By Anthony Breznican
The Associated Press

Now that Chicago has been crowned with the best-picture Oscar and continues to draw droves to theaters, Hollywood stars and producers say they're eager to revive the long-dormant musical.

Many argued, however, that new projects should be chosen carefully - lest moviegoers grow fatigued of the genre again.

The path to victory for Chicago was cleared last year by Baz Luhrmann's frenetic pop-song romance Moulin Rouge, which brought the musical back into style with critics and became the first live-action musical to earn a best-picture Oscar nomination in 22 years. The last musical to win was 1968's Oliver!

Producer has two in mind

Martin Richards, who co-produced the Broadway version of Chicago and spent more than 28 years trying to bring it to the screen, said his Oscar gives momentum to other musical aspirations.

"There are two that I would like to do," he said.

Among his dream projects is Sweeney Todd, the Stephen Sondheim musical thriller about a Victorian-era barber who slits the throats of his London customers while his partner in crime disposes of the bodies by baking them into her meat pies.

Richards' other interest is an adaptation of the stage show The Life, about happenings in Times Square.

But Richards warned that Hollywood shouldn't dilute the public's newfound enthusiasm for musicals by flooding cineplexes with hackneyed song and dance.

"I just hope that they don't do one musical after another just because it's the flavor of the week," he said.

Besides its six Oscars, Chicago is likely to motivate studios with its box-office success, having so far collected about $134 million.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, who won a supporting actress Oscar for her role in Chicago as a jazz star who fears losing her fame more than facing a murder charge, said she'd love to do it again but echoed Richards' plea for restraint.

"Let's not have one every other month, but I would love to do another one just to have the ball I did on this movie," she said.

Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven revived the Western in 1992 and went on to win the best-picture Academy Award. It was followed by Geronimo: An American Legend, and Tombstone (both 1993) until low-grade follow-ups like Bad Girls (1994) and Posse (1993) turned audiences off the genre again.

The Oscars for Chicago "will bring it up to the consciousness of the studios, where the money is," said Elliot Goldenthal, who won best score Sunday for his work on Frida.

"I think that people want to see full drama that includes music and dance. It's something that we really crave as another form of cinema," he said.

Goldenthal said the entertainment industry should focus on developing original projects instead of just reviving old stage musicals or having stars sing pop tunes in films.

He and wife Julie Taymor, who directed Frida and the Broadway version of Disney's The Lion King, are currently developing their own new musical.

Miramax Pictures, which produced Chicago, is now close to a deal to make a movie out of the gangster song-and-dance play Guys and Dolls, and the company owns the rights to Broadway's Rent, spokesman Matthew Hiltzik said.

"Basically, Moulin Rouge played a critical role reacquainting audiences with the movie musical," he said. "Chicago built on that success, and the best-picture Oscar will serve as a seal of approval for even more younger audiences to see the films."

Count O'Toole out

Peter O'Toole, who received an honorary Oscar on Sunday for a lifetime of work, suggested there would be little room for him in modern movie musicals. He starred in two flops that led to the genre's decline - 1969's Goodbye, Mr. Chips and 1972's Man of La Mancha.

"All I know is that if I'm in it, then you'll be bankrupt," he joked.