THEATER REVIEW:

Vanguard University’s new theater season is off and running with “America’s Broadway,” a sprightly, high-energy production celebrating America in songs from Broadway shows.

Compiled and assembled by director Marianne Savell, the show touches on both rural and urban America in its two thematic segments. Before each number, there’s a comment on various aspects of Americana from one of various philosophers ranging from Thomas Jefferson to Woody Allen.

Some of the songs you’ll recognize instantly (“Oklahoma,” “Old Man River,” “Meet Me in St. Louis”), while others may have you scratching your heads. Did you know, for example, that “I Happen to Like New York” originally sprang from a 1930s Cole Porter musical called “The New Yorkers?” Savell tracked that one down because she loved the song and wanted to include it, if it fit the category.

The 10 students composing the ensemble — eight singers and two dancers — bring verve and versatility to director Savell’s concept, but it’s the work of choreographers Kerry Cass, Donna Johnson and Cambria Larson that really merits extended applause.

Each of the 25 numbers is imaginatively staged, often with intricate movements.

Ensemble work is quite pleasing, though two members stand out for their dynamic interpretations, and are paired in one memorable number. Andy Christensen and Michelle Peltz spar beautifully via long distance in “Piddle, Twiddle and Resolve” from “1776” as John Adams and his wife, Abigail, attending the birth of a nation.

Christensen brings down the first-act curtain with a poignant “Virginia” from “The Civil War,” while Peltz and Barbara Richardson have great fun warbling “The Colors of Paradise” from “The Spitfire Grill.” Ryan Miller kicks up his heels in “Arkansas” from “Big River,” while Jordan Byers and Jenna Lloyd imagine a far better life out west in “Santa Fe” — which comes from the grittily urban show “Rent.”

Byers hits his stride after intermission with a strong rendition of the title song from “Sunset Boulevard,” while Peltz and Joseph Spady lead the ensemble through a comical depiction of life on “Skid Row” from “Little Shop of Horrors.” Miller and Lloyd square off in the “Big D” (as in Dallas) tribute from “The Most Happy Fella.”

The five-piece Vanguard orchestra, under the guidance of musical director Ken Foerch, lends a tuneful hand without becoming intrusive. And the choreographic triumvirate keeps the show in continual motion, delightfully.

America — and yes, the song of that title from “West Side Story” is gleefully included — comes in for some rousing tributes from many directions, all emanating from the Great White Way.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “America’s Broadway”

WHERE: Vanguard University, 55 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa

WHEN: Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday (Sept. 30 only) at 2 p.m. until Oct. 6

COST: $15 to $12

CALL: (714) 668-6145

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews appear Thursdays.