By Pat Craig
Contra Costa Times correspondent

Wow!

That about covers Diablo Theatre Company's production of "On the Town," now playing at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for the Arts. It is a stunning production for many reasons, particularly the collaboration with Company C Contemporary Ballet, which supplied the dancers and could change the way area musical comedy companies look at ensembles from now on.

Essentially, the production raises the already-high bar for local stage musicals as it captures a slice of America in uncertain times.

It isn't hard to imagine Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green watching the passing scene in Manhattan during World War II (the show opened on Broadway in 1944). Then, like now, the place was alive with the excitement of a big city moving forward with both confidence and uncertainty. But a war also was on, adding a threat of the end of this American dream and the possibility that many of those young men in uniform would not live to see the full flower of promise they were laying down their lives to defend.

But to tell the story, the great American heartbeat must be pared down to the beating of just a half-dozen hugely talented hearts — three sailors on a 24-hour leave and the three women they meet while going "On the Town." Chip (Mark Farrell) finds himself paired with Hildy, the boy-crazy cabbie (Hope Mirlis), Ozzie (Ryan Drummond) becomes involved with museum maven and lonely lady Claire de Loone (Emma Goldin), and Gabey (Bryan

McElroy), a boy from the sticks, falls for Ivy (Courtney Iventosch), when he sees a poster proclaiming her Miss Turnstiles for the month.

The boys think she's a high-society superstar, but in reality, she's just another girl trying to make it as a dancer in the Big Apple. And the whole show is a race to find, lose and find again the girl.

OK, it's not much of a plot, but, as they used to say, getting there is at least half the fun. Director Mindy Cooper, with the collaboration of Company C artistic director Charles Anderson on the ballet scenes, has given the show and the dancing a frenetic pace that makes the whole piece a wild, wonderful ride through '40s New York City.

The orchestra, directed by Cheryl Yee Glass, delivers the Leonard Bernstein score in all its wonderfully evocative beauty and sense of place.

The show's six principals are excellent, both in song and dance and in creating believable characters with scant material from the Comden and Green script, which is more a collection of funny gags and bits rather than character development. But that's how it should be. It's the tale of a speedy, sleepless 24 hours in New York, so the key is wild speed more than anything else.

Characters encountered along the way are wacky and funny, especially Judge Pitkin W. Bridgework (Paul Plain), the fiancee of Claire, a deliciously crazy and understanding fellow.

The most brilliant move in this production, though, is the collaboration of Company C and its dancers, who seem to fly across the stage. The addition adds a polished and rich touch to the ensemble, and gives the entire show a truly elegant presentation.

Reach Pat Craig at pjcraig495@yahoo.com