Chicago, Royal Centre

With more midriff on display than in the ladies 200m final, it was more than just the singing and dancing raising the temperature among the audience.

The lovely dancers from this 2012 UK tour were actually matched by their male counterparts in costumes more revealing than a 100m world record breaker to the point that wolf-whistles and whoops could be heard from excitable individuals in the front stalls.

All good fun, and probably key to this rather knowing production where facial expression, a roll of the eyes and subtle moves on stage can reveal as much as the spoken word.

With the cast all-important to Chicago, it was energising to see each and every performer from the chorus to the bill-toppers working effortlessly together to deliver the anticipated pazazz (and All That Jazz).

We all know and love Ali Bastian (Roxie) from her time on Strictly – graduating to the all-singing, all-dancing big musicals from Hollyoaks via The Bill.

The same goes for leading man Stefan Booth (Billy Flynn), whose soap pedigree is identical. Corrie’s Tupele Dorgu (as Velma) must have wowed the casting director with her long legs – perfect for her routines stepping over the chair-backs!

And it was Brookie and The Bill for Bernie Nolan, too, who first rose to fame as lead singer of The Nolans.

Another actor relishing her role, she’s in sparkling form playing Mama Morton in one of her own favourite musicals.

All proved very much more accomplished than the annual soap awards might have you believe.

 The ragtime band permanently on stage looked, sounded and acted as if they were a well-loved fixture.

That must largely be down to their leader Adrian Kirk, hamming it up for the audience as conductors so often do!

Neatly-choreographed by Gary Chryst, based on the original work of Ann Reinking, the nimble leads of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly found no routine beyond their grasp – with some of their moves mixing it well with the entire company for some of the show-stoppers.

Energetic, suggestive, and full of Razzle Dazzle, they hurtled helter-skelter towards their natural fate in 1920s Chicago.

Neatly juxtaposed in understated style is Jamie Baughan as Roxie’s husband, devoted and gullible but always a Mr Cellophane.

With the West End run drawing to a close this latest tour may be the last time for a while that you can enjoy the back-stabbing, double-dealing would-be Vaudeville stars unravel their web of deceit.

Strictly Come Dancing Live! Trent FM Arena

Entertainment was the name of the game for this sequined extravanagza - even if the ladies' costumes were a little daring for a Tuesday night in Hockley.

But the risqué was nicely balanced with some beautiful floaty numbers, and both Austin Healey and Mark Ramprakash also flashed the flesh, maybe in a bid to win the all-important vote!

The feeling you get from seeing Strictly unfold live in front of your eyes is a world away from watching it on the box in the corner of the living room.

It's not just the celebrity element. You can really appreciate the hard work from the amateurs and the precision and skill of the professionals.

Even the judges stepped on to the dance floor, with Bruno and Craig getting up-close and personal with an audience who lapped up their every move. And a welcome return for Arlene got one of the biggest rounds of applause at the start of the show.

The professional dancers shimmied a superb ensemble opening turn to warm up the crowd and this set a near-impossible bar for the competing couples to aim for...

The line-up of energetic celebs also boasted Ricky Groves, Chris Hollins, Ali Bastian, Natalie Cassidy, Zoe Lucker and Kelly Brook.

Among the professionals, the crowd was particularly wowed by Lilia Kopylova, whose red-hot tango set pulses racing.

It was good to see a full house at the Arena so soon after seasonal expenditure - but who'd have wanted to miss out on all this glitz and glamour?

Before the finales of flaming pyrotechnics and fond farewells from our new friends on the dance floor, the winner for the opening night was crowned. Take a bow, Austin Healey.

This tour is back in February, by popular demand, so grab a chance before the penny-pinchers at the BBC pull the plug.