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Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Vintage Chicago Tribune: Roxie Hart's evolution — from Beulah Annan to Broadway and the big screen
'Chicago The Musical' debuted on Broadway 50 years ago. Directed by Chicago native Bob Fosse and starring Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera and Jerry Orbach, the tale of an unfaithful wife who murders her lover then works the judicial system to secure her freedom was set against the backdrop of Prohibition and the Jazz Age. Though critics — including the Tribune's Don Kirk — largely panned the production, its story has staying power. A 1996 revival has more than 11,000 performances on The White Way, according to Playbill. That makes 'Chicago' the second-longest running show on Broadway after 'The Phantom of the Opera' (13,981 performances) and the longest active show. Vintage Chicago Tribune: Murder, mayhem and 'all that jazz' — the real women who inspired Oscar winner 'Chicago'The musical's story was based on actual events that happened in — you guessed it — Chicago in the early 1920s. Its plot, written by short-time Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, was ripped from the headlines, many of her own for the paper. And Roxie Hart, the name of its lead character, was probably inspired by a 'dashing beauty' of the same name from Centralia, Illinois. Hart appeared before a packed courtroom in Watkins' hometown of Crawfordsville, Indiana, to testify during a 1914 murder trial. Here's a look back at the woman who inspired 'Chicago' and those who have portrayed the scandalous seductress on stage and screen. To learn more about how 'Chicago' went from Murderess Row to Broadway and then on to movies, order: 'He Had It Coming: Four Murderous Women and the Reporter Who Immortalized Their Stories.' The life of Beulah Annan has been the basis for every portrayal of Hart. Already twice wed and a mother by the age of 24, Annan was satisfied by neither. Through her job at a Chicago laundry, Annan met Harry Kalstedt. Walks together quickly progressed to day-drinking in her apartment while her mechanic husband, Albert, was at work. A drunken disagreement on April 3, 1924, led Annan to shoot Kalstedt with her husband's revolver. She sat with the body for hours as her phonograph wailed the jazzy tune 'Hula Lou' on repeat. Ironically, the first phone call Annan made was to her husband: 'I've shot a man, Albert. He tried to make love to me.' When her husband arrived home, he found Annan covered in blood and called the police. Watkins picked up the investigation of Annan for Kalstedt's murder and it remained front-page news. 'They say she's the prettiest woman ever accused of murder in Chicago — young, slender, with bobbed auburn hair; wide set, appealing blue eyes; tip-tilted nose; translucent skin, faintly very faintly, rouged, an ingenuous smile; refined features, intelligent expression — an 'awfully nice girl' and more than usually pretty,' Watkins wrote. During the inquest, Annan's lawyer W.W. O'Brien claimed, 'Both went for the gun!' Annan said if she didn't shoot Kalstedt, then he would have shot her. After her trial was continued several times, Annan made an announcement — she was pregnant. The claim moved her case to the front of the line. But many wondered — could a beautiful woman expecting a baby get a fair trial? 'The verdict is in your hands and you must decide whether you will permit a woman to commit a crime and let her go because she is good-looking,' prosecutor William McLaughlin told the jury. 'You must decide whether you want to let another pretty woman go out and say, 'I got away with it!'' 'And they did,' Watkins wrote. Less than two hours into deliberations, the all-male jury came to a not-guilty consensus on the third ballot. Husband Albert Annan, who stood by his wife during the trial, was overcome with joy and gratitude. 'I knew my wife would come through all right!' he said proudly. Beulah Annan then thanked each member of the jury individually and posed for a photo with them. Watkins used the trial's twists to write a three-act play, 'A Brave Little Woman,' the first she would write while attending the new Yale School of Drama in 1926. When it debuted on Broadway later that year it was called 'Chicago.' Larrimore was not supposed to be the first actress to portray Hart on stage. She replaced Jeanne Eagels who, according to the Tribune, made rehearsals difficult. That didn't stopped Eagels from sitting in the front row during a performance, where she supposedly 'made faces' at her successor. When the show arrived in Chicago in September 1927, Larrimore was still the lead actress in the production. The Tribune described her as 'vivid and immensely funny.' The story was praised as 'a hearty and favorious romp that makes rich sport of the yellow newspapers. the criminal lawyers, the judges and the juries, and all the bunk and blah that go with the killing of a man by a pretty woman.' Chicago audiences also loved it — the show played for nine weeks. An advertisement for the first screen version of 'Chicago' — produced by Cecil B. DeMille — described the 1928 silent film as 'more melodramatic and much funnier than the stage play.' The Tribune reviewer (who filed under the pseudonym Mae Tinee), however, said 'they have slaughtered Maurine Watkins' play. 