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"Chicago" is a great musical, whether on stage or film, and its tragi-comic story line is always a delightful experience. As the goofy dialog and impossibly brassy and nutty characters slip into entertaining song and dance acts, they carry the happy audience along to pure enjoyment.

There have been two major productions of "Chicago". The original Broadway show opened in 1975, and featured the exciting dance routines of Bob Fosse, and two of the greatest dancers in Broadway theater history, Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon. Their energetic performances of the hit song, "All That Jazz" is an enduring classic.

The original production of the convoluted story of love, murder, betrayal and publicity ran for nearly a thousand performances, and had a 1990s Broadway revival that ran for a record-breaking 4,600 performances. "Chicago" continues to delight audiences in theaters all over the world, from college auditoriums to London's Palladium.

I had the privilege of seeing the original production in New York in 1976, and my best memory is that I watched with fascination from a front row seat. My ticket was for a seat way back in Row R, but before the lights went down, there was a commotion up front. Then two ushers then went by helping an obviously ill patron up the aisle.

So, just before the curtain went up, I sneaked down and took the seat. For the next few minutes, I expected to be grabbed by ushers and tossed out of the theater. Fortunately it didn't happen, and I actually had a front row seat on theater history. That original 1975 cast included Chita Rivera (Velma), Gwen Verdon (Roxie), Jerry Orbach (Billy Flynn) and Mary McCarty (Mama Morton)

The newer production of "Chicago" was the 2002 movie, which was as spectacular as the Broadway show, along with the added special effects and other Hollywood technical tricks. Its cast included Renee Zellweger (Roxie), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Velma), Richard Gere (Billy Flynn) and Queen Latifah (Mama Morton),

Another interesting fact about "Chicago" is that the original was made as a movie in 1942. The title was "Roxie Hart", who was the heroine in the later productions. It was the same goofy tale of love, murder and newspaper hype, but with no music. An odd fact was that the old movie starred one of the screen's most famous musical stars of the time, Ginger Rogers.

Film buffs remember Ginger as the partner of Fred Astaire in a dozen 1930s dancing and singing musicals. Of further interest about this classic film is that it also starred Phil Silvers, who later found fame as TV's Sergeant Bilko, and Bill Frawley, who became Fred Mertz, the neighbor/landlord of TV's Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.

I found the movie "Chicago" to be somewhat disturbing to my aging eyes and brain, because its half-second-cut film techniques didn't allow me to dwell on a scene before it too quickly disappeared into a jumble of faces, feet, eyelashes and whatnot. It took away from my enjoyment, and I found it just as difficult to comprehend at times as another recent musical film, the brilliantly colorful "Moulin Rouge". The jerky editing and quick cuts made that film totally unwatchable for me.

Maybe I've built up my own personal resentment for this mind-challenging film technique. I feel that substance and quality are being sacrificed for some kind of hip film-school childishness and MTV mentality. When I watch a musical movie, I want to sit back and enjoy it as I would in a Broadway theater, not be forced to be waterboarded by mental and visual bombardment of abstract images.

Would I recommend both the film and stage version of "Chicago"? Of course I would, and I intend to enjoy them again and again in the future.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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