Broadway Theatre League Razzle-Dazzles with Chicago, March 6-8

Well, we are trying something new this month. I am going to start writing a blog post to introduce you individually to each of our Broadway shows. We felt that by giving you some insider background to the upcoming shows, it will enhance your enjoyment of them. That, and it gives me extra chances to chat with you.

We will start with getting you ready for “All That Jazz” as we introduce you to the longest running American show in Broadway history, Chicago. I will start by saying that Chicago is still running on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre, and every day it plays, it adds to its record.

But things have not always so easy for this show.

Chicago is based on real-life events that happened in the 1920s, when two women were accused of murder. These stories made for sensational media coverage at the time, and the newspaper reporter who covered the trials wrote them as satirical articles, which she later turned into a play. The play’s name was Chicago.

In the 1970s, Gwen Verdon created a dream team consisting of Kander and Ebb (who also wrote Cabaret) and Bob Fosse to turn this play into a musical. It was Bob Fosse’s idea to model the musical after a vaudeville revue. The show introduces us to the fast-talking lawyer, Billy Flynn, who represents the brash “murderess” Velma Kelly. He also represents the mischievous “murderess” Roxy Hart, whose defense is bankrolled by her almost invisible husband, Amos.

The musical opened in 1975 starring Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera. It was a modestly successful show. However, when the Tony Awards were given out in 1976, it was completely shut out by the enormously successful and singular sensation known as A Chorus Line. The show ultimately closed after 936 performances and wasn’t heard of again until 1996.

In 1996, a concert production of the show was presented at New York City Center, and it was so popular that a full-blown revival opened on Broadway. This revival, focusing on “celebrity” defendants and a razzle-dazzle legal defense, opened on the heels of the drama of the O.J. Simpson trial, and it was an immediate hit. This time, it won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival and Best Leading Actress and Actor. It became a Broadway juggernaut, and in 2011, the revival of Chicago surpassed A Chorus Line as the longest-running musical. As of today, it has almost doubled the Broadway run of A Chorus Line. How’s that for justice?

The show has also been made into an Oscar-winning movie, winning Best Picture in 2002, and it has spawned at least seven professional cast recordings (I have four of them). The show has played in 24 countries and in 12 languages.

All of this leads to the following conclusion… we are so happy to have Chicago coming to our 2026 Broadway Season here in Scranton! We encourage you to get your tickets now to make sure you are in your seats when the curtain rises, March 6–8, 2026.

Did You Know:

• There are three price levels for tickets to our Broadway shows, so there are seats for every budget. Tickets can be purchased by phone at (570) 342-7784, in person at our box office at 420 N. Washington Avenue, Scranton, or online.
• You can avoid additional online fees if you purchase in person.
• We encourage you to only use the ticketmaster.com website for ordering online tickets. This site is conveniently listed on our website, so that you can avoid paying secondary marketing prices.
• There are special group prices if you purchase a group of 10 or more tickets to any of our shows.  To do so, just call the box office at the above number.
• We love talking to you at our shows, so feel free to stop me in the lobby on your way in or out of the theatre.  We can chat about Broadway!

So, rouge your knees and roll your stockings down, and get yourself to one of our performances of Chicago. You’ll be happy you did.

See you in the lobby.