Genius Bonus: Velma kills her sister and husband at the Hotel Cicero. The real Cicero was an ancient Roman philosopher who acquired a posthumous reputation as a virtuous and moral leader working for the public good, but was later discovered to be a hypocritical opportunist who privately disagreed with all of the principles he argued for—not unlike Velma's own dramatically changed public image after her double homicide.
Magnificent Bastard: Billy Flynn is Velma Kelly's greedy, smooth-talking lawyer. After learning of Roxie Hart's incarceration and seeking to earn more money, Flynn decides to become her lawyer as well. Over the span of several weeks, Flynn teaches Roxie how to earn sympathy from the public whilst also manipulating multiple reporters into thinking she killed her victim in self-defense. During Roxie's trial, Flynn cajoles Roxie's husband, Amos, into forgiving Roxie, making her more sympathetic to the jury. In the film, Billy also accuses a district attorney of tampering with evidence incriminating Roxie, evidence Flynn fabricated himself, while also using the evidence to get Velma acquitted. Due to Flynn's conniving words, Roxie is declared not guilty, and Flynn walks away having won another case.
Musical
Adaptation Displacement: Unless you're a fan of TCM (Turner Classic Movies) you've most likely never even heard of the original non-musical movie (1927). Or the 1926 play (now known as Play Ball) the film was based on, whose story was actually Ripped from the Headlines.
Unlike in the film where Kitty refuses to listen to Billy Flynn as she's being booked into jail; here she may be playing for the insanity defense on his advice while appearing to disregard him. She appears with him at a press conference, under deep protest.
Usually, Mama's played as a pure Magnificent Bastard: she's got a great musical number, a lot of funny moments, and comes off as confident and in control, but at the end of the day, she's screwing over helpless prisoners by refusing to provide them basic necessities (such as access to their lawyers) unless they can pay her. It's very likely that this policy of "reciprocity" directly led to the innocent Hunyak being wrongfully executed. Casting Queen Latifah as a black woman in charge of a white prison in the 1920s, however, means that Mama otherwise has little power and few rights; she might be justifying her corruption with the thought that on the outside, white America has treated her like this her entire life, so why not get a little something back? She's still corrupt, but her motivation might be more complex than sheer naked greed. Worth noting that in the real 1920s, no black woman, no matter how respectable or competent, would ever be allowed a position of authority over white people, even the lowest of criminals.
Is June a cheating wife who killed her understandably angry husband when he confronted her, or an abused wife who killed her husband in self-defense when he unjustly accused her of being unfaithful?
Angst? What Angst?: The one innocent inmate in the "Cell Block Tango"; while the film averts this, the original Broadway recording features her sounding more frustrated and annoyed by her situation than anything and sounding rather deadpan and matter-of-fact when delivering the line, "Uh-uh, not guilty".
The original production was nominated for eleven Tony Awards and didn't win once. To be fair, it was up against A Chorus Line, though that probably only made Bob Fosse even angrier given his famous rivalry with Michael Bennett. This was rectified with the revival, which won six out of the eight Tonys it was nominated for.
Joel Grey's universally acclaimed work as Amos in the revival won the precursors for Featured Actor but wasn't even nominated for the Tony. This is due to an oversight where Grey was meant to be submitted as a supporting player, which was forgotten by whoever's job it was. Because Grey was billed above the title, and with nobody on the nominating committee moving him to the appropriate category on their own accord, Grey was then forced to compete in the leading lineup against actors with far bigger showcases (including costar James Naughton who wound up winning the awards), with this major disadvantage clearly destroying his chances to be recognized, even though he almost definitely would've won if campaigned as featured.
The similarly praised Ann Reinking was also not nominated for her work in this production as she had played the part of Roxie as a replacement in the original Broadway production. Even though she wasn't eligible to be nominated for that performance, the Tony rules would not allow her to compete for a role she previously played on Broadway. However, she did win the Tony for her work choreographing the production.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Amos is very popular for being the only major character who’s actually a good person, acting as a great source of laughs and being quite a Woobie. In a musical filled with big flashy numbers, his solo is simple, honest, and always stops the shows.
