Hollywood musical back with a bang

The big Hollywood musical, feared long dead by fans of the hoofers, is back ... with a bang!

Following on from the success last year of Nicole Kidman's Moulin Rouge comes the long-awaited all-star Chicago, and already the Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere, John C Reilly, Queen Latifah blockbuster is picking up major award nominations and nods for many more to come when this year's Oscar contenders are announced.

In the Golden Globe Awards - usually a strong indication of eventual Academy Award success - director Rob Marshall, Zeta-Jones, Zellweger, Latifah, Gere, Reilly, screenwriter Bill Condon and the film itself have all been nominated.

The story of Vaudville showgirls Roxie Hart (Zellweger) and Velma Kelly (Zeta-Jones), never the best of friends, who in the l920s were involved in an infamous murder trial where they were represented by the manipulative lawyer Billy Flynn (Gere) is hailed as one of the most spectacular of recent Hollywood films.

The stage version of Kander and Ebb's Chicago has been running to packed houses on Broadway and in London's West End - it was first produced in New York in l975 - and, says Condon, "there is always a strong theatrical element to great musicals and there's a sense of hitting a number across the footlights and things like that that are very exciting about the show. It does something that I think is very difficult to do, capture the excitement of live performances."

In any musical, of course, success or failure hinges on the quality of the songs and Chicago delivers an unending procession of great tunes. Like buses the songs come along at regular intervals ... from the opening All That Jazz to Mr Cellophane to All I Care About is Love, it's a musical treat.

In the lead-up to the film there was much competition for parts, with John Travolta, Kevin Spacey and Hugh Jackman considered for the role of Flynn and Goldie Hawn, Britney Spears and Madonna in the running for the female leads.

Chita Rivera (who plays Vickie) was the original Velma and in the l990s she took the role of Roxie in London.

Other connections with past productions of Chicago include those of Deirdre Goodwin (June), Denise Faye (Annie) and Sebastian LaCause (June's husband), all original cast members of the show's revival.

So, just when you thought Hollywood had forgotten how to make a memorable musical along comes Chicago ... get ready to sing and dance!

For Richard Gere, who plays the lawyer defending murder-charge showgirls Roxie and Velma in the $40m Chicago, the chance to indulge his musical side was too much to dismiss.

"Being in Chicago gave me the chance to express myself. I haven't done a musical since I was a kid in New York, and that was rock 'n' roll band stuff. Back then, when I first moved to New York, music offered me an easy way of getting work.

"I made a string of indifferent musicals and got the big break when I moved to London to be in Grease. Probably the last time I sang was in The Cotton Club, but I'd never done this kind of Broadway thing. It demands a big Broadway kind of singing, so I had a singing coach to help get me through it.

"And I'm dancing! It's been a great experience ... well, it had to be because I'm surrounded by all those beautiful girls, I'm alongside the wonderful Catherine and Renee ... and I have a big tap-dance number at the end!"

He has high praise for Zeta-Jones and Zellweger: "They are just terrific! Renee is Roxie and she brings out a heartbreaking quality in the role. I used to think this show was a cold, conceptual piece, but she does things in a way that just rips your heart."

The 53-year-old Gere, never the easiest of people to interview, reflects on the film: "I reckoned I'd be able to give it my best shot. It wasn't easy because I had to concentrate and it took a lot of time before I could do even the simple steps without having to focus on it."

Flynn, his hard-bitten character, always knew that he had to 'work' the press and public on behalf of his clients: "Flynn knew it was a circus, a form of showbiz, and he knew how to make that work for him."

Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays Velma in Chicago, is no stranger to musicals ... in the early stages of what has become a remarkable career she was a hoofer in 42nd Street. And in Chicago she positively shines. And she can still grab attention as a talented singer and dancer.

She's sexy as the man-eating Velma and the award nominations she's been picking up could well end with an Oscar.

It is, though, Zellweger - so brilliant as Bridget Jones, and currently considering a follow-up to that film - who steals the show. Like Zeta-Jones, she is 33 and critics have been raving about her performance as Roxie.

She approaches the role from the vulnerable side and, surprise, surprise, she can handle the musical requirements with some style.

Says screenwriter Bill Condon: "Renee is a knock-out. I was so thrilled when I first saw the dailies of her watching Catherine do All That Jazz. She's telling the whole story simply through the expressions on her face, it's remarkable. That's the great thing about movies, an actor's face can do so much more than a script can."