The 1944 hit that put Leonard Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Betty Comden and Adolph Green on the Broadway map gets a spirited revival courtesy of director John Rando and a fine cast

A glorious 28-piece orchestra playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in front of a giant American flag safety curtain has the audience on its feet before On the Town gets started. But it’s the jagged blasts of brass, the languorously bluesy romantic ballads and the exuberant comedy numbers of Leonard Bernstein’s jazzy score that make this vibrant Broadway revival such transporting entertainment. Then there’s the dancing, with ballet interludes that mark the groundbreaking 1944 show as a distinctive hybrid. If the humor in Betty Comden and Adolph Green’s book veers into cornball, who’s complaining when the production packs so much charm? On the Town is remembered for the effervescent 1949 MGM screen version that starred Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, even if many of the songs were ditched. Comden and Green fleshed out the story of three couples caught up in whirlwind flings from the Jerome Robbins ballet Fancy Free, which still turns up in the New York City Ballet repertoire. The show’s original production had a healthy run of just over a year, ushering in a new kind of musical comedy. But Broadway revivals in both 1971 and 1998 fizzled. The director this time around, John Rando, embraces both the strengths and weaknesses of the musical about three World War II American sailors on 24-hour shore leave in New York City, looking for a quick hit of sightseeing and sex.