chicago—the movie--6/25/26
Today's encore selection-- from Colored Lights by John Kander and Fred Ebb. It was twenty-five years after its successful run on Broadway that Chicago, with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, was made into a smash-hit movie:
“The screen version of Chicago waited more than twenty-five years to be made. Directed by Rob Marshall and written by Bill Condon, the movie was released on December 27, 2002, with a cast that featured Catherine Zeta-Jones (Velma), Renee Zellweger (Roxie), Richard Gere (Billy Flynn), Queen Latifah (Mama Morton), and John C. Reilly (Amos ‘Mr. Cellophane’ Hart). The movie won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Catherine Zeta-Jones. Thanks to the movie's enormous popularity, the soundtrack became a surprise hit for Sony's Epic label.
“EBB: Nobody wanted to make the movie of Chicago for a long time.
“KANDER: I remember the subject of the movie came up the last time I saw Fosse. You were in California, and Bobby and I went to Hugh Wheeler's funeral here. Bobby had not been able to figure out how to do the film. But after the funeral reception, he told me, ‘I think I finally figured out how to do the movie, and when Fred gets back, we'll talk about it.’ It was the first time he ever said that, and that was the last that I ever saw of him. He died shortly after that. What his version of the movie would have been like we will never know, because he never told anyone.
“EBB: I didn't have a clue how to do the movie.
“KANDER: It also took a long time before anybody wanted to do the movie of Cabaret, and it sold for very little, as I recall.
“EBB : So did Chicago.
“KANDER: The cast is really wonderful, and you know I'm kind of a snob about people who are primarily movie stars. When I saw how talented they are—Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, and Richard Gere—I was ashamed of myself because they are all extremely gifted. They could step right into the show. Richard Gere could play Billy Flynn like that! [snapping fingers]
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“EBB : And he would have an affection for it. They all have special feelings for the piece, and that is gratifying. We had the opportunity to meet the whole company when they were filming in Toronto last year. They are a terrific group of people and they treated us like royalty. We heard Renee Zellweger sing ‘Funny Honey’ and ‘Nowadays.’ John C. Reilly sang ‘Mr. Cellophane,’ and Richard Gere sang ‘All I Care About Is Love’ and ‘Razzle Dazzle.’ Catherine Zeta-Jones sang ‘All That Jazz.’ I added a line to ‘Class’ for the movie. It was actually the first line that I ever wrote for the song, but Bobby Fosse thought it was too much, so we cut it. The line in the show eventually became ‘Everybody you watch / S'got his brain in his crotch.’ But I put back in the original line, which was ‘Every guy is a snot, every girl is a twat.’ By the way, we scarcely have any money participation in the movie.
“KANDER: They have to pay us for a new song, though practically nothing.
“EBB: I think we were lucky to get Chicago done at all. Nobody wanted it. I tell you, Marty Richards persevered. He produced the show and hung on to it and believed in it. He kept trying to get it done as a movie.
“KANDER: At one point when we were working on the movie of New York, New York, you and I and Liza together went to Scorsese and asked him to do it. I don't know if he ever seriously considered it or not. I'm glad the movie has turned out the way it has, and we are both grateful that Rob Marshall directed it.
“EBB : I can name quite a few people who have come and gone on that project. Fosse and Madonna. Rob Iscove. Then there were people like Nicholas Hytner and Wendy Wasserstein. They had written a script for it. Nick Hytner had shopped it around Hollywood with him directing and Charlize Theron to star in it. But nobody picked it up. At one point, Liza and Goldie Hawn wanted to do the movie. Liza was going to be Roxie, and Goldie was going to be Velma. They even sang ‘All That Jazz’ at the end of the TV special that I did with them, Goldie and Liza Together. They had a wonderful friendship for a while.
“KANDER: Larry Gelbart also wrote a screenplay for Chicago. He was paid a lot of money for that.
“EBB: They kept sending him back to rewrite it until eventually he said, ‘Enough.’ Apparently at Miramax there are a lot of young people out of college and they read scripts for Harvey Weinstein and the producers. They have meetings, one of which I went to with Larry. A young guy who looked like a Harvard undergraduate came in and started to attack Larry's screenplay, but he did so for ridiculous reasons. He suggested that Roxie has to have a love affair. ‘You cannot do a major musical without a love affair;' he insisted. He referred to the movie of Roxie Hart and pointed out how well that was handled, that Ginger Rogers had a love affair with a reporter. Then he said to Larry, ‘So why don't you write in a reporter who's covering the case and have him get involved with Roxie.’ That kind of advice is insulting for somebody as gifted and important as Larry, though he took it very well. I kept kicking him under the table.
“KANDER: I think he's been through that kind of shit many times. In the theater you own your own material, and nobody can tell you that you have to change something. They can try to
pressure you, but with movies you are just for hire. That's why Larry is so expensive. He gets the money up front, writes the script, and if they give him too much of a hassle, he can just say, ‘The hell with it.’
“EBB: The idea of seeing the story through Roxie's eyes is a wonderful idea.
“KANDER: That was Rob Marshall's idea. Suggesting that concept was how he got the job.
“EBB: Yes, he pitched it to Miramax.
“KANDER: As I understand it, they were talking to him about doing Rent, and basically he said, ‘Before we talk about that, I'd like to talk about Chicago.’ He had this idea, and whatever he said got him the job.
“EBB: It's extraordinary with a $45 million movie for someone to get the job based on saying, ‘We're going to see the story through Roxie's eyes?' Rob had so little experience with movies.
“KANDER: He did that TV movie of Annie.
“EBB: The movie of Chicago is a wildly improbable success story. Good for him! Good for us!”
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