Midwest gals take on New York in vivacious revival at 5th Ave.

Imagine a Greenwich Village full of friendly, artsy kooks who burst into song and crack wise at the least provocation and reward greenhorn gals from Ohio with adventure, romance and a $65-a-month apartment.

All right, so it's a basement flat with a view of the legs of passersby. And male pals of the former tenant, a party girl named Violet, drop by at all hours.

That's just part of the charm of lower Manhattan in the 1930s, as conjured with great affection (if little relation to reality) in "Wonderful Town," in a sassy and swell new production at 5th Avenue Theatre.

Of the three legendary "New York musicals" composed by Leonard Bernstein in the 1940s and '50s, "Wonderful Town" usually ranks behind the tragic urban romance "West Side Story" and the sailors-on-leave romp "On the Town."

But if it isn't quite in the same league as its sublime cousins, the show still sparkles when dispatched with the pizzazz of its hit 2003 Broadway revival and this endorphin-boosting 5th Avenue outing.

Director Bill Berry's breezy and colorful production is a real pick-me-up. It looks great, adorned with Tom Sturge's original sets, a series of vibrant tinted-postcard backdrops of a fantasy Manhattan, and brightly costumed by Lynda L. Salsbury.

And it is loaded with native talent, led by zesty top banana Sarah Rudinoff as writer Ruth Sherwood and delightful Billie Wildrick as her comely kid sis Eileen.

Based on a book, play and movie titled "My Sister Eileen," all inspired by the autobiographical New Yorker stories of Ruth McKenney, the 1953 musical is a classic taking-a-bite-of-the-Big Apple tale — from a saucy female point of view.

As they pursue careers in showbiz (fizzy blonde Eileen) and writing (plain-Jane brunette Ruth), the naive but game Sherwood sibs collect male admirers and raging eccentrics.

These include power-voiced Timothy McCuen Piggee, terrific in the underwritten role of a magazine editor who fancies Ruth; Brandon O'Neill's dense but gentlemanly neighbor Wreck; and David Pichette as a Greek landlord and Picasso wannabe.

There's plenty to sing and dance about, starting with the sisters' catchy homesick ballad, "Ohio" ("Why oh why/Oh why-o/Did I ever leave Ohio"), and such witty dispatches as "One Hundred Easy Ways" (Ruth's wry advice on how to lose a man) and "A Little Bit in Love" (flirty Eileen's theme song.)

The score may not have a "Maria" or a "New York, New York" in it. (Bernstein apparently dashed his score off in a few weeks.) But it is rife with the ultra-clever, Manhattan-savvy lyrics of Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

And Bernstein's music is a pleasing patchwork of jazzy odes ("Wrong Note Rag"), light ballads ("It's Love"), with some hints of the highly percussive ballet music and mock-opera tunes coming later in "West Side Story" and "Candide."

There are several genuine showstoppers, too: the old fashioned kind, equipped with vivacious ensemble dances choreographed by Jamie Rocco.

One is the fabulously zany "Conga!," with Ruth beset by a dance-crazy line of Brazilian naval officers. Another is "Swing!," a snappy hipster anthem, which shows off Rudinoff's (under-utilized) vocal dexterity.

The show's book (by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov) hasn't aged as well as its other parts. But its silliness is forgivable. So is the glaring fact that this New York is more upbeat 1950s than Depression-strapped 1930s.

No matter. "Wonderful Town" is way too much fun to be subjected to a severe reality check. It's a blast from the past — and a spring tonic.

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com