'The clever, satiric, diabolically human, uproariously funny play that could so well have been made into just such a picture has had all its fine parts ironed out. It has been fluted and tucked and dyed (including Hart's hair which became blonde for the first time) a la DeMille and the result is just a fussy, ordinary melodrama that is rather funny in spots.' Depite the disdain, Haver's work in the film was praised as 'believable.' Yet again, Watkins' tale was rewritten for the screen — in 1942's 'Roxie Hart,' it was told as a retrospective. 'The public always expects a newspaperman to do a lot of drinking,' reporter Homer Howard (played by George Montgomery) said before toasting to Hart (played by Ginger Rogers) at a tavern (with William Frawley of 'I Love Lucy' fame serving as bartender). He then told the story of the beautiful murderess — who's become a showgirl in this iteration. Though the movie is just 75 minutes long (and available on YouTube), the Tribune reviewer said it 'would have been nice if the director had known just when to end his epic.' Still, Rogers' portrayal of Hart — 'who had yearned for her picture in the paper more than anything else in life' — was called 'deft.' The first musical version of Watkins' play opened on Broadway on June 3, 1975, with Gwen Verdon as Hart and Chita Rivera as Velma Kelly. Verdon, who had to bow out of the production because of illness and was replaced by Liza Minnelli, claimed it had been her idea to adapt the play into a musical. The vaudeville-esque show ran for 936 performances over almost two years. Tribune critic Don Kirk didn't like it. 'Oddly enough, the combined efforts of some of Broadway's brightest talents somehow fail to get it all together. … They call the show, 'Chicago,' but one gets the clear impression they never thought of visiting the place to savor its peculiar ambience and seriously attempt to recapture it in music and words.' The show's lukewarm reception could have also been in part to a blockbuster show which opened the same year — 'A Chorus Line,' which captured many awards. But in short measure, Tribune critic Chris Jones wrote, ''Chicago The Musical' — with a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Ebb — greatly exceeded the fame and influence of the play that was its source. 'Over time it came to be known as the quintessential Fosse musical, the most famous work of the Chicago-born choreographer known for his hyperspecific movement vocabulary of turned-in knees, angled, attitudinal body parts, muscular twitches, sideways shuffling and jazzy, animated hands.' The 'more cynical, darker show,' as Tribune critic Merrill Goozner described it, was given a 'black box setting' with actors and dancers wearing basic — but barely there — black costumes. Slinky dances accompanied fast-paced music from the orchestra, which was seated on a raked bandstand in the background. 'All That Jazz,' 'Razzle Dazzle' and the 'Cell Block Tango' were pumped out with vigor, Tribune critic Richard Christiansen wrote. Column: How Ann Reinking choreographed not just 'Chicago,' but captured the essence of the city itselfReinking, Fosse's muse and confidant, played Hart in the revival. It debuted Nov. 13, 1996, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York. Among the show's numerous Tony Awards, Reinking won one for her choreography. Turns out, the star of 'Bridget Jones's Diary' could sing and dance — perhaps not as naturally as her more experienced co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones (who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Velma Kelly) — but better than anyone might have expected. 'This is a honorable, and largely successful, film version of a deliberately dishonorable Broadway show, based in turn on Maurine Dallas Watkins' disreputable and popular 1926 play about a cheap tart who gets away with murder,' Tribune critic Michael Phillips wrote in 2002. Thanks for reading! Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago's past.
