Photo by Joan Marcus

It is with good reason that the conductor gets to stand on a platform in full view of the audience. He gets to lead the orchestra through one of musical theater's most rousing overtures: Lullaby of Broadway, About a Quarter to Nine, Shuffle Off to Buffalo, You're Getting to be a Habit With Me, We're In The Money, Go Into Your Dance, and, of course, 42nd Street (the show's actual location), the extraordinary score is the enduring star of this rousing, uplifting, optmistic and energizing show , produced on Broadway in l980 and based on the 1933 movie musical starring Ruby Keeler.

This is the ultimate Broadway musical with its backstage melodramas and zillions of sequined chorus boys and girls in a delicious spoof of the movie. "Julian Marsh is doing a show" heralds the spectacular opening number, the magical moment when the curtain rises to knee level of what seems to be a hundred tapping feet, the sound of their taps reverberates through the theater getting a spontaneous roar of approval from the crowd. And from there is only gets better!

Christine Ebersole commands the stage with each appearance as the demanding, aging diva. One just wants to hear her polish off such standards as "I Only Have Eyes for You". Kate Levering is the ingenue who saves the show, blond, blue eyed, terminally cute, and she can certainly tap.   With the entire script now a beloved cliche, it is a rare pleasure to relax, sit in your seat and secretly tap along with Gower Champion's vintage tap dances and mouth each line along with the actors. No surprises, pure delight!   The production numbers pile on at the drop of a musical cue creating a delirium that carries over into the street - 42nd street that is!