‘Schmigadoon!’ pays tribute to Oscar and Tony champ ‘Chicago’ in acclaimed second season

At the conclusion of Apple TV +’s  delightful 2021 musical comedy “Schmigadoon!,” Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) realized they loved each other and returned to the real world. The second season finds them blissfully married, but boredom soon sets in. And to add insult to injury, they can’t get pregnant. The two decide they need a boost, so they decide to return to the cotton-candy colored tuneful world of Schmigadoon.

But what they find this time around is Schmicago, a much darker town they can’t leave until they find their happy ending. Happy endings, though, are few and far between in the city that never sleeps. And it certainly looks like the two won’t find one anytime soon after Josh is soon arrested for murdering a showgirl.

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Schmicago is Fosse-fied with more than a few jazz hands reflecting the adult musicals of the 1960s and 1970s including “Chicago,” “Sweet Charity,” “Pippin,” Hair,” “Cabaret”-both the Broadway and movie versions-“Company,” “A Chorus Line” and “Sweeney Todd.”

So how well do you know your “Chicago” facts and figures?

The John Kander and Fred Ebb musical, directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, premiered on Broadway in 1975. Almost half a century earlier, George Abbott directed a hit 1926 non-musical version starring Francine Larrimore as Roxie Hart, Juliette Crosby as Velma and Edward Ellis as Billy Flynn. Charles Bickford and Dorothy Stickney of “Life with Father” fame were featured in smaller roles. The show, which ran over 170 performances, was inspired by two unrelated high-profile 1924 court cases — Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner — who were suspected of and later acquitted of murder.

The first film version of “Chicago” was released in December 1927. The silent comedy starring Phyllis Haver as Roxie, Robert Edeson as Billy Flynn and Julia Faye as Velma.

In 1942, Ginger Rogers played the title role in one of Stanley Kubrick’s favorite flicks, “Roxie Hart.” Directed by William A. Wellman, the film starred Adolphe Menjou as a Billy Flynn and hunk du jour George Montgomery as a reporter who falls hard for Roxie.

And the Rob Marshall-directed 2002 movie adaptation of the musical starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere won six Oscars including best film and supporting actress for Zeta-Jones. It was the first time a tuner had taken home the top Oscar since 1968’s “Oliver!”

The current rialto revival of “Chicago” has been running since November 14, 1996 and as of April 11 has racked up 10,330 performances. A year ago, Pamela Anderson played Roxie Hart for two months. The production saw SRO crowds this year when “RuPaul Drag Race All-Stars” winner Jinkx Monsoon joined the show in January for three months as Matron “Mama” Morton.

This restaging of “Chicago” earned six Tony Awards in 1997. The original 1975 production starring Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera and Jerry Orbach ran for 936 performances and earned 11 Tony nominations. Two months into the run, Verdon had to go on vocal rest, so with just six days to learn the part, Liza Minnelli stepped in for a month to play Roxie. Three years after it opened on Broadway, Verdon, Rivera and Orbach reunited for the Los Angeles engagement of the show.

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