Daily Mirror
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Sinitta's heartache - 'I wanted to shut the world out'
80s pop icon Sinitta opens up about her new lease of life at 61 – from surviving devastating miscarriages and finding joy in adoption her now teenage twins, and falling in love again Pop star Sinitta, currently playing the formidable Mama Morton in Chicago The Musical , shot to fame as part of Stock Aitken Waterman's hit factory in the 80s. Becoming a household name with hits like So Macho, Toy Boy and GTO – she was Simon Cowell 's first recording star. In 2002, she married Andy Willner and after four months suffered multiple miscarriages followed by three failed attempts of IVF. In 2007, she adopted her two children, Zac and Magdalena, now 18. Here, Sinitta, 61, opens up exclusively to OK! about how the love of her children helped her through dark days, comforting Simon the day they heard the devastating news of the death of Liam Payne, and her new mystery man… Hi, Sinitta! You've got an exciting new role in Chicago. Now that your kids are teens, were you keen to return to your first love of musical theatre? Absolutely. I've turned down a lot of theatre jobs over the past few years. It just didn't feel fair to adopt two children, then be at the theatre every night. I would have missed out on bedtimes and bath times and their day-to-day life. I had such a difficult road to motherhood in the first place that I was determined to be there for them every morning. Now they're 18, they hardly have time for me. They are off doing their own thing, I guess just like I did when I was their age. So, I felt like I needed to get back to the work I adore – musical theatre. The very place I first started my career. Do you remember the day you brought Zac and Magdalena home for the very first time? It was extraordinary. I spent months filling out forms, going to interviews. Then suddenly, because they were very young, we were immediately given a date to pick them up. I met them two weeks before I walked out with them in my arms. It felt very strange, surreal – as if I were a stranger stealing children. They told me not to drive, in case I got disoriented having them in the car for the first time. They were right, because I nearly drove down a one-way street the wrong way. It goes without saying, it was a beautiful day and one I will never, ever forget. That must have been ex tra special, after your previous heartbreak trying to have a baby? As I get older, I do tend to reflect on the sad things that happened in the past. Back then, I just pushed all the painful things to the back of my mind. I think, what would have happened if I had had those children that I lost through miscarriage? I then wouldn't have had Zac and Magdalena. So, I do think about that because when you go through something like a miscarriage it's so all-consuming at the time. Was it one of the most difficult moments in your life? Oh, it was hard to breathe. I wanted to curl up in a ball and shut the world out – so perhaps it's only natural those thoughts come back to haunt you, later. The day I adopted my kids I had a reason to live. It's not the British way to talk about things. When people asked how I was, I'd say, 'Oh, I'm fine.' You're too scared to say, well, as a matter of fact, I've just lost a child – in case people are horrified. Nowadays, it's different because people are prepared to discuss mental health. They are more understanding that we don't all live perfect lives. You first met Liam Payne on The X Factor when he first auditioned at the age of 14. Can you tell us about hearing the sad news of his death? On the night it happened I had gone to bed early but left my phone on in the other room. I kept hearing it clicking with new messages. In the morning, I saw the messages and was in complete shock. I literally couldn't speak. It was like living through a nightmare. To me, he was still that little boy who made it all the way to Barbados [for The X Factor 's Judges' Houses] because he was determined to be on the show. Simon and I loved him and begged him to come back when he was 16 – which he did and ended up being the lead singer in One Direction. You never expect anyone younger than you to suddenly die. All I could think about was Cheryl [Tweedy, Liam's ex-girlfriend] and Bear [Liam's son with Cheryl]. Did you speak to Simon that day? Later that day I reached out to Simon, and he was absolutely devastated. I hadn't heard him so upset since his mum died. He sobbed down the phone to me. He couldn't contain his emotions – it was hard to know what to say to him. It was very brave of him to be able to go to the funeral and comfort Liam's parents. You made your name in the 1980s. How do you look back on your first single, So Macho, shooting to the top of the charts? I recently starred in Now That's What I Call A Musical – all set in the 1980s, so I play myself. I dragged out all my original costumes, the white plaits (because my mother wouldn't allow me to bleach my hair!). All that made me think back to those early days. It was an extremely happy time in my life. I loved the innocence of that era. We didn't think the single would sell the way it did – but people were pre-ordering it at record shops, so Simon had to find another pressing plant to press more records overnight. In the end, we got to No2 in the charts and stayed there for weeks. In 1985, in your early twenties, you starred with David Essex in the musical Mutiny. You went on to have an 18-month romance with him, didn't you? It was amazing. That was my breakout part. I was sharing the stage with West End royalty. And yes, David and I grew close and started dating. When I was young, all I dreamed of was doing musical films like Grease and Fame. When I first met Simon, I was doing Little Shop Of Horrors , and he came to see me in it – he became fascinated with musical theatre. We know you have a new man in your life, too. Are you happy? I am in a happy place. I'd been happily single for eight years. In a way, lockdown was a blessing as I got to know myself and missed having a partner. I'd go walking and think, this would be nice if I had someone to walk beside me. So I joined some dating apps, which was a disaster because some blokes just thought I was a 'fake' Sinitta. Then I met someone lovely – but didn't immediately think was right for me as he wasn't my usual type. But that was part of the magic. He's a lovely, normal person who makes me laugh. So, at last I think, I have found someone I can love.
