The show shines its spotlight on a pair of unrepentant 1920s murderesses Roxie Hart (Bianca Marroquin) and Velma Kelly (Brenda Braxton) vying for headlines and a slot on the vaudeville circuit after their flamboyant attorney (Gregory Harrison) builds up big fantasies about them to hook in the press and the public.

The show has been around for a quarter-century, and the movie version was an Oscar-winning box-office smash. With old favorites, it's never a question of whether they're good, but of how well they're holding up in what's increasingly a constant circuit of the United States (and Canada, and points far beyond.)

For movie fans who don't know the stage musical, this is a streamlined revival, grown from a concert reading. That's why it looks so spare, played out in front of the orchestra rising in tiers on stage.

The show has always been fashioned in the spirit of a three-ring media circus and programmed in vaudeville "acts." The revival continues to be an homage to the choreography of the great Bob Fosse.

This production is solid. The three leads are all veterans of the Broadway show (although by the time they signed on, it was a bit long in the tooth). Their stints on the New York stage clearly served as a good warm-up for the road.

Braxton has a mighty belt as Velma, now the remaining half of a sister act after she impetuously murdered her straying hubbie and her sib. Velma's the diva of Death Row when Roxie arrives to steal headlines - and the spotlight - with every devious scheme known to (desperate) woman.

Marroquin provides a nice counter-point as a baby-doll vixen. Every now and again she attempts to put some real emotion into Roxie, which is a mistake. But we forgive her because she, too, has a voice and a half.

Harrison is Mr. Smooth as slick attorney Billy Flynn. He doesn't have live theater charisma, but he does have an overflow of TVQ, which is a sufficient stand-in here.

In two key supporting roles, again the word is solid. Carol Woods gets the job done as the prison matron, Ray Bokhour could use another dose of pathos as Roxie's maligned hubby. Not the stuff of standing ovations, but they carry their performing load. Bokhour wins over the audience in his show-stopper "Mr. Cellophane," a reflection on invisibility, but the number is better than he is.

The singing and dancing ensemble of Chicago provide the most essential support, and they are terrific. Fabulous bodies in black netting and leather slither and shimmy across the stage in that sexy signature Fosse choreography.

The chorus line of murderesses is a compelling and so are the guys. Just about everybody gets a chance to do a little character work, and they are all spot-on. Watch for Dante Sciarra as the entire jury - he's a hoot. And spot the only leggy blonde in the ensemble - that's CCM grad Angel Reda looking like she won't be in the chorus for long.

Chicago runs through Oct. 3, Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Cincinnati, Aronoff Center Procter & Gamble Hall, (513) 241-7469.