BUZZ Photos

It's won six Tony Awards, attracted gazillions of star performers and been turned into an Academy Award-winning film (which nabbed six Oscars), and on November 16, the Fosse-fueled Broadway institution known as Chicago turned 12 years old while simultaneously celebrating its 5,000th performance. Those are the facts, ma'am, but there's nothing by the book about this glorious musical hit. Chicago, which began previews at the Richard Rodgers on October 23, 1996 (transferring twice before ending up at its current home, the Ambassador Theatre, in 2003), celebrated its birthday and big five-oh-oh-oh with stars Charlotte d'Amboise, Brenda Braxton, Tom Hewitt, LaVon Fisher-Wilson and Raymond Bokhour, the company and a