In the best of all possible worlds, the seats in the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center would have disappeared for Saturday's opening of Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities' knockout production of the all-singin', all-dancin' revue "Sophisticated Ladies."

The audience would have been seated at dainty café tables with twinkling lamps, champagne would have flowed, and everyone would have been dressed in evening finery -- just the way it was in the Roaring '20s, when people went uptown to Harlem's Cotton Club.

This exact sentiment was echoed by a more hyper than usual James Blackman, the company's executive director, as he introduced the show and went completely ga-ga over the fact that several members of the Broadway-bound production of "The Wiz," including Valerie Pettiford, were in the audience. I mention this because their presence definitely affected the performance, because those on stage knew they were playing to a select group of their peers.

We were all treated to a peerless performance of this sophisticated revue with its nonstop succession of Duke Ellington classics, rat-a-tat-tat tap-dancing steps, bluesy ballads and a fashion show that featured one incredible costume change after another.

"Sophisticated Ladies" premiered on Broadway in 1981. The next year it opened at the Schubert Theatre in Century City, featuring members of the Broadway company, including Hinton Battle and Gregory Hines. The cast also featured a lithe young dancer named Cheryl Baxter and an up-and-coming dance phenom, Eugene Fleming.

CLOSBC's "Sophisticated Ladies" reunites Baxter, who directed the production with a keen eye and firm hand, and Fleming, whose effusive charm and now veteran talent anchors the performance.

To paraphrase the lyric from Ellington's signature tune, all this wouldn't mean a thing, if it didn't have that swing. And this production swings! Baxter has assembled a cast worthy of Broadway. They infuse the show's 29 song-and-dance numbers with a combination of sultry sophistication and rambunctious, toe-tapping intensity.

There is no book to "Sophisticated Ladies," but the lead characters do sport names such as the Raconteur (Fleming), the Jazzbo (Lacy Darryl Phillips), the Danseuse (Carol Hatchett), the Chanteuse (Angela Teek), the Soubrette (Misty Cotton) and the Hipster (Rob Thompson).

The premise is a fantasy trip back in time to the days of the Harlem Renaissance and slumming, when white folks made their way to the Cotton Club (which did not admit blacks) to enjoy the best in what they termed "jungle music."

Presented in a loose chronological order, the show celebrates the era, including numbers such as "I've Got to Be a Rug Cutter" and "The Mooche" (from 1929), which re-create actual Cotton Club steps and costumes.

You'd have to have one foot in the grave not to enjoy this show. It's a nonstop jukebox of Ellington hits, including "Mood Indigo," "In a Sentimental Mood" and "In the Mood"; smooth ballads such as "Satin Doll," "I'm Beginning to See the Light," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Something to Live For," "Love You Madly" and "Sophisticated Lady"; along with the sophisticated rhythms of "Hit Me With a Hot Note and Watch Me Bounce," "Caravan" and, of course, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)."

The three sophisticated ladies in the cast, Hatchett, Teek and Cotton, belt, croon and cajole. Fleming holds forth in grand style, vocally and in his tap showcase number, "Kinda Dukish." Phillips and Williams dance up a storm, tapping with the speed of a machine gun, flying through the air and ending in splits that recall the Cotton Club's great duo, the Nicholas Brothers.

The music direction is by C. Steven Smith, who does a fine job leading the onstage jazz orchestra. Unfortunately, during the opening night performance the amplification added a brittle, metallic edge to the Duke's otherwise cool sound.

Sadly, there may come a time when the talent just isn't there to perform "Sophisticated Ladies," because it requires a level of dance skills (particularly tap) that fewer and fewer dancers possess. Baxter had a difficult time assembling this cast. But she did a great job. This is an homage of the first order.

They called it "slumming," and it was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in New York City in the 1920s and '30s. Rich white folks would get all dressed up in tuxedoes and evening gowns, call the chauffeur or hail a cab and head uptown to Harlem.

The hot spot of choice was the Cotton Club at the corner of 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, where the all-white clientele could sip bootleg champagne as they swayed to the exotic rhythms of "jungle music," goggle-eye the "Tall, Tan and Terrific" chorus girls, and enjoy performances by the greatest black artists of the day: Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Ethel Waters, the Nicholas Brothers and the coolest cat of them all, Edward "Duke" Ellington.

