I am using a textual analysis method by breaking down certain musical scenes of the 2002 movie musical Chicago, directed and choreographed by Rob Marshall, that directly pertain to mocking the media and the criminal justice system. Since Maurine Dallas Watkins created the satirical play “to expose the utter corruption of both the legal system and the newspaper industry” (Perry 231), I am examining to what extent her original idea is still coming across to audiences in a contemporary style. After thoroughly watching the film multiple times, I will deliberately select the musical numbers that pertain to the media and the criminal justice system. The film has twelve musical scenes throughout the hour and fifty minutes. Some of these numbers introduce or help us to understand a character or situation as the film progresses. There are three scenes that I plan to dissect because they are the most relevant to the media and criminal justice system. The musical numbers I plan to examine are “All I Care About,” sung by lawyer Billy Flynn, “Both Reached For the Gun,” include Billy, Roxie and the press, and “Razzle Dazzle,” sung by Billy to Roxie. By using Karen Pearlman’s article, “Cutting Rhythms in Chicago and Cabaret” and her method of three different kinds of movement (story, emotion and image), I plan to break down the musical scenes, focusing on the cinematography and how the choreographed movement and lighting help to distinguish reality and Roxie’s fantasy world for a contemporary audience. As many of the musical scenes quickly change between real life and the vaudeville show she creates in her mind, I will examine how Marshall’s unique concept works, or does not work, for those particular numbers. Pearlman mainly breaks down the editor’s successful, or unsuccessful, job of the “shaping of movement” (28) within the story. She looks to how the musical number is opened by
a dramatic question, problem, or opportunity for the main character that has stakes and implies an action. Each number then it not just a song, but a complication of the dramatic question, a raising of the stakes, and a resolution or a throwing of the plot into another direction, which in turn opens new dramatic questions (29). I will use this concept to confront the questions pertaining to the musical numbers that I am examining. I will look at Marshall’s concept in delivering the scene to the audience and how each is set up. “Both Reached For the Gun” is the scene I plan to spend the most attention to because it is the first, and only, scene the audience sees Billy and Roxie confronting the press. It is also the first press conference for her trial. It uses all of the concepts that pertain to my research question: the mocking style against the media and criminal justice system, the change between Roxie’s reality and dream sequence, and how Marshall’s choreography and directorial style are unique to the contemporary film. This method will help me answer my research question because it breaks down each scene, questioning how the movement of story, emotion, and image evolve in that specific musical number. In addition to applying her method for the scenes used, I plan to examine how Marshall’s concept of Fosse’s original music and choreography make these specific scenes unique and how they are more relatable to a modern audience.