Rhyl Journal
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Rhyl Journal
Janette Manrara dazzles as Roxie Hart in Chicago
On Tuesday, Chicago The Musical had it's opening night for its run at the Llandudno theatre. Headlining as Roxie Hart was Strictly star Janette Manrara. Her skills as a dancer were brought to the fore, elevating the routines and physical comedy the role demands - but can she sing? The answer, simply, is yes. (Image: Chicago The Musical/Venue Cymru) Manrara's vocals were on point, particularly in the dualling duets with Velma Kelly in an equally stunning performance from Djalenga Scott. When experiencing Chicago, you are suddenly struck with how many of the iconic musical numbers are ingrained in your memory. Show opener All that Jazz, Razzle Dazzle, Roxie, and my personal favourite Cell Block Tango (He Had it Coming) are delivered perfectly, carrying the sordid tale of crime and stardom along the most entertaining way. Members of the audience couldn't help but sing along to the well known hits such as All that Jazz, Cell Block Tango, We Both Reached for the Gun, and Razzle Dazzle. Set in the 1920s, we see Roxie Hart end up in Cook County Jail after murdering her lover on-the-side in a fit of rage, after he threatened to walk out on her. In attempts to avoid conviction, Roxie teams up with the slickest criminal lawyer in Chicago who turns her crime into fame, much to the horror of her cellmate and rival Velma. Scott and Manrara are excellent as Velma and Roxie, serving sass and emotion with breath-taking physicality and top-notch vocals. Alongside the jailbirds, the talented ensemble deliver an incredible display of Bob Fosse's iconic work. There was real love from the audience for Joshua Lloyd's portrayal of Amos Hart, and Jordan Lee Davies as Mary Sunshine, Dan Burton as Billy Flynn, and Victoria Anderson as Mama Morton, were equally excellent and note perfect. Fosse's choreography shines throughout, reaching perfection with Cell Block Tango, I Can't Do it Alone, and We Both Reached for the Gun. The stark black set and stark spotlights are used expertly to conjure the environments of the county jail, jazz clubs, and the courthouse. The show's themes are dark and serious, with a whole heap of cynicism, but due to the show's high energy and wit, the fun and excitement never let up for a second. The extremely talented live orchestra are also more than worthy of note, their belting performances setting pulses racing and transporting the audience to the seedy world of jazz clubs. It was so refreshing to witness the orchestra on stage throughout the whole show, adding that extra feeling that we were looking into a jazz club. Chicago The Musical razzles and dazzles from the opening note to the final curtain, and will be running at Llandudno's Venue Cymru until May 3.
