Chicago
by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
INTRODUCTION
All rise for the Honorable Judge. Your Honor, here today in this courtroom the six merry
murderesses of the Cook Counry jail are up to prove to you their innocence. Your honor the fate
of these guilty….allegedly guilty women is in your hands. It is up to you to decide if they are to
be sentenced to a hanging under the law of Chicago by Fred Ebb.
COURT: Mrs.Liz do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but
the truth. SO HELP YOU GOD.
Liz: Yea I swear I swear. You know how people have these little habits that
get you down. Like Bernie. Bernie, like to chew gum. No, not chew. POP!
So I come home this one day and I’m really irritated and I’m just looking’
for a little bit of sympathy. And there’s Bernie lyin’ on the couch, drinkin’
a beer and chewin. No, not chewen’. Poppin’! So , I says to him I say “you
pop that gum one more time….” and he did. So I took the shotgun off the
wall and fired two warning shots…. Into his head.
Annie: Oh so help me god. I met Ezekiel Young from Salt Lake City about two
years ago and he told me he was single and we hit it off right away. So,
we started livin’ together. He’d go to work, he’d come home I’d fix him a
drink, we’d have dinner. And then I found out---“Single” he told me?
Single, my ass! Not only was he married…oh, no, he had six wives. One of
those Mormons, you know. So that night, when he came home from work,
I fixed him his drink as usual. You know, some guys just can’t hold their
arsenic.
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June: Oh I tell you the truth he had it comin’, he used and he abused it. Listin’
to this, Now, I’m standing in the kitchen carvin’ up the chicken for dinner,
minding my own business, in storms my husband Wilbur, in a jealous rage.
“You been screwin’ the milkman,” he says. He was crazy and he kept on
screamin’, “you been screwin’ the milkman.” And then he ran into my
knife. He ran into my knife ten times.
Hunyak: (use phonics to sound out words)Nem tudom. Mit keresek. Moist
Monyako hearsh lokam left hook tomeFairin. In Na glasion Tomo’ Fay. De
nem igaz. En Arta long voy yalk. Nem Ta dom. Meg Mor ya Uncle
Samcook in dan tom. Porboto. A rinda shindng megmorazi. De Nam Mer
tognig meg
Court: Yea but did you do it?
Hunyak: Uh, Uh, not guilty!
Mona: I swear to tell the truth. I loved Al Lipschitz more than I can possibly
say. He was a real artistic guy… sensitive… a painter. But he was always
trying to find himself. He’d go out every night looking for himself and on
the way he found Ruth, Gladys, Rosemary, and Irving. I guess you could
say we broke up because of artistic differences. He saw himself as alive
and I saw him as dead.
Velma: And then some. You see my sister Veronica and I had this double act and
my husband, Charlie, traveled around with us. Now for the last number in
our act, we did these 20 acrobatic tricks in a row. One, two, three, four,
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five…splits, spread eagles, back flips, flip flops, one right after the
other. So this one night before the show we’re down as the Hotel Cicero,
the three of us boozing’ havin’ a few laughs And we run out of ice. So, I
go out to get some. I come back, open the door and there’s Veronica and
Charlie doin’ Number Seventeen-the spread eagle. I mean whatever
happened to pure ethics and nice manners. Now every SOB is a snake in
the grass. You know there ain’t no gentle men to open up the doors. And
even kids’ll knock down so they can pass. Ya know whatever happened to
old values and fine morals. All you read about today is rape and theft.
Jesus Christ, ain’t there no decency left? Holy Shit! What a shame.
…….Well, I was in such a state of shock, I completely blacked out, I can’t
remember a thing. It wasn’t until later; when I was washing the blood of
my hands, I even knew they were dead. If you'd a been there. If you'd a
seen it. I know you would have done the same!
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SOURCE INFORMATION
Author: Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse
ISBN: 0573680817
Publisher: Samuel French, Inc.
Date (Month/Year): 1976
AWARDS
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