first woman in
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* HypocriticalHumor: The song "Class," in which Mama and Velma lament the lack of manners, dignity, and overall class... while swearing like sailors. ("Holy shit!" "Holy shit!" "Jesus Christ!" "Every girl is a twat!")
to:
* HypocriticalHumor: The song "Class," in which Mama and Velma lament the lack of manners, dignity, and overall class... while simultaneously swearing like sailors. ("Holy shit!" "Holy shit!" "Jesus Christ!" "Every girl is a twat!")
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--->"And then he ran into my knife! He ran into my knife ten times!"
--->"I was in such a state of shock, I completely blacked out. I can't remember a thing. It wasn't until later, that I was washing the blood off my hands, that I even knew they were dead."
--->"I was in such a state of shock, I completely blacked out. I can't remember a thing. It wasn't until later, that I was washing the blood off my hands, that I even knew they were dead."
to:
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Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* DisproportionateRetribution: "So I fired two warning shots...[[BoomHeadshot into his head]]." For ''[[BerserkButton popping bubblegum]]''.
to:
* DisproportionateRetribution: "So I took the shotgun off the wall and I fired two warning shots...[[BoomHeadshot into his head]]." For ''[[BerserkButton popping bubblegum]]''.
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* BerserkButton: Apparent in "The Cell Block Tango," especially with the woman who shot her husband for popping gum too loudly.
to:
* BerserkButton: Apparent with some of the other women in "The Cell Block Tango," especially with the woman who shot fired two warning shots into her husband husband's head for popping gum bubblegum too loudly.
Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
* DisproportionateRetribution: "So I fired two warning shots...[[BoomHeadshot into his head]]." For popping bubblegum.
to:
* DisproportionateRetribution: "So I fired two warning shots...[[BoomHeadshot into his head]]." For ''[[BerserkButton popping bubblegum.bubblegum]]''.
Changed line(s) 72 (click to see context) from:
* NoodleIncident: Velma's number "I Can't Do It Alone" is an in-universe Aversion. She's trying to convince Roxie that the Kelly Sisters' Double Act is too fantastic a chance to pass up on, so she demonstrates it for Roxie -- but it just looks silly with one person. It gets especially funny on the Revival cast soundtrack, where the listener only gets hints such as "See? I kick ''really'' high!" and an enthusiastic "SIDEWAYS!"
to:
* NoodleIncident: Velma's number "I Can't Do It Alone" is an in-universe Aversion. She's Velma is trying to convince Roxie that the Kelly Sisters' Double Act is too fantastic a chance to pass up on, so she demonstrates it for Roxie -- but it just looks silly with one person. It gets especially funny on the Revival cast soundtrack, where the listener only gets hints such as "See? I kick ''really'' high!" and an enthusiastic "SIDEWAYS!"
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Fixed a zero-context example.
Changed line(s) 89 (click to see context) from:
* TokenGoodTeammate: "Uh-uh...NOT GUILTY!"
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* TokenGoodTeammate: "Uh-uh...NOT GUILTY!"To the extent that a group of people who do a co-ordinated song-and-dance number protesting their innocence can be considered a team, Hunyak is the token genuine innocent.
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* TokenGoodTeammate: "Uh-uh...NOT GUILTY!"
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* GenreBlind: Hunyak insists that the law will be on her side because "Uncle Sam is fair and just". Note that she says this right before she gets executed.
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* WideEyedIdealist: If what Mama Morton says about her is true, Hunyak is this. [[GenreBlind It doesn't end well for her]].
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** Played straight with Mama Morton when she works on behalf of her prisoner the Hunyak, translating for her lawyer and insisting on her innocence. It's [[spoiler:not enough to save her,]] but its the only time we see Mama doing something without benefits.
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Changed line(s) 7,8 (click to see context) from:
A biting satire of celebrity trials, the press and show business in general, ''Chicago'' had an extremely successful Broadway revival in 1996. From there, it was made into [[Film/{{Chicago}} a movie in 2002]]. Also notable for the Broadway productions, which regularly star big names -- the original boasted Chita Rivera as Velma and [[Series/LawAndOrder Jerry Orbach]] as Billy Flynn; the revival starred Creator/BebeNeuwirth as Velma and Joel Grey as Amos.
to:
A biting satire of celebrity trials, the press and show business in general, ''Chicago'' had an extremely successful Broadway revival in 1996. From there, it was made into [[Film/{{Chicago}} a movie in 2002]]. Also notable for the Broadway productions, which regularly star big names -- the original boasted Chita Rivera as Velma and [[Series/LawAndOrder Jerry Orbach]] as Billy Flynn; the revival starred Creator/BebeNeuwirth as Velma and Joel Grey as Amos.
