In one scene, Barry (James Corden) laments the fact that he has not yet won a Tony Award. James Corden is the only member of the film's cast who has actually won a Tony in real life.
Nicole Kidman portrays Angie Dickinson, a life-long chorus girl who just quit her job of twenty years in the musical Chicago after the producers never let her go on for the role of Roxie Hart. In real life, Kidman turned down the part of Roxie Hart in Chicago (2002).
Dee Dee sings that she was once told she was too old to play Eva Perón in the Broadway musical Evita. Meryl Streep, who plays Dee Dee, was once very close to securing the role of Eva Perón in the movie adaption of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita (1996). Streep has often talked about the lengths she went to get the role, including intense vocal lessons. Casting came down to Madonna and Streep, with Madonna ultimately winning the role.
The original actors from Broadway auditioned for the role such as Beth Leavel, Brooks Ashmanskas, Angie Schworer and Christopher Sieber, whose roles in the film are played by Streep, Corden, Kidman and Rannells, respectively.
The characters of Grandma Bea, played by Mary Kay Place, and Vera, played by Tracey Ullman, were created for the film and are not in the stage version.