Chicago 50 - No. 20 - Gwen Verdon as Roxie Hart

During the number "Roxie" during the out of town try out in Philadelphia before her costume changed. Photo by Martha Swope, 1975

Gwen Verdon was 50 when she starred in Chicago as Roxie Hart. She had wanted to bring the project to life with Fosse for years. In the 1960s they tried to obtain the rights to perform Chicago from Maurine Watkins, but couldn't get permission until after she passed away in 1969. When rehearsals began in 1974 for Chicago, the progress was stalled when Bob had heart trouble and had to undergo bypass surgery. Four months later, rehearsals resumed.

Gwen's last show on Broadway had been Sweet Charity in 1966. After a nine-year absence from the Broadway, Chicago represented Gwen's return, and farewell to the Broadway stage.

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Gwen performs "Funny Honey" in Act 1. Photo from Patricia Zipprodt's collection at the New York Public Library

"Red-haired Gwen Verdon is perfection as Roxie Hart. She brings and intriguing mixture of toughness and vulnerability to the role. Her joyous dancing is better than ever. Her graceful movements seem to flow effortlessly from one dance phrase into the next. It is good to see Miss Verdon back at the 46th Street Theatre, I recall her earlier triumphs at this location in, Damn Yankees, New Girl in Town, and Redhead."

--Emory Lewis, The Record

"Gwen Verdon is captivating in both song and dance, especially the latter in her dream of stardom titled 'Roxie' and in a slinky strut with two male partners called 'Me and My Baby.'" --Douglas Watt, Daily News, 6/4/1975

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Photo by Martha Swope, 1975

"[Roxie] starts out the show a simple, straightforward (though amoral) woman who wants nothing more than to have fun. As she gets swept up in the events surrounding her crime, she learns to scheme, manipulate, lie, cheat, and steal. She becomes a tiger, scratching and clawing her way to the top (well, the top as she sees it, anyway) – she becomes Velma, stealing from Velma not only Mama’s attentions, her lawyer, her trial date, and her rhinestone shoes, but also her ruthlessness, her celebrity and her ambition. Finally, at the end, stripped of everything and everyone, Roxie returns to the simple life she had before, once again interested in nothing more than having a good time. She has hit rock bottom and is finally able to step back and look rationally at where she’s been and what she’s done. And “Nowadays” becomes her new anthem of Life’s Simple Joys – booze, men, sex, and fun. Balance is restored to her universe, whatever we may think of that universe." - Scott Miller

Backstage photos. The girl with the long blonde hair is Gwen and Bob's daughter, Nicole Fosse.