America is in the depths of the Great Depression. Audiences flock to movies where they can forget their troubles enjoying a couple of hours of singing and dancing paying a mere dime for a ticket. The musical “42nd Street” is based on the 1933 movie of the same name.

The basic plot is that Broadway producer Julian Marsh is producing a big new Broadway show called “Pretty Lady.”

He is worried that his big star, Dorothy Brock, doesn’t have it anymore, but he has to cast her since her sugar daddy is putting up the money. Competition for the chorus is very tight, especially since it’s the Great Depression and jobs are scarce.

Newly arrived from Allentown, PA, (pronounced P. A.) Peggy Sawyer lucks out and gets in the chorus. The leading lady is injured opening night and can’t continue with the show. Marsh discovers that Sawyer is the best dancer and a great singer. She steps in and saves the show. Of course, there lots of subplots and twists and turns.

The movie featured music by Harry Warren with lyrics by Al Dubin. They may not be household names, but their songs are well-known and have endured. Several songs they had written for other movies from the period were added to the original five from “42nd Street,” the movie, for the musical version. Some of the best-known include “I Only Have Eyes For You,” “We’re In The Money,” “Lullaby Of Broadway” and the title song, “42nd Street.”

The move was choreographed by the iconic Busby Berkeley. Movie production allowed for viewing his intricate dance patterns from all directions. When famed Broadway producer David Merrick created the musical version of “42nd Street,” he hired an equally talented Broadway choreographer, Gower Champion, to direct and choreograph the show. Champion died on opening night at 59 years old. Sadly, the theater lost a great talent.

This Music Circus production is choreographed by Michael Lichtefeld. To say Lichtefeld is experienced is a understatement. He has choreographed six Broadway, nine off-Broadway, eight national tours and eight Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Ontario, Canada) productions including “South Pacific” and “My One And Only.” He makes spectacular use of the multi-tiered, rotating Music Circus stage with its multiple entrances and exits.

Lichtefeld also has a cast made up of very talented dancers to work with. Some he worked with when he choreographed “42nd Street” at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly, Mass.

The fabulous leading dancers include Melissa Lone as Peggy Sawyer – the girl from Allentown, PA, who becomes a star. She is also a great singer. Her duet with Lynne Wintersteller, who plays aging star Dorothy Brock in “A Quarter To Nine,” is quite beautiful. Lone also demonstrates what a star Peggy Sawyer has become in the tap/ballet number, “42nd Street,” the big production finale of “Pretty Lady.”

Other leading dancer/actors are James Patterson (Andy Lee dance captain for “Pretty Lady”), Zachary S. Berger (Billy Lawler, romantic lead tenor), Kim Arnett (Anytime Annie), Alexa Glover (Ethyl) and Sarah Marie Jenkins (Lorraine). They are featured singing and dancing in several numbers.

Susan Cella, a veteran stage, screen and television and great comic actress, plays Maggie Jones – the writer for “Pretty Lady.” Cella can dance with the best of them.

Patrick Ryan Sullivan is a great Julian Marsh. All demanding and brusque, but tender and affectionate when he needs to be. (Could the character have been based on Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.?) He does a beautiful reprise of “42nd Street.”

Rounding out the cast are Lew Lloyd (Abner Dillon, Dorothy’s sugar daddy), Gordon Goodman (Pat Denning, Dorothy’s boyfriend), Ryan Worsing (Thug) and Ron Wisniski in his fourth Music Circus appearance this season playing several roles.

This show, more than most Music Circus productions, really highlights the Ensemble. “42nd Street” is all about big production numbers, and big production numbers require a large number of excellent dancers.

Also, since the story is about the chorus line dancer who becomes the big star when the aging star is injured and can’t go on, the ensemble is directly involved in the story. During the ensemble’s encore at the end of the show, they get to remind the audience just how great they have been throughout the show. They leave the audience cheering at the end.

Scenic designer Stephen Gifford (StephenGiffordDesign.com) continues the Music Circus history of creating a strong sense of space with minimal elements.

David Neville’s lighting design also strongly helps create the sense of space and contributed greatly to setting the mood, starting right at the overture. Lighting effect was used to “paint” color onto set pieces.

The need to dress actors in period street clothes, rehearsal outfits and performance costumes gave costume designer Leon Wiebers a lot to work with. There are also the very high Music Circus standards for costuming. Wiebers totally delivered. Some of the costumes that really catch the eye were Maggie Jones’ period suit and hat in “Shuffle Off To Buffalo,” Peggy Sawyer’s slinky dress in the “42nd Street” number and the ensemble’s outfits in their encore. Those costumes contributed to the whole flash of the dance number.

Costumes by Leon Wiebers with lighting by David Neville

Craig Barna’s musical direction along with a 12-piece orchestra produced the always-excellent Music Circus music.

Again, as “42nd Street” is so much about the dancing, including a great deal of tap, Robert Sereno’s sound design captured those sounds beautifully.

Charley Repole’s direction pulls all these elements of dance, singing and acting in the Wells Fargo Pavilion theater in the round together perfectly.

With “42nd Street,” the Music Circus ends its 60th season showing what masters the producers are at assembling great talents in every aspect of musical theater production and unleashing them to greatly entertain their audiences.