Musical Era of the 1970s Essay

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Roxie was always infatuated by fame, particularly the case of Velma Kelly, a woman on the same cellblock as herself, who is accused of double murder of her sister and lover (who were cheating on her).

The musical suggests that sexual indiscretions are a part of life, not simply something produced by the sexual revolution of the 1970s. Sexual scheming is seen as human nature. It offers a very jaded perspective of the American justice system, which can be easily manipulated by media-savvy lawyers. In one musical scene, the lawyer Bobby Flynn manipulates Roxie like a puppet, speaking her words for her during a 'press conference' ragtime dance which emphasizes that "We Both Reached for the Gun" (Roxie's defense). Although the play is set during the gangster era, it is as much a commentary upon the mid-70s, a decade in which the nation had endured the end of the failed Vietnam War and Watergate. The play ends with Roxie's acquittal and the rise to stardom of Velma and Roxie, based upon their beauty and murderousness. The one woman who does not have a good attorney on their cellblock meets her untimely demise, even though she is the only person who seems innocent of her accused crime.

If Chicago was a ground-breaking commercial failure (although its later revivals have been extremely successful), Grease (1971) was a nostalgic success, a backward-looking musical that portrayed a simpler, pre-sexual revolution era when a 'bad girl' like Rizzo was called names for sleeping with boys and smoking (gasp) cigarettes.

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Grease is nostalgic as Happy Days for a past American glory age, although it contains certain 'winking' at the audience, regarding its sexual innuendo. And the climax of the musical portrays good girl Sandy going 'bad' in black leather for her beloved object of desire, Danny. The musical takes place at Rydell High School, and the teens have no other cares in the world than doing their hair, polishing their cars, and engaging in gossip over their romantic lives.

The focus in Grease tends to be more on the music than the spoken word and the 'book' in terms of advancing the plot, as is the case in Company and Chicago. But Grease's music is lively and uncomplicated and the musical's dancing, while energetic, harkens back to an earlier era of sock hops and doo-wops. Of these three musicals, it is Chicago that strikes the modern listener as the most innovative -- its collapsing of the third wall between audience and actors, its open use of characters playing 'personas' rather than inhabiting traditionally-rounded characters, and its utter amorality makes it seem more like a musical of the 21st….....

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