From 1927 to 1931, Ellington introduced a jazz-hungry nation to his sophisticated rhythms, playing and conducting the Cotton Club orchestra from his throne at the keyboard. Those who could not make the trip up to Harlem could listen in on the radio.

The musical "Sophisticated Ladies," which opened on Broadway in 1981 and which will open Saturday at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center (compliments of Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities), is an homage to Ellington and the days of the Cotton Club.

It is, in the words of director/choreographer Cheryl Baxter, "one of the very few shows that captures an era and really holds it up to the highest level."

This all-singing, all-dancing revue features a jukebox worth of Ellington's classic compositions, including "Mood Indigo," "Take the A Train," "I'm Beginning to See the Light," "In a Sentimental Mood," "Satin Doll," "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," and the song that lends the show its title, "Sophisticated Lady."

Asked to describe the unique quality of "Sophisticated Ladies," Eugene Fleming -- who [along with Baxter] was part of the original Los Angeles company in 1982 and who will again take the stage for the South Bay run -- waxes rhapsodic, preferring to let the show's lyrics speak for themselves.

"Music is a woman and I wait for a woman to appear," he croons in a voice as silky as one of Ellington's signature top hats. "Yes, when you see the woman, the purpose of the evening will be clear. Come and hear the band. Come hear the sound. We'll pick you up and spin you around."

Baxter and Fleming are something of a mutual admiration society -- Fleming was even best man at Baxter's wedding.

They've been close friends since the early '80s, when they found themselves together tapping and swaying to the rhythms of "Sophisticated Ladies" on stage at the since-demolished Schubert Theatre in Century City. They were part of a company that also included several members of the original Broadway cast, including Gregory Hines, Hinton Battle and Gregg Burge.

Before being cast in "Sophisticated Ladies," Fleming -- then just 18 and a freshman in college -- had scored the prime role of Richie in the first national touring company of "A Chorus Line." For Baxter, "Sophisticated Ladies" would lead her into an even slinkier role as part of the national touring company of "Cats."

Baxter may have used up one or two of her nine lives since then, but her dancer's body remains feline sleek.

When Baxter was offered the chance to direct and choreograph "Sophisticated Ladies" in the South Bay, she leaped (or possibly pirouetted) at the chance. That's because, even though she's staged the show multiple times, it holds a special place in her heart and her repertoire.

"I think of this show as a tribute to my mentors," said Baxter, as she relaxed with Fleming in the company's rehearsal studio green room. "I worked with Henry LeTang [the great 91-year-old tapper who helped stage 'Sophisticated Ladies' on Broadway] and Michael Smuin [the show's director and co-choreographer].

"Over the years I've heard so many stories about why these numbers are done the way they are; there are genuine steps from the Cotton Club era in this show," she said. "That's history I want to pass on to the next generation. I do shows in L.A. and all over the world that are my own. But this show is special. It represents years of history."

Ah, but there's the rub.

"Casting this show is really difficult," admitted Baxter, whose 13-year-old son, appropriately named Ellington, is on stage at the Mark Taper Forum in the show that bears his age as its title, "13."

"I was barely able to find this cast. Every Christmas party I went to I'd ask, 'Do you know anyone who can do 'Sophisticated Ladies'? People got sick of me," she said.

"We're in an era, especially in L.A., where the orientation is hip-hop," Baxter explained, making no effort to hide her annoyance. "Dance has become very specialized."

Baxter looked over at Fleming and continued.

"When we were coming up, you had to learn every style: ballet, jazz, modern, tap, ballroom," she said. "You could rise to the top because you were versatile. Kids today can't do this show because they don't have the technique and they don't have a clue about the style. And then, even if they have the technique, they have to go to the piano and be able to sing. This has been one of the hardest shows I've ever had to cast."

Fleming, 45, agreed. "This whole show is about style and line, and because of that it may not have a future," he said. "The truth is, there are only a handful of people in the world that can pull off this show. It's sad to say, but it's an art form that's losing steam.

"People see dancing in shows today and they don't know what they're looking at because the bar is so low. We build up performers who haven't even proven themselves.

"David Hasselhoff doing 'The Producers' in Las Vegas. What's that about? "For me, it feels great to do this show because it is a way of paying homage," he said. "I love all those cats and I feel blessed just to be able to do it."