Amos, and since then has had tons of StuntCasting.
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Deleted line(s) 13,15 (click to see context) :
* AccidentalMisnaming:
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that [[MaliciousMisnaming this is a deliberate tactic]] is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that [[MaliciousMisnaming this is a deliberate tactic]] is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
* MaliciousMisnaming:
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that this is a deliberate tactic is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that this is a deliberate tactic is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
Changed line(s) 67 (click to see context) from:
** Amos, who keeps having to remind Billy [[AccidentalMisnaming his name isn't "Andy"]]. This is a reference to ''Amos 'n' Andy'', a race comedy radio series originating from Chicago radio station WMAQ beginning in 1928. Most of the series' male characters were performed by two white comedians who had worked in minstrel shows on vaudeville. In the series, Amos was a schemer and Andy was innocent and a bit simpleminded. (This is a happy accident as the name Amos is a carryover from the original play and movie which both predated ''Amos 'n' Andy''.)
to:
** Amos, who keeps having to remind Billy [[AccidentalMisnaming [[MaliciousMisnaming his name isn't "Andy"]]. This is a reference to ''Amos 'n' Andy'', a race comedy radio series originating from Chicago radio station WMAQ beginning in 1928. Most of the series' male characters were performed by two white comedians who had worked in minstrel shows on vaudeville. In the series, Amos was a schemer and Andy was innocent and a bit simpleminded. (This is a happy accident as the name Amos is a carryover from the original play and movie which both predated ''Amos 'n' Andy''.)
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* AccidentalMisnaming:
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that [[MaliciousMisnaming this is a deliberate tactic]] is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that [[MaliciousMisnaming this is a deliberate tactic]] is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
Changed line(s) 64 (click to see context) from:
** Amos, who keeps having to remind Billy [[MyNameIsNotDurwood his name isn't "Andy"]]. This is a reference to ''Amos 'n' Andy'', a race comedy radio series originating from Chicago radio station WMAQ beginning in 1928. Most of the series' male characters were performed by two white comedians who had worked in minstrel shows on vaudeville. In the series, Amos was a schemer and Andy was innocent and a bit simpleminded. (This is a happy accident as the name Amos is a carryover from the original play and movie which both predated ''Amos 'n' Andy''.)
to:
** Amos, who keeps having to remind Billy [[MyNameIsNotDurwood [[AccidentalMisnaming his name isn't "Andy"]]. This is a reference to ''Amos 'n' Andy'', a race comedy radio series originating from Chicago radio station WMAQ beginning in 1928. Most of the series' male characters were performed by two white comedians who had worked in minstrel shows on vaudeville. In the series, Amos was a schemer and Andy was innocent and a bit simpleminded. (This is a happy accident as the name Amos is a carryover from the original play and movie which both predated ''Amos 'n' Andy''.)
Deleted line(s) 67,69 (click to see context) :
* MyNameIsNotDurwood:
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that this is a deliberate tactic is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that this is a deliberate tactic is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
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Changed line(s) 7,8 (click to see context) from:
A biting satire of celebrity trials, the press and show business in general, ''Chicago'' had an extremely successful Broadway revival in 1996. From there, it was made into [[Film/{{Chicago}} a movie in 2002]]. Also notable for the Broadway productions, which regularly star big names -- the original boasted Chita Rivera as Velma and [[Series/LawAndOrder Jerry Orbach]] as Billy Flynn; the revival starred BebeNeuwirth as Velma and Joel Grey as Amos.
to:
A biting satire of celebrity trials, the press and show business in general, ''Chicago'' had an extremely successful Broadway revival in 1996. From there, it was made into [[Film/{{Chicago}} a movie in 2002]]. Also notable for the Broadway productions, which regularly star big names -- the original boasted Chita Rivera as Velma and [[Series/LawAndOrder Jerry Orbach]] as Billy Flynn; the revival starred BebeNeuwirth Creator/BebeNeuwirth as Velma and Joel Grey as Amos.
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Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
->''Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery, and treachery - all the things we hold near and dear to our hearts.''
to:
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Changed line(s) 66 (click to see context) from:
** And swearing up a storm; see HypocriticalHumor below.
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** And swearing up a storm; see HypocriticalHumor below.above.
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** And swearing up a storm; see HypocriticalHumor below.
