"A Grand Night for Singing" features more than two dozen of the musical team's greatest hits, performed by an elegant quartet of audience favorites: actors MaryJo Alexander, Maryann Nagel, Wayne Turney and Greg Violand.

Artistic director Neil Thackaberry has a sure, light touch with the material. It's like an evening of comfort food. It might not always inspire, but itnever fails to ingratiate and warm.

Rodgers and Hammerstein shows are classic evergreens. In their day, the two were musical-theater innovators. Composer Rodgers set Hammerstein's lyrics to evoke period and place. "Oklahoma" features simple folk songs and exuberant hoedowns. "Carousel" conjures up hearty 19th-century New Englanders. "The King and I" sounds exotically Far Eastern.

Rather than tossing off sparkling standards to be shoved willy-nilly between flimsy book scenes, Rodgers and Hammerstein integrated their songs fully into the drama, always moving the plot along. That very integration makes it tougher to extract pieces from their shows - one reason, perhaps, that a major revue of their work didn't come along until 1994's "A Grand Night for Singing."

Creator Walter Bobbie's solution was to center the evening around love songs, with jazzy arrangements. That choice showcases a variety of stages and moods - from courting ("Surrey With the Fringe on Top") and ecstasy ("A Wonderful Guy") to regret and loss ("Love, Look Away") - with a whirl through family life and some comic toe-tappers.

But the emphasis on love songs sometimes unbalances the show. The first act has the biggest hits and the most upbeat material, leaving the second act to fizzle with too many second-tier ballads such as "This Nearly Was Mine."

But the Actors' Summit cast is so winsome and engaging, the audience is happy to go humming along for the ride. The women look dazzling in MaryJo Alexander's sparkling gowns, and under Marc Baker's direction, the band sounds impeccable, although his jaunty tempos occasionally don't let the ballads breathe.

In general, it's the specialty numbers that sparkle: Alexander's wry "Stepsisters' Lament" ("Cinderella") and sunny "It's Me" ("Me and Juliet") and Nagel's boisterous "I Cain't Say No" ("Oklahoma") and bittersweet "The Gentleman Is a Dope" ("Allegro"). There are also clever ensemble numbers including "Don't Marry Me" ("Flower Drum Song") and Violand's show-stopping "Honey Bun" ("South Pacific"), with the cast scatting on invisible instruments.

Although neither Turney nor Alexander has the voice to make the ballads soar, their acting carries the day. Turney's touching "All at Once You Love Her" is like a one-act play, and his middle-aged huffing-and-puffing with Nagel after "Shall We Dance?" is endearing.

Actors' Summit's Rodgers and Hammerstein revue, A Grand Night for Singing, doesn't have a lot of pizzazz, but it's full of romantic, nostalgic classics that make for a pleasant evening.

The 1994 Broadway revue, nominated for two Tonys, celebrates the work of these famous collaborators, featuring tunes from Oklahoma, Cinderella, The King and I, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Allegro, Pipe Dream, Carousel and Flower Drum Song.

The Actors' Summit production is a fast-paced performance with seamless transitions. Four actors/singers are backed by an excellent four-member band, led by music director/pianist Marc Baker, obviously a consummate musician.

Baritone Greg Violand is the anchor in this musical production, as a soloist, in duets and in ensemble numbers. He's the most accomplished singer of the four, having sung with Cleveland Opera Company and in a number of Northeast Ohio musicals. The rest of the singers have generally enjoyable voices.

The charming Violand excels in the lovely We Kiss in a Shadow and as the lead singer in Honey Bun, one of the most delightful numbers of the evening.

Here, he begins with a cute verbal disclaimer to this song that extols a woman's great figure: `No offense to anybody. It was the times, you know.''

In this bouncy, jazzy number, the rest of the cast serves as a girl backup band, dancing and miming playing instruments.

Other lively songs include That's The Way It Happens with MaryJo Alexander, Violand and Wayne Turney and the ensemble's perfectly polished show stopper, Kansas City.>

Alexander and Maryann Nagel also offer a lot of fun in the jazzy, lounge-style I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out-a My Hair.

Too often, alto Nagel and tenor Turney sound a bit forced and flat. That pairing makes their duet, Shall We Dance, one of the show's weakest numbers.All of these cast members are good actors, though. They offer very honest emoting in Alexander's tender Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful and Turney's painful Love, Look Away. Director Neil Thackaberry has added a number of niceties to the show, including plenty of cute patter between numbers. There's a good flow of actors from different entry points into the stage area, and choreography is simple yet effective.

Costumer Alexander presents a beautiful array of gowns for both her and Nagel, adding great elegance to the show.

Rodgers and Hammerstein lovers will want to tap their feet and hum along with some of this revue's best-known numbers. The actors all look starry-eyed in their finale, Impossible/I Have Dreamed, which features beautiful four-part harmony.