If you like classic MGM musicals, then "Stairway to Paradise," the first Encores! original production, is heaven-sent.

The show opened last night at City Center, but you'd better hurry. It only runs through Monday.

"Paradise" celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Ziegfeld Follies and 50 years of musical revues, with tunes by America's greatest and songwriters.

The show has more than 30 songs, all are orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick and sound great played by the large Encores! orchestra.

There are a couple gut-busting sketches and some of the best dancing you'll see all year. The show's not perfect, but it's a heck of a good time.

Like the original revues, "Paradise" showcases stars and lesser-known talent. Headlining the cast is the buxom, beautiful and unbelievably versatile Kristin Chenoweth, who hits every note and joke out of the park. Her searing "Guess Who I Saw Today" is a stunner.

Ruthie Henshall smolders on the torchy "Memories of You." Capathia Jenkins gets naughty on "My Handy Man Ain't Handy Anymore," lamenting that her guy "sits around and lets my stove get cold." Behave!

Kevin Chamberlin and Christopher Fitzgerald are hilarious. Jenn Gambatese, Shonn Wiley and Michael Gruber make "I'll Take Manhattan" and "Mountain Greenery" perfection. Tap dancer Kendrick Jones brings down the house with "Doin' the New Low-Down."

"Paradise" contains a range of moods and tones in songs from 1917 to 1952. There are tunes about happy and sad relationships, Irving Berlin Army songs and sweeping melodies like "Dancing in the Dark."

Director Jerry Zaks and choreographer Warren Carlyle have done a first-rate job in staging the show in just a couple of weeks. It's a sparkling entertainment.