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* NoodleIncident: Velma's number "I Can't Do It Alone" is an in-universe Aversion. She's trying to convince Roxie that the Kelly Sisters' Double Act is too fantastic a chance to pass up on, so she demonstrates it for Roxie -- but it just looks silly with one person. It gets especially funny on the Revival cast soundtrack, where the listener only gets hints such as "See? I kick ''really'' high!" and an enthusiastic "SIDEWAYS!"
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Changed line(s) 72 (click to see context) from:
* SophisticatedAsHell: "Class" has Velma and Mama lamenting lamenting the passing of good manners and politeness, in truly obscene language.
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* SophisticatedAsHell: "Class" has "Class", in which Velma Kelly and Mama lamenting lamenting Morton lament the passing decline of good manners and politeness, modern morals, is this trope from start to finish.
-->Whatever happened to, "Please, may I?"\\
And "Yes, thank you?"\\
And "How charming?"\\
Now, every son of a bitch\\
Is a snake intruly obscene language.the grass\\
Whatever happened to class?
-->Whatever happened to, "Please, may I?"\\
And "Yes, thank you?"\\
And "How charming?"\\
Now, every son of a bitch\\
Is a snake in
Whatever happened to class?
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* IWantSong: "Roxie"
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* SophisticatedAsHell: "Class" has Velma and Mama lamenting lamenting the passing of good manners and politeness, in truly obscene language.
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** Oddly enough, the Mary Sunshine character and her flighty personality is lifted from the original ''Chicago'' (though the [[spoiler: drag queen]] element is added for the musical), so it seems the character was originally SelfDeprecation.
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Language Barrier added.
Changed line(s) 57 (click to see context) from:
* LanguageBarrier: Hunyak, a young HUngarian woman, doesn't speak English. It gets her executed for murder which she did not commit.
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* LanguageBarrier: Hunyak, a young HUngarian Hungarian woman, doesn't speak English. It gets her executed for a murder which she did not commit.
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* LanguageBarrier: Hunyak, a young HUngarian woman, doesn't speak English. It gets her executed for murder which she did not commit.
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Changed line(s) 81 (click to see context) from:
* VillainSong: Roxie expresses her worldview and motivations in "My Own Best Friend" and "Roxie"; Billy expresses his in "Razzle Dazzle" and (with such blatant dishonesty that it wraps around to honesty again) "All I Care About is Love".
to:
* VillainSong: Roxie expresses The show is practically made entirely out of these. Not too strange, considering what most of the characters are like.
**Velma and the murdresses get the first one in "Cell Block Tango", explaining why they killed their victims.
**Roxie has hers in the self-titled "Roxie", where she explains how herworldview desire for attention and motivations in "My Own Best Friend" and "Roxie"; Billy expresses fame is what drives her.
**Billy explains hisin "Razzle Dazzle" and (with AmoralAttorney attitude with such blatant dishonesty that it wraps around to honesty again) again in "All I Care About is Love".Love".
**Mama Morton describes her corrupt ways and possible lesbian affairs with her prisoners during "When You're Good To Mama".
**Velma and the murdresses get the first one in "Cell Block Tango", explaining why they killed their victims.
**Roxie has hers in the self-titled "Roxie", where she explains how her
**Billy explains his
**Mama Morton describes her corrupt ways and possible lesbian affairs with her prisoners during "When You're Good To Mama".
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Deleted line(s) 37 (click to see context) :
* DroppedABridgetOnHim: [[spoiler:Mary Sunshine is really a man]]. "Things are not always what they appear to be."
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* HypocriticalHumor: The song "Class," in which Mama and Velma lament the lack of manners, dignity, and overall class... while swearing like sailors. ("Holy shit!" Holy shit!" "Jesus Christ!" "Every girl is a twat!")
to:
* HypocriticalHumor: The song "Class," in which Mama and Velma lament the lack of manners, dignity, and overall class... while swearing like sailors. ("Holy shit!" Holy "Holy shit!" "Jesus Christ!" "Every girl is a twat!")
Changed line(s) 56 (click to see context) from:
* KarmaHoudini: Velma, Roxie, and Billy Flynn. Meanwhile, inverted in that Hunyak gets punished, and [[TheWoobie Amos]] gets dumped and gets nothing.
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* KarmaHoudini: Velma, Roxie, and Billy Flynn. Meanwhile, inverted in that Hunyak gets punished, and [[TheWoobie Amos]] Amos gets dumped and gets nothing.
