Music and lyrics written by John Kander and Fred Ebb.
Original score composed by Danny Elfman.
CHICAGO won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack For A Motion Picture, Television Or Media. "I Move On" was nominated for Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media.
CHICAGO has a long and varied history; it began life in the '20s as a play about a showgirl named Roxie Hart, the character whose name was used as the title for a '40s movie inspired by the show. In the '70s, Broadway composers Kander and Ebb (CABARET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK) wrote the songs for a musical version focusing on the '20s-jazz angle and capitalizing on the murder-and-sex theme, and Bob Fosse fleshed the whole thing out to great success. The late-'90s Broadway revival of the show was even more successful and gave rise to a film version featuring Richard Gere, Renee Zellweger, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, movie stars not known for singing.
The film turned out to be a huge hit, and the actors handle their vocal chores admirably, as borne out on this soundtrack disc. Zeta-Jones and Zellweger handle their respective roles of vamp and showgirl well. While Gere will probably never have a solo singing career, his quirky, character-filled singing is perfectly in the style of many male vocalists of the '20s and works just fine. The songs are full of surprise left hooks and catchy refrains, melding early jazz with showtunes in a seamless manner. While the contemporary pop tunes by Anastacia and Queen Latifah tacked onto the end mar one's suspension of disbelief somewhat, this is nevertheless an impressive and entertaining affair.
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