Cheap Chicago (Music) (Various Artists) Price

The movie version of Kander and Ebb's Chicago was long in the making, but it's well worth the wait. Director Rob Marshall's main change was to turn the classic musical numbers into fantasy sequences, but of course this isn't obvious on CD. Most importantly, the arrangements are bursting with life while being true to the show's spirit, and the casting is simply inspired. Catherine Zeta-Jones actually started her career on the British boards (she was in The Pajama Game and 42nd Street), so her turn as slinky Velma Kelly isn't that surprising; Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart is more of a leftfield choice, but she shows she can handle the singing demands with pizzazz. The real revelation may well be rapper Queen Latifah, who belts out "When You're Good to Mama" with a marvelous affinity for the material. OK, so the R&B reprise of "Cell Block Tango/He Had It Coming" by Queen Latifah, Macy Gray, and Lil' Kim fails to convince, while Anastacia's "Love Is a Crime" is just blah (rest easy, purists, it's over the end credits). On the other hand, the CD provides two bonuses: "Class," which was cut from the movie, and "I Move On," a great duet written by Kander and Ebb for the final cut. It's really easy to mess up film adaptations of Broadway shows. Happily, Chicago proves it can be done right. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

ARTIST:	Various Artists
CATEGORY:	Music
MANUFACTURER:	Sony
TYPE:	Pop, Soundtrack, Soundtracks & Film Scores
MEDIA:	Audio CD
MPN:	87018
TRACKS:	Overture/And All That Jazz - Catherine Zeta-Jones / Renee Zellweger / Taye Diggs, Funny Honey - Renee Zellweger / Reilly, John C. / Colm Feore, When You're Good to Mama - Queen Latifah / Taye Diggs, Cell Block Tango - Catherine Zeta-Jones / Susan Misner / Deidre Goodwin, All I Care About - Richard Gere / Renee Zellweger, We Both Reached for the Gun - Christine Baranski / Cleve Asbury / Shaun Amyot, Roxie - Renee Zellweger, I Can't Do It Alone - Catherine Zeta-Jones / Taye Diggs, Mister Cellophane - John C. Reilly, Razzle Dazzle - Richard Gere, Class - Catherine Zeta-Jones / Queen Latifah -, Nowadays (Roxie) - Renee Zellweger / Taye Diggs, Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag Medley Title - Renee Zellweger / Catherine Zeta-Jones / Taye Diggs, I Move On - Catherine Zeta-Jones / Renee Zellweger, After Midnight - Danny Elfmann, Roxie's Suite - Danny Elfman, Cell Block Tango / He Had It Comin' - Queen Latifah / Lil' Kim / Macy Gray, Love Is a Crime - Anastacia
# OF MEDIA:	1
UPC:	696998701823