Changed line(s) 58 (click to see context) from:
* LovableRogue: Roxie's a lying, scheming, glory-seeking, JerkAss murderess but still manages to be endearing at several points. Ditto for Velma and Billy.
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* LovableRogue: Roxie's a lying, scheming, glory-seeking, JerkAss {{Jerkass}} murderess but still manages to be endearing at several points. Ditto for Velma and Billy.
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* UnsettlingGenderReveal: [[spoiler:Mary Sunshine is really a man]]. "Things are not always what they appear to be."
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Changed line(s) 45 (click to see context) from:
* [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IAmSong "I Am" Song]]:
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* [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IAmSong [[IAmSong "I Am" Song]]:
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Is there some reason the Wiki Word didn\'t work for \"I Am\" Song?
Changed line(s) 45 (click to see context) from:
* IAmSong:
to:
* IAmSong:[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IAmSong "I Am" Song]]:
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Changed line(s) 35 (click to see context) from:
* DisproportionateRetribution: "So I fired two warning shots...into his head." For popping bubblegum.
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* DisproportionateRetribution: "So I fired two warning shots...[[BoomHeadshot into his head.head]]." For popping bubblegum.
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Deleted line(s) 22 (click to see context) :
** Though in the film they're quickly pushed out of the news by another similar crime, and driven into poverty while Roxy can only fantasize about the two of them teaming up to be a success.
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** Though in the film they're quickly pushed out of the news by another similar crime, and driven into poverty while Roxy can only fantasize about the two of them teaming up to be a success.
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* AlliterativeFamily: Velma Kelly and her sister Veronica, though it's suggested those are just stage names.
* AlliterativeName: Matron Mama Morton.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Amos and Roxie's marriage, with Amos as the Giver and Roxie as the Taker.
* AlliterativeName: Matron Mama Morton.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: Amos and Roxie's marriage, with Amos as the Giver and Roxie as the Taker.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Roxie, Roxie, '''Roxie'''. Velma, too, to a less obtrusive extent.
* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: Played with. Roxie pretends to be pregnant to gain the press and jury's sympathy. Her husband Amos is excited until it turns out that he couldn't possibly be the father of the child and gets very upset about Roxie being pregnant with another man's baby.
Changed line(s) 77 (click to see context) from:
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* YourCheatingHeart: Roxie's murder victim was the man with whom she was cheating on her husband. Also the grounds for Velma, Annie, and Mona's homicides.
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from Main.Chicago
Added DiffLines:
->''Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to see a story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery, and treachery - all the things we hold near and dear to our hearts.''
''Chicago'', a musical originally choreographed and directed by the legendary BobFosse in 1975, is the story of Roxie Hart, a wannabe cabaret star in 1920s Chicago. She sleeps around unknown to her husband, Amos, but has a falling-out with one of her lovers, shoots him and is arrested for murder. In prison, she develops a rivalry with the star Velma Kelly, who killed her own husband and sister.
Roxie, through bribing the prison warden, Mama Morton, gets the best lawyer in town, Billy Flynn. Billy is a smooth-talking trickster who has never lost a case. As tensions mount and the media make Roxie a star, fame begins to get to Roxie's head. But the press will love her even more if she is found guilty...
A biting satire of celebrity trials, the press and show business in general, ''Chicago'' had an extremely successful Broadway revival in 1996. From there, it was made into [[Film/{{Chicago}} a movie in 2002]]. Also notable for the Broadway productions, which regularly star big names -- the original boasted Chita Rivera as Velma and [[Series/LawAndOrder Jerry Orbach]] as Billy Flynn; the revival starred BebeNeuwirth as Velma and Joel Grey as Amos.
Based on the 1924 nonmusical play ''Chicago'' by Maurine Dallas Watkins, which was in turn based on actual murder cases. It was adapted twice for the screen, first as a silent film in 1927, then in 1941 as ''Roxie Hart'' starring Ginger Rogers. Modern productions tend to go under the title ''Play Ball'', the play's original subtitle, to avoid confusion with the musical.
----
!!This musical play contains examples of:
* AmbiguouslyGay: Matron Mama Morton.
* AmoralAttorney: Billy Flynn, who manages to acquit two murderers that we know of and likely dozens that we don't.
* AssholeVictim: Invoked; in "The Cell Block Tango" the first proper lyric is "He had it comin'!" although at least some of them are extreme cases of DisproportionateRetribution.
* AttentionWhore: Roxie
-->'''Roxie:''' And the audience loves me. And I love them for loving me and they love me for loving them. And we love each other. 'Cause none of us got enough ''love'' in our childhoods...