Hollywood Pudgy: Roxie snarks at Velma to "lay off the caramels". On the other hand, Roxie isn't exactly a nice person, and might just want to snub her back because Velma insulted her before. The film fits this trope even better than some of the stage versions, because in the movie, the line comes right after Catherine Zeta-Jones completes a rather intricate and impressive one-woman dance routine... while several months pregnant.
"Give 'em the ol' razzle dazzle" is often quoted in reference to scenes resembling a "performance," like animals in flamboyant poses.
"HE HAD IT COMIN'!" is often used when someone gets royally burned.
Misaimed Fandom: Because it's such a good and passionate song, "Cell Block Tango" is seen as some sort of anthem... except that most of the song is sung by unrepentant murderers.
Signature Song: "Cell Block Tango" is the most frequently covered and referenced song of the show.
What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: The musical is no less troublesome for those seeking family-friendly entertainment. After all, it takes place in Prohibition-era Chicago, home of gangsters, flappers, illegal booze, and murder. Several numbers take place in a murderer's prison, and there's cursing in some of the lyrics. This doesn't deter some middle schools from performing it.
At live shows, Amos's Woobiedom can be measured empirically by listening to the audience's "Awwww"s after "Mister Cellophane". "My exit music, please." (silence) He tends to get lots of applause after leaving the stage, though. Alternately, playing Amos (and Mr. Cellophane) for laughs is a valid choice, and could be pulled off well.
How much of Billy's Amoral Attorney attitude is an act? It's implied that his job to defend the murderesses with money to spare would burn him out if he didn't engage in Black Comedy and disparaging towards normal people. (It's not an excuse for him being an enabler of obviously guilty killers.) He does have some Pet the Dog moments and shown actually doing his job, like advising an arrested Kitty to not answer any of the press's questions or telling Roxie to follow his lead at the press conference.
Was Velma aware that Roxie stole her underwear from the Hunyak in order to suck up to her?
Did June kill her husband in a panic over him discovering her affair, or was she a faithful wife defending herself against an insanely jealous husband?
Award Snub: At the Academy Awards, Richard Gere was not nominated for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor, despite getting rave reviews for his wildly against type turn in this.
Catharsis Factor: Most of the murders are Nightmare Fuel and Disproportionate Retribution. On the other hand, while Kitty murdered two women for the crime of sleeping with her husband, said husband is Too Dumb to Live and was an idiot by having them stay over by the time she came home. Anyone in that situation who says to their extremely angry spouse, who's currently pointing a gun at them, "Are you going to believe what you see or what I tell you?" deserves to get gunned down.
Cry for the Devil: Go-To-Hell Kitty is a murderess and we know she gunned down two innocent women. Look at her face, however, when she sees them in bed with her husband; it's a mix of heartbreak and anger. When the police are dragging her into jail, she's refusing to listen to Billy, whom her mother hired, and pretty much says she's sorry she got caught because her husband deserved it. It's highly possible she's suffering a psychotic break and her defiant attitude is Not an Act.
A variation. Richard Gere showed he could carry a tune quite well, as well as dancing. He even learned to tap dance for the film.
Catherine Zeta-Jones in the same vein was trained as a dancer, but this skill was not known to the public before now.
John C. Reilly as well. He'd grown up doing community theatre, and did such an incredible job with his role, particularly "Mister Cellophane", that he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Tough Act to Follow: This was such a success that Rob Marshall's next musical - Nine (Musical) - was seen as a huge letdown. He had a little more success with his third - Into the Woods, but the reaction was still more divisive.
Unintentional Uncanny Valley: Roxie, as well as the reporters, in "We Both Reached For the Gun" in the 2002 film version. Oddly enough, the reason it's so eerie is because it's actual people made up, dressed up, and choreographed like marionettes (or a ventriloquist dummy in Roxie's case), making them inhuman enough that it's just plain creepy.
features her sounding more frustrated and annoyed by her situation than anything and sounding rather deadpan and matter-of-fact when delivering the line, "Uh-uh, not guilty".