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The musical Chicago is based on an actual case.  And not in a distant, this trial inspired a story that’s been retold so many times that who knows, kind of way.  A real, actual killing that in many details is exactly like the musical, and in fact was covered by a reporter named Maurine Watkins, who interviewed the real-life Roxy Hart in the actual Cook County jail, then covered the trial, and wrote articles about them all the way through it.

What happened at that trial?  How similar was it to the story that has now captivated literally millions of show enthusiasts?  Did the killer dance to Jazz music over the corpse of her slain lover while children played outside the window?  Was this the kind of crazy, free flowing criminal behavior all too typical of the Jazz age and everything that it stood for?  Did slick and opportunistic lawyers act like puppet masters whipping up public sympathy for a glamorous defendant?

OR…did the prosecution cook up its own fictitious version of events and try to railroad a lower-class and generally marginalized woman, only to find it all blow up in their face when the press and couple of good lawyers pointed out the multiple flaws of the case?

We are trying to find out with the production of Chicago tells us about Theater and Life and answer some core questions: What does the actual trial and its depiction in the plays, movies, and musicals tell us about justice?  And what does our collective fascination with this story tell about us and America?

Settle in to your balcony seats…this one is a doozy.  We’ll answer at least some of those questions on this episode of Theater History & Mysteries.



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