North Wales Chronicle
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- North Wales Chronicle
Janette Manrara dazzles as Roxie Hart in Chicago
On Tuesday, Chicago The Musical had it's opening night for its run at the Llandudno theatre. Headlining as Roxie Hart was Strictly star Janette Manrara. Her skills as a dancer were brought to the fore, elevating the routines and physical comedy the role demands - but can she sing? The answer, simply, is yes. (Image: Chicago The Musical/Venue Cymru) Manrara's vocals were on point, particularly in the dualling duets with Velma Kelly in an equally stunning performance from Djalenga Scott. When experiencing Chicago, you are suddenly struck with how many of the iconic musical numbers are ingrained in your memory. Show opener All that Jazz, Razzle Dazzle, Roxie, and my personal favourite Cell Block Tango (He Had it Coming) are delivered perfectly, carrying the sordid tale of crime and stardom along the most entertaining way. Members of the audience couldn't help but sing along to the well known hits such as All that Jazz, Cell Block Tango, We Both Reached for the Gun, and Razzle Dazzle. Set in the 1920s, we see Roxie Hart end up in Cook County Jail after murdering her lover on-the-side in a fit of rage, after he threatened to walk out on her. In attempts to avoid conviction, Roxie teams up with the slickest criminal lawyer in Chicago who turns her crime into fame, much to the horror of her cellmate and rival Velma. Scott and Manrara are excellent as Velma and Roxie, serving sass and emotion with breath-taking physicality and top-notch vocals. Alongside the jailbirds, the talented ensemble deliver an incredible display of Bob Fosse's iconic work. There was real love from the audience for Joshua Lloyd's portrayal of Amos Hart, and Jordan Lee Davies as Mary Sunshine, Dan Burton as Billy Flynn, and Victoria Anderson as Mama Morton, were equally excellent and note perfect. Fosse's choreography shines throughout, reaching perfection with Cell Block Tango, I Can't Do it Alone, and We Both Reached for the Gun. The stark black set and stark spotlights are used expertly to conjure the environments of the county jail, jazz clubs, and the courthouse. The show's themes are dark and serious, with a whole heap of cynicism, but due to the show's high energy and wit, the fun and excitement never let up for a second. The extremely talented live orchestra are also more than worthy of note, their belting performances setting pulses racing and transporting the audience to the seedy world of jazz clubs. It was so refreshing to witness the orchestra on stage throughout the whole show, adding that extra feeling that we were looking into a jazz club. Chicago The Musical razzles and dazzles from the opening note to the final curtain, and will be running at Llandudno's Venue Cymru until May 3.
Leader Live
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Janette Manrara dazzles as Roxie Hart in Chicago
On Tuesday, Chicago The Musical had it's opening night for its run at the Llandudno theatre. Headlining as Roxie Hart was Strictly star Janette Manrara. Her skills as a dancer were brought to the fore, elevating the routines and physical comedy the role demands - but can she sing? The answer, simply, is yes. (Image: Chicago The Musical/Venue Cymru) Manrara's vocals were on point, particularly in the dualling duets with Velma Kelly in an equally stunning performance from Djalenga Scott. When experiencing Chicago, you are suddenly struck with how many of the iconic musical numbers are ingrained in your memory. Show opener All that Jazz, Razzle Dazzle, Roxie, and my personal favourite Cell Block Tango (He Had it Coming) are delivered perfectly, carrying the sordid tale of crime and stardom along the most entertaining way. Members of the audience couldn't help but sing along to the well known hits such as All that Jazz, Cell Block Tango, We Both Reached for the Gun, and Razzle Dazzle. Set in the 1920s, we see Roxie Hart end up in Cook County Jail after murdering her lover on-the-side in a fit of rage, after he threatened to walk out on her. In attempts to avoid conviction, Roxie teams up with the slickest criminal lawyer in Chicago who turns her crime into fame, much to the horror of her cellmate and rival Velma. Scott and Manrara are excellent as Velma and Roxie, serving sass and emotion with breath-taking physicality and top-notch vocals. Alongside the jailbirds, the talented ensemble deliver an incredible display of Bob Fosse's iconic work. There was real love from the audience for Joshua Lloyd's portrayal of Amos Hart, and Jordan Lee Davies as Mary Sunshine, Dan Burton as Billy Flynn, and Victoria Anderson as Mama Morton, were equally excellent and note perfect. Fosse's choreography shines throughout, reaching perfection with Cell Block Tango, I Can't Do it Alone, and We Both Reached for the Gun. The stark black set and stark spotlights are used expertly to conjure the environments of the county jail, jazz clubs, and the courthouse. The show's themes are dark and serious, with a whole heap of cynicism, but due to the show's high energy and wit, the fun and excitement never let up for a second. The extremely talented live orchestra are also more than worthy of note, their belting performances setting pulses racing and transporting the audience to the seedy world of jazz clubs. It was so refreshing to witness the orchestra on stage throughout the whole show, adding that extra feeling that we were looking into a jazz club. Chicago The Musical razzles and dazzles from the opening note to the final curtain, and will be running at Llandudno's Venue Cymru until May 3.