* TheBadGuyWins: Billy Flynn gets both Roxie and Velma acquitted in the end.
* BerserkButton: Apparent in "The Cell Block Tango," especially with the woman who shot her husband for popping gum too loudly.
* BilingualBonus: The Hungarian is left untranslated. For those wondering, her monologue translates to, "What am I doing here? They say my famous lover held down my husband and I chopped his head off. But it's not true. I am innocent. I don't know why Uncle Sam says I did it. I tried to explain at the police station but they didn't understand."
* BlackComedy: Throughout.
-->"And now, presenting Katalin Hunyack with the famous ''Hungarian Rope Trick!''"
* BlasphemousBoast: Billy Flynn has a nice one to Amos.
-->'''Billy Flynn:''' I don't like to blow my own horn; but, believe me, if Jesus Christ had lived in Chicago today and he had five thousand dollars and [[BiggerThanJesus he'd come to me]] things would have turned out differently.
* BlatantLies: Most of Billy Flynn's role.
* ButtMonkey: Poor Amos... he even has a song, "Mr. Cellophane", about it.
* ChewbaccaDefense: "Razzle Dazzle" is this trope in song form.
* ComedicSociopathy: The play's humor.
* CourtroomAntic: Basically all of Billy Flynn's role. Lampshaded '''hard''' with "Razzle Dazzle".
* CrapsackWorld
* DeathByWomanScorned: A recurring theme in "The Cell Block Tango" -- Velma killed her husband and his lover (her own sister), Annie poisoned her boyfriend after finding out he was already married to six other women, and Mona killed her boyfriend after finding out he had three other girlfriends and a boyfriend.
* DisproportionateRetribution: "So I fired two warning shots...into his head." For popping bubblegum.
* DownerEnding: In the original musical, no-one in the audience gets what they want. Anyone supporting Roxie or Velma will be disappointed that they stay small-time. Anyone wanting them sent down, will be sad they got off. Amos is still left with nothing, and the only person who was innocent is the one who dies. The two most unsympathetic characters, Mama and Billy, get away scot free.
* DroppedABridgetOnHim: [[spoiler:Mary Sunshine is really a man]]. "Things are not always what they appear to be."
* EvilVersusEvil: The rivalry between Roxie and Velma.
* {{Fanservice}}: Loads of it.
* FieryRedhead: Roxie.
* GirlsBehindBars
* GuiltByAssociationGag: The one innocent person in "The Cell Block Tango" is the one who gets killed. It's implied that the only reason she got blamed/killed in the first place is because no one understands her Hungarian, and it's said that she's the first woman in the area to get executed at all.
* HumblePie: Roxie is acquitted, but literally moments later, a new heinous crime is committed and all the reporters rush out of the courtroom, leaving her all alone and without the fame and adoration she had been seeking.
* HypocriticalHumor: The song "Class," in which Mama and Velma lament the lack of manners, dignity, and overall class... while swearing like sailors. ("Holy shit!" Holy shit!" "Jesus Christ!" "Every girl is a twat!")
* IAmSong:
** "When You're Good To Mama" for Mama.
** "All I Care About Is Love" for Billy.
** "Mr. Cellophane" for Amos.
* ImplausibleDeniability:
** Two of the murderesses in "The Cell Block Tango" deny things this way:
--->"And then he ran into my knife! He ran into my knife ten times!"
--->"I was in such a state of shock, I completely blacked out. I can't remember a thing. It wasn't until later, that I was washing the blood off my hands, that I even knew they were dead."
** The denial is made by a cheating boyfriend while he's still in bed with two other women: "Who you gonna believe, your own eyes or me?"
* InstitutionalApparel
* KarmaHoudini: Velma, Roxie, and Billy Flynn. Meanwhile, inverted in that Hunyak gets punished, and [[TheWoobie Amos]] gets dumped and gets nothing.
* KeepItForeign: In the Hungarian production, the Hunyak was replaced by Cheng Li, a Chinese inmate who spoke untranslated Chinese during "The Cell Block Tango".
* LovableRogue: Roxie's a lying, scheming, glory-seeking, JerkAss murderess but still manages to be endearing at several points. Ditto for Velma and Billy.
* MadnessMantra: Pop, six, squish, uh-uh, Cicero, Lipschitz...
* MeaningfulName -- The only two innocent characters in the musical have names that imply that they are fools:
** Hunyak, the only wrongly convicted prisoner, and the only one to be executed. "Honyock" is an ethnic slur that was popular in America from the 1880s through the 1950s. It is derived from a Hungarian word meaning (among other things) "simple minded" and "loser." Mostly directed at Central-Eastern Europeans. Her real name, Katalin, means "pure".
