JAZZ and liquor are being shaken up in a murderous cocktail at The Mayflower.

A touring production of Chicago has brought its razzle-dazzle to the Southampton theatre, where the spectacle is running all week.

As you would expect the show is sexy, slick and sparkly, with scantily-clad, high-heeled femmes fatale and muscly male dancers who gyrate to John Kander’s fantastic score.

And in this production the music is rightly placed in the spotlight.

The cast sprawl among the band, which is positioned on a large tiered structure in centre stage, and the musicians frequently stand up or sway with their instruments.

Even musical director Garth Hall occasionally chips in.

The only drawback to the music’s prominence is the reduced dancing space, but the cast still manage to impress.

The two leading ladies, Twinnie-Lee Moore as Velma Kelly and Emma Barton as Roxie Hart, are both well cast.

Where Moore has a very powerful voice and a dancer’s poise, Barton – who some may recognise as Honey Mitchell from Eastenders – has a great presence on stage and is a good actress.

Marti Pellow, pictured, was an unexpected revelation as smarmy lawyer Billy Flynn, and his feathery first sequence All I Care About is a lot of fun.

He has a surprisingly powerful voice and impresses by holding a long, loud note – sparking spontaneous applause from the audience – in We Both Reached for the Gun.

Only Wendy Lee Purdy, as Matron ‘Mama’ Morton, did not quite live up to my expectation. While she has a very good voice she lacks a certain presence.

The production is not at raunchy as it could be but there are plenty of stockinged legs and bare chests to keep audiences entertained.