Melanie C sports the glamorous starlet look as she dresses up all Posh for awards do

She was once known as Sporty Spice on account of her love of tracksuits and is currently playing a dowdy Liverpudlian mother in West End show Blood Brothers.

But last night Melanie Chisholm took a step into unfamiliar territory and tried the Posh look as she squeezed into a glamorous, figure-hugging black dress.

Complete with a flowing train, the singer-turned-actress looked almost unrecognisable in the ensemble compared to her usual casual appearance.

Turning heads: Melanie Chisholm looked stunning in a glamorous floor-length black dress complete with flowing train at the Laurence Olivier Awards last night

With her hair swept back into a stylish plait, it looked like the 36-year-old had been taking style tips from her ex-bandmate Victoria Beckham.

Mother of one Melanie was pictured on the red carpet at the Lawrence Olivier Awards last night at London's plush Grosvenor House Hotel.

She was nominated in the musical category for her role as Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers, in which she she is due to end her six-month run at the Phoenix next month.

New territory: The former Spice Girl looked almost unrecognisable from her usually dressed-down self at the London awards do

But despite receiving critical acclaim for her West End debut, she missed out on the gong.

Instead Samantha Spiro took the award for her turn in the musical comedy Hello Dolly at the Open Air Theatre.

Last February Mel became the last of the Spice Girls to become a mother after giving birth to daughter Scarlet with her property developer boyfriend Thomas Starr.

Dowdy: Melanie was nominated for her role as Mrs Johnstone in the West End show Blood Brothers, but failed to win an Olivier award

In October she made her West End debut as Mrs Johnstone in the Willy Russell play, in which she plays the mother of twins who were separated at birth.

Her only other brush with the West End came back in the mid 1990s when she auditioned for Cats and earned a recall. But at the same time was picked to be in the Spice Girls.

All her bandmates have been to see her in Blood Brothers and a Spice Girls musical is also on its way.

'We're involved,' she says, 'giving the writers anecdotes and stuff.'

Sporty: Mel C with fellow Spice Girls Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell and Mel B back in their heyday