Now the choreography is in the hands of Joshua Bergasse, and while I can’t attest to how much of the Robbins original work remains, the current result is a glorious achievement with moving dancing by the principals and terrific work by the men and women of the chorus.

You could not ask for a better cast. Tony Yazbeck is perfect as Gabey, the sailor who arrives in New York on a 24-hour leave. His acting is appealing, and his dancing is dynamically wonderful. He certainly deserves awards for his performance. His two sailor pals Clyde Alves as Ozzie and Jay Armstrong Johnson as Chip also shine in both the acting and dance departments.

Gabey is smitten by a poster of Miss Turnstiles, the title changing monthly for women selected from among subway riders. His mission is to find her, and his buddies pledge to help, although in the course of their wanderings they find adventures of their own. Ivy, Miss Turnstiles, is played by Megan Fairchild in a lovely performance. When she and Gabey get to dance together, they are a dream team and an absolute joy to watch in some superbly choreographed sequences.

Elizbeth Stanley plays Claire de Loon, a ditsy dame who is studying anthropology and is kept by Judge Pitkin (Michael Rupert), a sugar daddy whom she deceives. Up to a point he keeps saying “I understand.” (In the original show Claire was played by Betty Comden.) Claire’s scene at the Museum of Natural History turns into a laugh riot, as it always has been when done properly.

Alysha Umphress as the romance-hungry taxi driver Hildy gives the best performance in that part that I can remember. In addition to being hilarious when needed, she is very likable in the romance department, a winning combination when that role can so easily turn into mere comic caricature. Her “I Can Cook Too” number is a gem. Hildy’s hapless, ever-sneezing roommate, Lucy Schmeeler, is portrayed by Allison Guinn, who gives the part exactly the comic turn required.

Veteran scene-stealer Jackie Hoffman can get a laugh from a shift in her body, and she is uproariously at work here as Maude P. Dilly, the boozing mess of a voice teacher in one of the studios of the kind that once existed at Carnegie Hall. She also turns up as downbeat nightclub singers Diana Dream and Dolores Dolores, and as if that were not enough, she appears as the little old lady forever dashing across the stage. A Hoffman decrepit dash is something to behold.

Supporting cast members, called upon to do more than one role, are excellent. The staging is consistently inventive, as when projection helps turn a taxi ride into a harrowing race through Manhattan. The scenic and projection design is by Beowulf Boritt, and the eye-catching costume array has been designed by Jess Goldstein. The lighting design by Jason Lyons and sound design by Kai Harada play especially important roles.

Then there are those songs—among them “New York, New York,” “Carried Away,” “Lonely Town,” “Lucky to Be Me,” “So Long, Baby,” “ I Wish I Was Dead,” “Some Other Time” and more. The pit orchestra deserves special praise for showing off the Bernstein score as it deserves to be played, figuring importantly in the general course of the action and dance.

My only quibble s with the mess of the plot in the Coney Island sequence when Ivy is doing supposedly erotic dancing and the cops raid. But that goes by quickly, and soon we are at the dock when the sailors must say goodbye to the women they have met and board their ship. The moment is tender, but comically capped when three just-arrived sailors get off their ship for their own expedition in Manhattan. The departure scene must have been particularly poignant during the war when the servicemen were off to face danger.