The latest offering from the Davis Musical Theatre Company is an enthusiastic production of the blockbuster musical “Chicago.” At Friday’s opening night performance, DMTC handled the show with sufficient grit and guts to bring the tale of crime, celebrity and sensationalism in the Jazz Age alive with fun and razzmatazz.

Chicago in the 1920s was a wide-open town where corruption and crime, scandal and bootleg gin filled the headlines. Women were crashing out of their sheltered roles as demure wives and mothers to smoke and drink and wear short skirts, to rouge their lips and bob their hair and demand their freedom to behave as boldly as their men.

For two women this freedom extended to murder, and their story was fictionalized in a 1926 play by Chicago Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins. This play was the basis for the musical, which opened on Broadway in 1975 and was revived in 1996. The show is still playing on Broadway, for over 16 years and 6,200 performances. Many audience members are familiar with the 2002 film version, which won six Oscars, including best picture.

In the DMTC production, director John Ewing has brought all the excitement of the Broadway musical to the small stage.

The talented cast sails through the fast-paced show with high energy. The onstage orchestra, under the direction of co-producer Steve Isaacson, has a good feel for the jazz and blues score, and Pamela Lourentzos’ choreography captures the bawdy flavor of the 1920s with her cast of scantily clad dancers.

Accused murderesses Velma Kelly (Jennie Ribadeneira) and Roxie Hart (Amber Jean Moore) await trial in the Cook County jail. Roxy’s husband, Amos (Dan Masden), hires celebrity attorney Billy Flynn (Tony Ruiz) to defend Roxy. Flynn is also Velma’s lawyer. His strategy is to make headlines for his clients and drum up interest and sympathy from the press — a famous client is an innocent client.

With help from the matron “Mama” Morton (Andrea Eve Thorpe) and the radio gossip broadcaster Mary Sunshine (D.A. Holmes), Flynn makes Roxie famous while making Velma jealous.

The play is riddled with flashy dance numbers as numerous and arresting as machine-gun bullets, and the dance troupe is skilled and sexy.

Both Ribadeniera and Moore have lots of vocal talent, although “All That Jazz” challenged Ribadeniera’s range on opening night, and “Funny Honey” didn’t have the power one would have wished from Moore. Thorpe’s solo “When You’re Good to Mama” was a showstopper, a fine showcase for her strong voice.

Ruiz plays Flynn with strength and style, and his tenor is smooth and easy as the slick lawyer’s patter to the press. Surrounded by feathery fan dancers, he almost convinces the audience that “All I Care About” is love.

Masden turns in a solid performance as the long-suffering patsy Amos Hart, and his “Mister Cellophane” was sad without being maudlin. Holmes brings a strong comic dimension to the slightly ridiculous Mary Sunshine role, with a unique performance of “A Little Bit of Good.”

DMTC has a 27-year history of ambitious productions and successful performances of Broadway musicals, and the all-volunteer company always turns in an impressive product. This is definitely one of the area’s most consistent values in musical entertainment.

Chicago runs until Jan. 29, with Friday and Saturday performances at 8:15 p.m. and Sundays at 2:15 p.m. Tickets are $18 general, $16 students and seniors and $14 per person for groups of 10 or more. Tickets are available online atdmtc.org or by calling (530) 756-3682. The PerformingArts Center is located at 607 Pena Dr. in Davis.