Chicago

by Maurine Dallas Watkins · first published 1926

Chicago is a play written by Maurine Dallas Watkins. The play, while fiction, is a satire based on two unrelated 1924 court cases involving two women, Beulah Annan (the inspiration for Roxie Hart) and Belva Gaertner (the inspiration for Velma), who were both accused and later acquitted of murder, whom Watkins had covered for the Chicago Tribune as a reporter. Watkins wrote the script (originally titled Brave Little Woman) as a class assignment while attending the Yale Drama School. Produced by Sam H. Harris, the play debuted on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on December 30, 1926, directed by George Abbott, where it ran for 172 performances.

Summary: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0