Chicago is a 1975 American musical set in Chicago during the jazz age). The musical is based on a 1926 play of the same title by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, which was about actual criminals and crimes on which she reported). The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"). The musical follows the story of two rival vaudevillian murderesses, Velma and Roxie, who are locked up in Cook County Jail. Roxie murders her lover and is arrested, while Velma is serving time for killing her husband and sister. Both women acquire the same lawyer, Billy Flynn, and tensions come to a head as they vie for the spotlight. The musical features catchy, sexy music and timeless lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb, and a funny, intelligent, and utterly engaging book by Kander and Bob Fosse. Chicago is a musical spectacular that is as addictive as gossip rags and as unforgettable as any trial of the century.