One thing Fred Ebb does really well is to add dimensions to a character; even as he is pushing the plot forward, he is also thinking about how a specific person would speak, choose evasions, rely on hyperbole.
In "Chicago," Velma's solo "needs" to be just a sales pitch; we need to see her courting Roxie Hart. But Ebb's tiny details show us Velma's pride and desperation; we see a person at war with herself; we see doubt between the lines.
My sister and I had an act that couldn't flop.
My sister and I were headed straight for the top.
My sister and I earned a THOU' a week--at least--OH SURE...
But my sister is now--unfortunately--deceased.
The "at least" is just too much. We immediately imagine that Velma and her sister were having trouble booking gigs.
She'd say, what's your sister like?
I'd say, MEN. (Yuk! Yuk! Yuk!)
She'd say, you're the cat's meow...
Then we'd wow the crowd AGAIN....
This is pretty bad--and it's *plausibly* bad. We can envision Velma's act. (There is also the undercurrent of sexual jealousy--which Velma both is and is not acknowledging.)
This having originated in the mind of Fred Ebb....it of course ends with a masturbation joke, which is raunchy and poignant (both at once).
Like a deserted broad on her wedding night--
All alone and shaking with fright--
With her brand new hubby nowhere in sight--
I simply cannot do it alone.
A virtuosic portrait--in four minutes. Velma is "the bad guy"--and she is also thoroughly relatable. Bebe Neuwirth won her Tony for Best Lead Actress; she was not considered a supporting player.
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