Writers Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse pull no punches when they promise at the start of Chicago that the show offers "murder, greed, corruption, exploitation, adultery and treachery . . . all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts". They might have mentioned the sexy strutting too, for this glorious musical has a truly amazing amount of that as well.

Much of it is supplied by the pair of sassy singers, Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, whose bitter rivalries as they struggle to outdo each other in the celebrity stakes is at the centre of the drama. Such are the physical demands of the roles, however, that Haley Flaherty, who plays Roxie, did herself a mischief through a heavy landing on Monday's opening night at the New Theatre. This meant an appearance by her understudy Charleen Qwaye the following evening, when the press were in. What a sensational job she made of it!

True, there were occasional weaknesses in her singing voice, but these were in large part compensated for by the pizzazz of her dancing and the tremendous force of her personality. She offered a Roxie who remained always loveable even as we watched her being thoroughly guileful in making the most of her celebrity status as a murderess. Indeed, the only time she came close to losing our sympathy was in her exploitation of her doting (and very boring) husband Amos (the excellent Dale Meeks).

Part of the show's appeal - it's been packing in the punters for ten years in the West End - lies in its up-to-the-minute 'take' on two inescapable aspects of modern life: celebrity culture and the astonishing influence of the legal profession.

The second is seen to be nothing especially new, if the Jazz Age boasted shyster lawyers with the cunning - certainly when it comes to influencing the press - of the smooth-talking Billy Flynn. He is superbly portrayed in this production by George Asprey, who is pictured above in a truly show-stopping number, All I Care About, choreographed in Busby Berkeley style with a forest of feathers fluttered by his attendant dancers.

Sexy dance routines set to the wonderful songs of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb are not, of course, confined to the girls. Admirers of the male physique will find much to admire at what is on display from the men, in their tight pants and skimpy, often see-through, tops.

Chicago continues at the New Theatre until tomorrow (box office: 08700 606 3500, www.LiveNation.co.uk/oxford)