Willkommen... And All That Jazz! Kander and Ebb's Biggest Broadway Hits

A piece of musical theatre gold just opened on Broadway.

The final musical by legendary Broadway songwriting team John Kander and the late Fred Ebb, The Visit just opened at the Lyceum theatre starring Chita Rivera, where just five years ago, their most recent show THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS also took the stage. To clarify, The Visit made its Chicago premiere in 2001, so it's not a posthumous lost musical, or anything like that.

With about a zillion original musicals to their name, most of which made it to Broadway, this pair is one of the most famous Broadway songwriting teams of the modern era. From multi-award-winning shows to those with many nominations but no wins, and the longlasting smash hits to the forgotten musicals, they have certainly seen their share of ups and downs.

Below, revisit their five longest-running Broadway musicals!

5. KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN

May 3, 1993 - Jul. 1, 1995

Also starring Chita Rivera, aka, Ms. Kander & Ebb, this musical earned seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, with an additional four nominations. In addition, it earned Rivera her second Tony for Best Actress in a Musical. But for real, with a writing team as awesome as them, plus direction by Hal Prince, how could they not win big at the Tonys?

Fun fact: Tony Award-winner Vanessa Williams made her Broadway debut in the original KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN cast, for which she received a Theatre World Award.

Watch Chita Rivera, Brent Carver, Anthony Crivello, and the original cast perform at the 1993 Tony Awards!

4. CHICAGO (Original)

Jun. 3, 1975 - Aug. 27, 1977

Gwen Verdon. Chita Rivera. Jerry Orbach. Bob Fosse. No, I'm not just randomly naming some of the best stage artists, but I do think the producers must have had some kind of, "Legendary Theatre Artists Only" policy when putting CHICAGO up. It naturally earned a Tony nomination in every major category in 1976, and this hit should have been a shoo-in at the Tonys. Any other year it would have been. But timing is everything, and unfortunately, another instant hit opened that same season. Yes, that instant hit was A CHORUS LINE. This groundbreaking Marvin Hamlisch musical absolutely swept at the Tonys with nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Actress, Score, and Director, to name a few. Sad for CHICAGO, awesome for A CHORUS LINE. On the flip side, whereas the film adaptation of CHICAGO turned out to be an Oscar success with six awards, A CHORUS LINE's garnered only three Oscar nominations and won not a one.

Fun fact: The company of CHICAGO wasn't the only legendary group to lose at the 1976 Tony Awards. Rosemary Harris, Lynn Redgrave, and George C. Scott also went up for awards but came back empty-handed.

Watch Jerry Orbach and the cast perform at the 1976 Tony Awards!

3. CABARET (Original)

Nov. 20, 1966 - Sep. 6, 1969

Kander and Ebb's second Broadway musical ever and first huge hit, CABARET proved to be one of their most revivable (that's a word, right? Now it is). Again, let's talk about the fact that it was directed by Hal Prince and starred the amazing Joel Grey before he was, "Ohmygoshjoelgreythelegend." It was unavoidably stacked. The show went home with eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Director, and of course Actor for Grey. The film adaptation followed shortly, starring Grey opposite Liza Minnelli and won nine Oscars, including awards for Grey and Minnelli.

Fun fact: Bob Fosse won the Oscar for Best Director in 1973 over Francis Ford Coppolla for THE GODFATHER, and Grey beat out Robert Duvall, Al Pacino, and James Caan, all from THE GODFATHER. Pull out that trivia next time you're trying to impress a film nerd. You're welcome.

Below, watch the 1967 Tony Awards performance!

2. CABARET (Second Revival)

Mar. 19, 1998 - Jan. 4, 2004

Under the direction of Sam Mendes in collaboration with Rob Marshall, this revival starred Alan Cumming in his Broadway debut. Cumming, Natasha Richardson, and Ron Rifkin each won Tony Awards for their roles, though Mary Louise Wilson lost Best Featured Actress to Audra McDonald. Understandable. Because Audra. The show also won Best Revival and was nominated for an additional six Tonys.

Fun fact: 13-year-old Anna Kendrick was also nominated against Audra McDonald that year, for HIGH SOCIETY.

Watch the precious Kendrick perform "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" from SHOW BOAT with the Kit Kat Girls!

1. CHICAGO (Revival)

Nov. 14, 1996 - Forever

What began as what we might think of as "just a revival" became a multi-award-winner and the second-longest-running Broadway show in history. The 1996 CHICAGO revival starred the brilliant Ann Reinking as Roxie and Bebe Neuwirth as Velma, with Joel Grey- who else?- as Amos Hart. Interestingly, both Reinking and Neuwirth won Tony Awards: Neuwirth for Best Actress, and Reinking for Best Choreography. Yay! Everybody wins! And finally, CHICAGO swept the Tonys like it was always meant to. #boom

Fun fact: Another Kander and Ebb musical, STEEL PIER also played on Broadway that season and lost to CHICAGO in multiple Tony Award categories.

Watch Reinking and Neuwirth perform "All That Jazz" and "Hot Honey Rag," at the 1997 Tony Awards! They're just incredible! Can I be them when I grow up? Please and thank you.

Who knows where Kander and Ebb's newest venture, The Visit, will land in the lineup of their most successful shows! Chita Rivera seems to be a good luck charm, so that must be a good sign.

Which is your favorite Kander and Ebb musical?

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