True events in 1920s Chicago inspired the musical "Chicago." In 1924, Beulah Annan killed an intruder who was really her lover, and police arrested Belva Gaertner for her husband's murder.
An enterprising reporter, Maurine Watkins, capitalized on the drama surrounding both of trials and turned her observations into a Broadway play, "Chicago," in 1926. Watkins based the characters of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly on Annan and Gaertner, respectively. Two films followed the stage play in 1928 and 1942.
Bob Fosse used Watkins's fictional account to create the Broadway musical "Chicago: A Musical Vaudeville" in 1975. John Kander wrote the music, and Fred Ebb was the lyricist. According to Martin Gottfried, the musical received poor reviews and only ran for 936 performances.
A Broadway revival of Fosse's "Chicago" in 1996 won critical acclaim, including six Tony awards. Productions of "Chicago" have appeared all over the world in the wake of the revival's success.
Miramax's film adaptation came out in 2003. The movie starred Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere; it won six Academy Awards.