Chicago: The Play That Inspired the Hit Broadway Musical

By Maurine Watkins

Maurine Watkins published her stage play Chicago , also titled The Brave Little Woman and Play Ball in earlier drafts, in 1927. Watkins based the story and the characters on real-life cases and people she'd written about during a stint as a "sob sister" reporter for the Chicago Tribune. She based this play on the stories of Beulah Annan (Roxie Hart) and Belva Gaertner (Velma Kelly). Later in life, Watkins expressed regret that her stories for the Tribune likely contributed to their acquittals; as a result, she refused to sell the rights to her to play to Broadway producers during her lifetime. It wasn't until after her death in 1969 that her estate sold the rights to director Bob Fosse. The musical Chicago debuted in 1975 and was revived in 1997. In 2002, it became an Academy award-winning movie starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere, with Queen Latifah and John C. Reilly in supporting roles.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DCG881H4
• ISBN13: 9798334869820
• Release Date: August 2024
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 108 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"