SIMON BENNETT reports from the preview night of Chicago at the Adelphi.

Rumour has it that in the audience at the last night of the UHDS performance of Chicago was American producer Kyle Hofstadter who was moved to begin the arduous task of reviving this massively underrated show, first on Broadway and now, in the West End.

It is not known whether it was the incredible potential he saw in the show, as produced by our young but dedicated drama society, or just the desire to do it properly which spurred him on. This mainly isn't known because the aforementioned rumour was started by me, last week, and is complete arse.

However the clever part of this tissue of lies is that Chicago is in fact on in the West End. A small band of MadHatters checked it out on the 7th of November.

The show starred Ute Lemper as Velma and Ruthie Henshall as Roxie with Nigel Planer taking the role of Amos. The set design was very simple with the unusual twist of placing the orchestra on stage from where they showed they were enjoying the opportunity to be a visible part of the show. The production relied fairly heavily on dance and the costume designer had done wonders making enough material for two costumes stretch to cover a cast of twenty.

The show was done in the style of a series of vaudeville numbers. All I Care About is Love had an excellent routine which I will leave for you to discover yourselves but of course lacked that vital Hennings jump at the start. Another highlight was They Both Reached for the Gun, which, if you've seen it, you will realise, will always be impressive.

In the end I would say that our version stood up very well against the pro one as we put so much effort into the set and costumes. If you enjoyed the show when we did it, you'll like it this time.