Razzle-dazzling 'em isn't easy. ''It was fun -- in a painful way,'' says ''Chicago'' killer/chanteuse Catherine Zeta-Jones of the requisite shimmies and shakes. ''Things were popping out. Beads were slapping me.'' She suffered welts on her face and bumps from sliding off a piano. Hubby Michael Douglas even had to taunt her into sliding down a pole. ''She was scared to death and was crying,'' says director Rob Marshall. ''He was going 'Come on, don't be a pussy!'''
Meanwhile, Richard Gere overcame his fear of tap dancing, rehearsing at length for a courtroom number. ''He went through T-shirt after T-shirt of sweat,'' recalls Marshall.
For her part, Christine Baranski didn't mind the demands of a scene in which her reporter goes airborne. ''There was a stuntman kneeling at my feet, putting me into this harness and lacing me up,'' she purrs. ''It was so naughty and sexy. I enjoyed every minute of it.''
