I went back into the files to see what I wrote in Cue magazine when the film opened in 1969. The review said that the show had been converted into “a big, splashy musical about whorehouses and a ménage-a-trois” with the choreography reduced to “clomping in the mud” and the “Lerner-Loewe score muttered by stars who can’t sing.” Film stars Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood were never known for vocal prowess.

In this Encores! staging the cast members, individually and as a chorus, sure can sing dynamically, and the choreography by Denis Jones has plenty of pizzazz and fits handily into the Gold Rush northern California setting where men prospect for gold and long for women. The music benefits from the strong and ever-popular Encores! Orchestra, as conducted by music director Rob Berman. Marc Bruni’s direction provides hell-raising and comedy when called for, and loveliness when needed for the romantic side.

Keith Carradine in the starring role of Ben Rumson sings well, as in “Rumson” and the moving “I Still See Elisa,” an ode to Ben’s late wife,” and “Wand’rin’ Star.” But especially impressive singing comes from Alexandra Socha, who plays Ben’s daughter Jennifer. Her rousing “What’s Goin’ on Here?” expresses the bewilderment of a teenage girl who is starting to feel her sexuality and the reaction of men who are turned on by her but must keep away out of good sense and for fear of her father.

Socha is a standout, both with her voice and her acting, believable as the youngster and convincing a bit older as a more mature young woman expecting to marry the prospector for whom she had fallen before she was sent off to school.

The man she loves, Julio, played by Justin Guarini, is a handsome Mexican, who prides himself as of Castillian decent. Guarini has a thrilling voice, illustrated when he sings “I Talk to the Trees,” one of the musical’s best songs, and “Carino Mio.” Another of the show’s better known songs is “They Call the Wind Maria,” which gets an impressive rendition by Nathaniel Hackmann as Steve, one of the prospectors, and the entourage of men in the makeshift town.

Irresistible musical excitement comes when the men sing in a chorus. One is roused by the spectacle of 17 men coming to the edge of the stage and giving full voice to a number, as is done at the outset with “I’m On My Way” and later with “There’s Coach Comin’ In,” as they await the arrival of women so badly needed.

The staging is very clever, given the concert confines, with trees protruding behind the orchestra (scenic consultant, Anna Louizos), with changing effects on the trees by lighting (Peter Kaczorowski, lighting designer) and some smart ideas. The coming of the coach is demonstrated by the waving of a mini coach model, and then a larger one, with size increases until a regular -sized outer impression of a coach arrives on stage. From behind the opened door step, one by one, a bevy of attractive women, dressed more stylishly (Alejo Vietti, costume consultant) than the working women who they are meant to be. They wind up in an entertaining, razzle-dazzle “Fandangos’” Dance” with a can-can motif.

The second act slows somewhat in working out the plot details. Some of the show could hardly be seen as politically correct. A man with two wives auctions off one, bought by Ben, who later sells her. And we all know what the women out of the coach are supposed to do for the 400 sex-starved men.