Chicago 50 - No. 16 - Set Design by Tony Walton

Lauryn Johnson
Nov 11
2 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Tony Walton was a set and costume designer who worked on nearly 50 stage productions and over 20 films in his career. For Chicago, he designed the set, and although Patricia Zipprodt designed the costumes, Tony designed one costume for the show...

When Tony painted the poster art for Chicago, Fosse liked what the women were wearing so much that he told Patricia that he wanted her to use Tony's illustration as the basis for the costume design. The women wear these costumes in Billy Flynn's number, "All I Care About is Love."

This poster art also became the drop curtain that greeted the audience when they entered the theater. Dissolving as the lights went down in the house, and the neon sign behind the curtain, "Chicago, Late 1920's" began to glow through.

Below are photos of the front curtain that greeted the audience at the beginning of the show, and photos by Martha Swope of the ensemble women (from the first national tour) wearing the costumes inspired by Tony's design.

Gwen Verdon, Jerry Orbach, and Chita Rivera onstage after "Hot Honey Rag"

There are not a lot of photos that allow you to see the full set designed by Tony. Descriptions say that there were two columns on either side of the proscenium which glowed with various 1920 images to set the mood. The bandstand hovered above the stage, atop a large round "drum" inside of which there was an elevator that lifted Chita onto the stage at the beginning of "All That Jazz." On either side of the bandstand there were curved staircases, and the stage deck came to a point in the center, jutting out into the audience.

(left) set design model (right) the executed stage design