** Amos, who keeps having to remind Billy [[MyNameIsNotDurwood his name isn't "Andy"]]. This is a reference to ''Amos 'n' Andy'', a race comedy radio series originating from Chicago radio station WMAQ beginning in 1928. Most of the series' male characters were performed by two white comedians who had worked in minstrel shows on vaudeville. In the series, Amos was a schemer and Andy was innocent and a bit simpleminded. (This is a happy accident as the name Amos is a carryover from the original play and movie which both predated ''Amos 'n' Andy''.)
* MoralDissonance: The song "Class" is a lament on how rotten the world has become. Sung by a murderess and a corrupt warden. While drunk.
* MyNameIsNotDurwood:
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that this is a deliberate tactic is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
* PetTheDog: Subverted with [[AmoralAttorney Billy]]. Though he intended to be Roxie's defence attorney for 5000 dollars and nothing less, he agrees to help with only 2000 dollars that Amos managed to scrape together. Supposedly, it is because he admires Amos' loyalty and love to Roxie. However, he's being facetious. Flynn couldn't care less about Amos' loyalty; he smells money in the case and doesn't want to let the possibility go. It doesn't take him long to get the rest of the money by trading on the public's fascination with Roxie.
* RefugeInAudacity: "[[VillainSong Razzle Dazzle]]" is practically a hymn to getting away with murder through liberal use of outrageous stunts.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: TheMusical wasn't a great success when it first came out because it was considered too cynical. The revival is currently running (it's been about 15 years), and it is one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Both genders and ''everyone'' (except for Amos, Mama Morton and Billy Flynn) is like this. And even Billy has gets his share - one of his numbers is a striptease.
* TakeThat:
** Mary Sunshine is an unflattering take on Maurine Dallas Watkins, who wrote the original non-musical ''Chicago'' based on crimes she had reported on.
** In the end, the whole "we couldn't have done it without you" bit is this.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Hunyak, the only woman in "The Cell Block Tango" who ''did not'' commit the murder she was accused of, is the only person we see found guilty and executed.
* {{Trickster}}: Roxie and Billy Flynn.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Amos and Roxie. And he knows it too.
* TheUnfairSex: Played both ways, but with tongue firmly in cheek.
* TheVamp: Most of the female characters.
* VillainProtagonist: The main character is well-known to the audience to be guilty of murder and is generally a poor example of a human being.
* VillainSong: Roxie expresses her worldview and motivations in "My Own Best Friend" and "Roxie"; Billy expresses his in "Razzle Dazzle" and (with such blatant dishonesty that it wraps around to honesty again) "All I Care About is Love".
!!The original nonmusical play provides examples of:
* RealitySubtext: The play is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, adapted from cases the author had reported on. The woman Velma was based on attended the original premiere of the play.
!!Other adaptations of the play provide examples of:
* AdaptationDistillation: In ''Roxie Hart'', Amos did in fact shoot Fred Casely, but Roxie took the blame instead hoping to become famous. Also, Billy Flynn was the ''prosecutor'', while Roxie ended up falling in love with the public defender. Regardless, it was still a satire of how the media influences the law.
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''Chicago'', a musical originally choreographed and directed by the legendary BobFosse in 1975, is the story of Roxie Hart, a wannabe cabaret star in 1920s Chicago. She sleeps around unknown to her husband, Amos, but has a falling-out with one of her lovers, shoots him and is arrested for murder. In prison, she develops a rivalry with the star Velma Kelly, who killed her own husband and sister.
Roxie, through bribing the prison warden, Mama Morton, gets the best lawyer in town, Billy Flynn. Billy is a smooth-talking trickster who has never lost a case. As tensions mount and the media make Roxie a star, fame begins to get to Roxie's head. But the press will love her even more if she is found guilty...
A biting satire of celebrity trials, the press and show business in general, ''Chicago'' had an extremely successful Broadway revival in 1996. From there, it was made into [[Film/{{Chicago}} a movie in 2002]]. Also notable for the Broadway productions, which regularly star big names -- the original boasted Chita Rivera as Velma and [[Series/LawAndOrder Jerry Orbach]] as Billy Flynn; the revival starred BebeNeuwirth as Velma and Joel Grey as Amos.
