G. Gillian Russo January 10, 2023, 09:53. *Our system only provides suggested monologues or songs for select characters if we have matching monologues and song information in our database. He considers his profession to be akin to the entertainment industry, with himself as an A-list star in the field. That's about $60,000 in modern day buckaroos. Billy Flynn has been a mainstay on the Chicago blues circuit since the mid-80's. The big star and vaudevillian girl from the Onyx, the best jazz club in Chicago. New York, NY, Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall Even if she seems to be silly and childish, also she can be really dangerous. Musicals usually rely on the memorable songs to induce several incidents of last song syndrome (LSS). When she finds out he's a two-timing liar, she guns him down, and gets a one-way ticket to Death Row, already inhabited by Velma and overseen by Mama. Enter a world of jazz, crime, and razzle dazzle at Chicago on Broadway. Lawyers William Scott Stewart and W. W. O'Brien were models for a composite character in Chicago, "Billy Flynn". . Results may vary. Watkins' sensational columns documenting these trials proved so popular that she decided to write a play based on them. That's the angle I'm after.Billy talking to Amos about his campaign on helping Roxie. Mama is the matron of Cook County Jail. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Ages 12-17: Camp Broadway Ensemble @ Carnegie Hall. 3w2. Join the StageAgent community Richard Gere is Billy Flynn, the slick, high-priced attorney who boasts he can beat any rap, for a $5,000 fee. Characters Casts Crews. Billy will take any case as long as it is sure to put money in his pocket. Billy is a calm, smooth-talking and charismatic lawyer who always looks for loopholes and twists the truth in order for him to win his clients' cases. She is an aspiring actress who gets into trouble with the law after murdering a man she was having an affair with and enlists the help of Billy Flynn to get her out of jail and into spotlight as a star She was portrayed by Gwen Verdon in the 1975 musical, and by Rene Zellweger in its 2002 film adaptation . "Chicago" continues the reinvention of the musical that started with "Moulin Rouge." Show Guides. I just realized how several versions of All That Jazz, Funny Honey and Razzle Dazzle sung outside the Hollywood really got me thinking about this hit musical. Sexy, persuasive, manipulative, masculine. So does "Chicago," and Barrett can offer a reason. Velma is supposed to be a singing and dancing star, and Zeta-Jones delivers with glamor, high style and the delicious confidence the world forces on you when you are one of its most beautiful inhabitants. And of course, Roxie Hart, the heart (pun intended) for the murder case that Flynn has spun into a media spectacle. Watkins loosely based Roxie Hart, Velma Kelly, Billy Flynn and other characters in the play off the individuals involved in these famed Chicago courtroom proceedings. Billy will take any case as long as it is sure to put money in his pocket. Please like our official Facebook page, MusicalsOnline.com and while youre at it, follow us on Twitter @musicalsnews. Please enable Javascript and hit the button below! Define Your Character's Role in the Work You're Analyzing. Images attached are from the film version of the hit musical. The audience. From Velma Kellys cry, No, Im no ones wife but, oh, I love my life! in All that Jazz, to hers and Roxie Harts climatic closing duet Nowadays, its a score that relishes in womens liberation. The undefeated lawyer, Billy Flynn was originally Velma Kellys lawyer. A special $1.99 per month offer (for 12 months) is available now for a limited time. HOT. He can make the court believe that his client is not a murderer but only an innocent soul pushed to a corner into fighting back. Rated PG-13 Velma is in it for the fame. Chicago: All That Jazz (Official Video) Chicago . Famous, infamous, it doesnt make any difference for her as long as shes on the front page. According to all our favourite depictions of this time, it was one of sexual liberation, misbehaving women, and the heady, corrupting, influence of jazz music and abundant liquor. William "Billy" Flynn is the deuteragonist of the musical Chicago, and all of its adaptations. v Yl`t@GVL;yaX 2?m[-"rfi07G,C_x;J`'.1sd(S!l9F72D"Zr'% 1.O2be'.o1AHrb Rca4z%{M0AW#?F2qNA% ,1*1sL,#_!bD,G L$j3M9XRfA_\KL7+Ia~ELSfiZUSC. Also he could easily be swayed into thinking one way by persuasion only to change his mind upon getting into another persuasion all over again as shown as how he immediately changed his mind into supporting Roxie again. Jones and Zellweger as Velma and Roxie in Chicago. If the accused managed to bring in the drama too and ended up coming across as funny instead, you realize the kind of credibility and believability found in this musical. In prison, she develops a rivalry with the star Velma Kelly, who killed her own husband . account. Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! stream Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists, See more characters from Seeking 2 Actor Team for Spring The film has budget on its side, and you would be forgiven for buying into the razzle dazzle; but the comparative shabbiness of the showcurrently running at the Phoenix Theatre, London, undermines the audiences ability to suspend their disbelief. Luckily, she's enlisted the help of hotshot lawyer Billy Flynn, whose influence is also helping make her a household name. This week's guest is the l. Mazz Murray stuns as Mama Morton at the Phoenix Theatre, London. . Sexual Content and Dialogue, Violence, The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic, HBOs Rain Dogs Finds Humor, Despair in the Working-Class Mum at its Center, Berlinale Highlights, Part Three: Hummingbirds, Concrete Valley, Afire, The Oneness of All Things: On Sofia Alaouis Animalia, New York International Childrens Film Festival Opens Window to the World. I am an admin of this site. