Chicago [1996 Broadway Revival Cast]

Overview

John Kander and Fred Ebb's 1975 Prohibition-era musical, Chicago, was two decades ahead of its time. Originally conceived as a star turn for Broadway superstar Gwen Verdon by her ex-husband, director-choreographer Bob Fosse, Chicagowas revived in 1996. An immediate hit, the new Chicago was a revelation -- funny, sexy, and totally contemporary in its depiction of political greed and corruption. This wonderful recording captures the marvelous new cast -- Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, Joel Grey, James Naughton, and Marcia Lewis -- at the peak of their powers. The astonishing score, featuring "All That Jazz," "Roxie," "Razzle Dazzle," "Class," "Nowadays," and Grey's solo, "Mister Cellophane," is a veritable collection of showstoppers, all glimmering with seductive savvy and fundamental, if unpleasant, truths.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/28/1997
Label:	Rca Victor Broadway
UPC:	0090266872725
catalogNumber:	68727
Rank:	9613

Tracks

1. Overture
2. All That Jazz
3. Funny Honey
4. Cell Block Tango
5. When You're Good to Mama
6. All I Care About
7. A Little Bit of Good
8. We Both Reached for the Gun
9. Roxie
10. I Can't Do It Alone
11. I Can't Do It Alone (Reprise)
12. My Own Best Friend
13. Entr'acte
14. I Know a Girl
15. Me and My Baby
16. Mr. Cellophane
17. When Velma Takes the Stand
18. Razzle Dazzle
19. Class
20. Nowadays
21. Hot Honey Rag
22. Finale

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jay Berliner   Banjo
Dave Bargeron   Trombone
Bruce Bonvissuto   Trombone
Richard Centalonza   Woodwind
John Frosk   Trumpet
Kenneth Hitchcock   Woodwind
Seymour Red Press   Woodwind
Ron Raffio   Bass,Tuba
Marilyn Reynolds   Violin
Daryl Shaw   Trumpet
Ronald Zito   Drums
Leslie Stifelman   Piano

Technical Credits

Joel Grey   Contributor
John Kander   Composer
James Naughton   Contributor
Bebe Neuwirth   Contributor
Marcia Lewis   Contributor
James Nichols   Engineer
Jay David Saks   Producer
Bill Rosenfield   Liner Notes
J.J. Stelmach   Art Direction
Leigh Zimmerman   Contributor
Walter Bobbie   Director
Michael Kubala   Contributor
John Mineo   Contributor
Ann Reinking   Choreographer
Rocker Verastique   Contributor
David Warren-Gibson   Contributor
Mary Ann Lamb   Contributor
Tina Paul   Contributor
Rob Fisher   Director
Michael Berresse   Contributor
Caitlin Carter   Contributor
Jim Borstelmann   Contributor
Bruce Anthony Davis   Contributor

Editorial Reviews

Chicago, the 1975 John Kander-Fred Ebb musical, took an unusual path to revival in 1996. Though the original show was a hit, running 923 performances, it was remembered as a triumph for choreographer/director/co-librettist Bob Fosse and stars Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera rather than for its story (based on the 1926 play that was also the basis for the 1942 film Roxie Hart, about a murderess who goes free) or its score. Nevertheless, when New York's City Center included it in its Encores! series of concert versions of forgotten musicals in the spring of 1996, much attention was paid to the murder-and-media storyline, which suddenly had surprising parallels to a certain recent trial and its surrounding legal shenanigans. And somehow the score, which had seemed merely functional 20 years before, sounded much better. Six months later, the show, still with only modest staging, was revived on Broadway to rave reviews. The resulting cast album, running the 70+ minutes possible to CDs, is far more complete than the previous one, and the cast, including Bebe Neuwirth, Ann Reinking, Joel Grey, and James Naughton, is accomplished. The music remains generic '20s pastiche, however, and the lyrics, even in a post-O.J. world, seem unremittingly arch.

All Music Guide - William Ruhlmann