Chicago
Thought Paris Hilton got off easy? The hotel heiress has nothing on the ladies of Chicago, who use their sex appeal and newfound celebrity to literally get away with murder. The Kander and Ebb-penned Broadway classic recently inspired an Academy Award-winning film version starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger and now runs in Tulane's Summer Lyric Theatre's 40th season. Based on the real-life experiences of reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, the musical takes place in Prohibition-era Chicago when spirits were high and morals loose. When both Velma Kelley and Roxie Hart murder their scheming lovers and get off relatively easy thanks to the sympathetic media and slick lawyer Billy Flynn, a whole underbelly of corruption in the Chicago justice system is exposed. But when crime is set to jazzy, toe-tapping numbers like "All That Jazz," "Cell Block Tango" and "Razzle Dazzle," murder seems almost forgivable. Diane Lala directs Elizabeth Argus, Leslie Castay and James Martin in the starring roles. Tickets $25-$32. --ÊLauren LaBorde
8 p.m. Thu.-Sat., July 12-14; 2 p.m. Sun., July 15
Tulane University, Dixon Hall, 865-5269; http://summerlyric.Tulane.edu
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