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Thats one thing he can manage to be honest about. Although modern audiences don't like to see stories interrupted by songs, apparently they like songs interrupted by stories. xZMo6W\`e .z(zk+QH}-MflY)z2h3`~n1qv?? I'm an attorney, I did a television show in Chicago, and my public personality is pretty . musical villains mashup // 20+ shows ???? Vocal Part: Bass-Baritone. Billy Flynn. As for Queen Latifah, she's too young to remember Sophie Tucker, but not to channel her. A nalyst: Upon moving to Los Angeles, Flynn landed a job as an analyst at Warner Bros. Studios. ???? A character that I either despise or feel bad for, Amos Hart is one that you could easily remember as the blindly loyal husband to Roxie. Nora would force him inside the . Chicago is a musical that tells womens stories predominantly through performances by female characters, so itshould feel like an empowering romp from one of the raciest decades of American history. In case productions are about to come in your area, you get to read it here. She is a nave woman with a bad temper. Billy Gardell - Mike Biggs. Roxie is not very bright and never thinks about Instead of remorse, she felt so much pride at the sight of her name on the broadsheets front page discussing the horrors of her double homicide case. In the end he manages to get Roxie acquitted, largely on account of turning the trial into a media circus. Fosse, who grew up in Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s, lived in a city where the daily papers roared with the kinds of headlines the movie loves. Fred Ebb Chicago Character Descriptions V E L MA KE L L Y : F e ma l e , 2 5 -4 0 (Ra n g e : Al to , E 3 -D5 ) V a u d vi l l e p e rf o rme r wh o i s a ccu se d o f mu rd e ri n g h e r si st e r a n d h u sb a n d . Hugh Jackman was apparently offered the role, but declined due to him thinking that he was too young. Theres something alluring about the irreverent way female jazz performances reclaim feminine sexuality and play a part in the subversive culture of jazz and metropolitan life. Surely enough, he has other clients too but in the case of Velma, she can work her own wonders into putting her face on the front page for everyone to gawk at. Roxie Hart is the main protagonist of the musical Chicago and all of its adaptations. Leading Characters Roxie Hart Best known as the sweetie little jazz murderess, called by her lawyer Billy Flinn. He only accepts cases that can match his attorneys fee, quite hefty enough to push Amos to bankruptcy. He is the person who presents all the vaudeville acts during the whole play. Destroy the systems that did offer social care and destroy the people who have to pick up the slack. In the 2002 film, he was portrayed by Richard Gere, who also played Dennis Peck in Internal Affairs. By day, Roxie cleans, cooks and washes- but by night, she frequents Chicago's notorious jazz clubs with her lover, Fred Casely. So which version of Chicago The Musical got you thinking that way all of a sudden? Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like The Man in the Iron Mask, The Man in the Iron Mask (Genre), The Man in the Iron Mask (Character) and more. . Billy is a suave, educated lawyer who can persuade anyone to do anything. Most versions got it right. No wonder Chicago has been honored with 6 Tony Awards, 2 Olivier Awards, a Grammy, and thousands of standing ovations. The show takes place in Chicago, Illinois in the 1 920s. We stand wi, "Beginning is at once a masterful composition of observational comedy, and an incredibly moving commentary on moder, Misinformation and lack of knowledge often turn our bodily fluids into a taboo. An era of flamboyant youth and flappers, gangsters and gin, and hi-jinks and hilarity. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Its less about the law applicable to her and more about the drama applied on the law available for her to use. In rare cases, such as Roxie Hart's, he will take a discount rate in exchange for a cut of proceeds from selling ephemera and media rights fees related to the case. Then its all back to the black chairs in presenting a story meant to be funny. Best known as the sweetie little jazz murderess, called by her lawyer Billy Flinn. This story, lightweight but cheerfully lurid, fueled Bob Fosse, John Kander and Fred Ebb's original stage production of "Chicago," which opened in 1975 and has been playing somewhere or other ever after--since 1997 again on Broadway. Nightclub sensation Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) murders her philandering husband, and Chicago's slickest lawyer, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), is set to defend her. And no feel-good musical would dare tell you the truth in barely-there clothing and fishnet stockings. Release Calendar Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. [3], https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Billy_Flynn_(Chicago)&oldid=1134898946, This page was last edited on 21 January 2023, at 09:51. Billy Flynn became a lawyer for two reasons: a) the money, and b) because people are schmucks, as easily fooled as children. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. Billy knows the secret to getting public opinion on his side: turn the whole trial into a show! References to the '20s ("Roxy's dress is really a flapper dress; there are references to gangsters like . You can watch it like you listen to an album, over and over; the same phenomenon explains why "Moulin Rouge" was a bigger hit on DVD than in theaters. Videos. Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more!