PCPA has given us a number of musicals over the years, all memorable in one way or another, all distinguished by a contagious exuberence. Most of them left the audiences, as they left the opening night crowd attending "Crazy For You": on their feet, lustily cheering and begging for more.

This cast sings well, they are all personable as they can be, and every single one of them can dance like a dream. Never, ever - well maybe their "42nd Street" - has number after number met with wave upon wave of applause. The show is headed by a young man named Michael Gruber and a hardworking ensemble that simply will not let up til their legerdemain is temporarily exhauseted.

Much of the pleasure to be derived from a musical like "Crazy For You" comes from watching the pleasure a performer like Gruber gets from hoofing. From the minute he appears, impersonating one would-be Broadway baby, Bobby Child, whose mother would rather see him in real estate, he's desperately trying to impress producer Bela Zangler with his skills in his zany, joyous "K-ra-zy For You". Gruber is slim, good-looking, with an ingratiating manner that just won't stop. He could sell you chocolate-covered pickles and make you think they were truffles.

The dancing is enough by itself to make this show eminently seeable, but when you add a score by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira, you have something very special indeed. Director Eric Hoit has cleverly cast Melinda Ann Parrett opposite Gruber. Parrett, as many of you will recall from past appearances with PCPA, is a belter - a perfect match for Gruber, whose vocal technique can bear comparison to Fred Astaire's or Gene Kelly's. Tearing up the floor wherever they happen to land, they make a killer team.

Parrett's way with the indelible Gershwin numbers like "Embraceable You" and " But Not For Me" is suitably tender - once again you're able to appreciate what classic ballads they really are, how natural their lyrics, how durable Ira Gershwin's "Embrace me, you sweet embracable you/ Embrace me, you irreplaceable you" still remains in 2003. "I'm biding my time", the Cowboy trio sings, "That's the kind of guy I'm". Lovely.

The wonderful male ensamle - Andrew Bray, John Edelen, Joseph Gallina, Brian Lavelle Joel Presley, Rick Scarpello-proves to possess exceptionally agile bodies. As lazy a collection of louts as one might hope to encounter in Deadrock, Nev., they appear dressed in costumes that look both authentic and often odiferous, scuttling along from one end of the bar to another in steady succession like bowling balls, on another occassion manipulating the ladies of the Gaiety Theatre as if they were rag dolls. Led by Gruber, they provide a show stopper, the endlessly inventive "Slap That Bass," in which they litterly become the band.

We are introduced to the ladies of the ensemble early on when Gruber opens a trunk and five gorgeous pink chorus girls pop out to deliver a catchy "I Can't Be Bothered Now." From then on, it should be obvious we're on to a good thing. All five - Erin Ayala, Jayme Lake, Jessica Larson, Carly Turner and Catherine Yates - are delectably zaftig, a bengign corps capable of dominating the show whenever they appear. They're aided by the talented Hayley Elizabeth Galbraith as Tess and Kellie Nitkin as Patsy, the obligatory dim chorine.

Kathleen Mary Mulligan is the very cool, intensely anguished Irene Worth - played with a purr and a hiss and a provocative pace that all come together in her delicious "Naughty Baby", which she performs in a skirt split three days to Friday. Supported by Ryan Jensen, as the scuzzy Lank, and a wonderful male trio, she creates a Nevada heat wave in nothing flat.

Jeff Evan Clarke and Gillian Chadsey, as noxious British tourists full of pluck, wander into Deadrock just long enough to become involved in everybody's business. Their rousing number "Stiff Upper Lip" brings down the house as the dignified couple does a bit of consciousness raising. Jack Greenman and Phyllis Rodenburger support the general merriment in yeoman style.

Hoit has directed "Crazy For You" and managed to make the hackneyed script seem plausable in a sweetly demented way. He and co-choreographer Valerie Rachelle have done a champion job. Their work is versatile, funny, and always professional, as is that of Kevin Robinson, the music director, and his assistant, Jay Wright.

Judith Ryerson has dressed the large company with real style and color. The sets by Dave Nofsinger are simple but highly effective. Angeline Summers-Marvel's lighting is often inspired.