Based on the 1924 nonmusical play ''Chicago'' by Maurine Dallas Watkins, which was in turn based on actual murder cases. It was adapted twice for the screen, first as a silent film in 1927, then in 1941 as ''Roxie Hart'' starring Ginger Rogers. Modern productions tend to go under the title ''Play Ball'', the play's original subtitle, to avoid confusion with the musical.
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!!This musical play contains examples of:
* AmbiguouslyGay: Matron Mama Morton.
* AmoralAttorney: Billy Flynn, who manages to acquit two murderers that we know of and likely dozens that we don't.
* AssholeVictim: Invoked; in "The Cell Block Tango" the first proper lyric is "He had it comin'!" although at least some of them are extreme cases of DisproportionateRetribution.
* AttentionWhore: Roxie
-->'''Roxie:''' And the audience loves me. And I love them for loving me and they love me for loving them. And we love each other. 'Cause none of us got enough ''love'' in our childhoods...
* TheBadGuyWins: Billy Flynn gets both Roxie and Velma acquitted in the end.
* BerserkButton: Apparent in "The Cell Block Tango," especially with the woman who shot her husband for popping gum too loudly.
* BilingualBonus: The Hungarian is left untranslated. For those wondering, her monologue translates to, "What am I doing here? They say my famous lover held down my husband and I chopped his head off. But it's not true. I am innocent. I don't know why Uncle Sam says I did it. I tried to explain at the police station but they didn't understand."
* BlackComedy: Throughout.
-->"And now, presenting Katalin Hunyack with the famous ''Hungarian Rope Trick!''"
* BlasphemousBoast: Billy Flynn has a nice one to Amos.
-->'''Billy Flynn:''' I don't like to blow my own horn; but, believe me, if Jesus Christ had lived in Chicago today and he had five thousand dollars and [[BiggerThanJesus he'd come to me]] things would have turned out differently.
* BlatantLies: Most of Billy Flynn's role.
* ButtMonkey: Poor Amos... he even has a song, "Mr. Cellophane", about it.
* ChewbaccaDefense: "Razzle Dazzle" is this trope in song form.
* ComedicSociopathy: The play's humor.
* CourtroomAntic: Basically all of Billy Flynn's role. Lampshaded '''hard''' with "Razzle Dazzle".
* CrapsackWorld
* DeathByWomanScorned: A recurring theme in "The Cell Block Tango" -- Velma killed her husband and his lover (her own sister), Annie poisoned her boyfriend after finding out he was already married to six other women, and Mona killed her boyfriend after finding out he had three other girlfriends and a boyfriend.
* DisproportionateRetribution: "So I fired two warning shots...into his head." For popping bubblegum.
* DownerEnding: In the original musical, no-one in the audience gets what they want. Anyone supporting Roxie or Velma will be disappointed that they stay small-time. Anyone wanting them sent down, will be sad they got off. Amos is still left with nothing, and the only person who was innocent is the one who dies. The two most unsympathetic characters, Mama and Billy, get away scot free.
* DroppedABridgetOnHim: [[spoiler:Mary Sunshine is really a man]]. "Things are not always what they appear to be."
* EvilVersusEvil: The rivalry between Roxie and Velma.
* {{Fanservice}}: Loads of it.
* FieryRedhead: Roxie.
* GirlsBehindBars
* GuiltByAssociationGag: The one innocent person in "The Cell Block Tango" is the one who gets killed. It's implied that the only reason she got blamed/killed in the first place is because no one understands her Hungarian, and it's said that she's the first woman in the area to get executed at all.
* HumblePie: Roxie is acquitted, but literally moments later, a new heinous crime is committed and all the reporters rush out of the courtroom, leaving her all alone and without the fame and adoration she had been seeking.
* HypocriticalHumor: The song "Class," in which Mama and Velma lament the lack of manners, dignity, and overall class... while swearing like sailors. ("Holy shit!" Holy shit!" "Jesus Christ!" "Every girl is a twat!")
* IAmSong:
** "When You're Good To Mama" for Mama.
** "All I Care About Is Love" for Billy.
** "Mr. Cellophane" for Amos.
* ImplausibleDeniability:
** Two of the murderesses in "The Cell Block Tango" deny things this way:
--->"And then he ran into my knife! He ran into my knife ten times!"
--->"I was in such a state of shock, I completely blacked out. I can't remember a thing. It wasn't until later, that I was washing the blood off my hands, that I even knew they were dead."
** The denial is made by a cheating boyfriend while he's still in bed with two other women: "Who you gonna believe, your own eyes or me?"
* InstitutionalApparel
* KarmaHoudini: Velma, Roxie, and Billy Flynn. Meanwhile, inverted in that Hunyak gets punished, and [[TheWoobie Amos]] gets dumped and gets nothing.
* KeepItForeign: In the Hungarian production, the Hunyak was replaced by Cheng Li, a Chinese inmate who spoke untranslated Chinese during "The Cell Block Tango".
* LovableRogue: Roxie's a lying, scheming, glory-seeking, JerkAss murderess but still manages to be endearing at several points. Ditto for Velma and Billy.
* MadnessMantra: Pop, six, squish, uh-uh, Cicero, Lipschitz...
* MeaningfulName -- The only two innocent characters in the musical have names that imply that they are fools:
** Hunyak, the only wrongly convicted prisoner, and the only one to be executed. "Honyock" is an ethnic slur that was popular in America from the 1880s through the 1950s. It is derived from a Hungarian word meaning (among other things) "simple minded" and "loser." Mostly directed at Central-Eastern Europeans. Her real name, Katalin, means "pure".
** Amos, who keeps having to remind Billy [[MyNameIsNotDurwood his name isn't "Andy"]]. This is a reference to ''Amos 'n' Andy'', a race comedy radio series originating from Chicago radio station WMAQ beginning in 1928. Most of the series' male characters were performed by two white comedians who had worked in minstrel shows on vaudeville. In the series, Amos was a schemer and Andy was innocent and a bit simpleminded. (This is a happy accident as the name Amos is a carryover from the original play and movie which both predated ''Amos 'n' Andy''.)
* MoralDissonance: The song "Class" is a lament on how rotten the world has become. Sung by a murderess and a corrupt warden. While drunk.
* MyNameIsNotDurwood:
** Flynn always gets Amos's name wrong -- until the trial, when Flynn suddenly gets his name right, putting him off his guard and helping Flynn get the testimony he needs. The implication that this is a deliberate tactic is strengthened by an earlier scene where Flynn is talking to Roxie without her husband present, and gets his name right then.
** Flynn does the same thing to Roxie once, calling her Trixie, in the scene where he's shelved her case to focus on a fresher scandal.
* PetTheDog: Subverted with [[AmoralAttorney Billy]]. Though he intended to be Roxie's defence attorney for 5000 dollars and nothing less, he agrees to help with only 2000 dollars that Amos managed to scrape together. Supposedly, it is because he admires Amos' loyalty and love to Roxie. However, he's being facetious. Flynn couldn't care less about Amos' loyalty; he smells money in the case and doesn't want to let the possibility go. It doesn't take him long to get the rest of the money by trading on the public's fascination with Roxie.
* RefugeInAudacity: "[[VillainSong Razzle Dazzle]]" is practically a hymn to getting away with murder through liberal use of outrageous stunts.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: TheMusical wasn't a great success when it first came out because it was considered too cynical. The revival is currently running (it's been about 15 years), and it is one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Both genders and ''everyone'' (except for Amos, Mama Morton and Billy Flynn) is like this. And even Billy has gets his share - one of his numbers is a striptease.
* TakeThat:
** Mary Sunshine is an unflattering take on Maurine Dallas Watkins, who wrote the original non-musical ''Chicago'' based on crimes she had reported on.
** In the end, the whole "we couldn't have done it without you" bit is this.
* TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth: Hunyak, the only woman in "The Cell Block Tango" who ''did not'' commit the murder she was accused of, is the only person we see found guilty and executed.
* {{Trickster}}: Roxie and Billy Flynn.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Amos and Roxie. And he knows it too.
* TheUnfairSex: Played both ways, but with tongue firmly in cheek.
* TheVamp: Most of the female characters.
* VillainProtagonist: The main character is well-known to the audience to be guilty of murder and is generally a poor example of a human being.
* VillainSong: Roxie expresses her worldview and motivations in "My Own Best Friend" and "Roxie"; Billy expresses his in "Razzle Dazzle" and (with such blatant dishonesty that it wraps around to honesty again) "All I Care About is Love".
!!The original nonmusical play provides examples of:
* RealitySubtext: The play is VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, adapted from cases the author had reported on. The woman Velma was based on attended the original premiere of the play.
!!Other adaptations of the play provide examples of:
* AdaptationDistillation: In ''Roxie Hart'', Amos did in fact shoot Fred Casely, but Roxie took the blame instead hoping to become famous. Also, Billy Flynn was the ''prosecutor'', while Roxie ended up falling in love with the public defender. Regardless, it was still a satire of how the media influences the law.
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