Mark Twain adaptations seem to work well under the stars, and Super Summer Theatre/P.S. Productions' "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is no exception.

This musical was a fast Broadway flop in 2001, and you can see why. Ken Ludwig's book wanders much of the time, and the Don Schultz score is snappy but redundant and witless. Sometimes, though, the lights of the night sky can fix a show more effectively than the lights of Broadway.

Director Philip Shelburne floods the stage with an avalanche of charismatic actors. You enjoy being in the company of these 1840s small-town Missouri folk whose lives revolve around chores, kids and singing. When the company members blurt out the lyric, "Ain't life good! Ain't life fine!" you know exactly what they're talking about. They communicate such love-of-life that we have no trouble believing the summer days around the Mississippi are just as idyllic as Twain said they were.

This is the kind of production in which you keep changing your mind about who your favorite actor is. It's easy to fall in love with Annette Houlihan Verdolino as the Widow Douglas. When she celebrates with Huck his sudden learning how to read -- in a number that's a hootenanny version of "My Fair Lady's" "The Rain in Spain" -- she projects the sort of stage presence that makes her every movement a dramatic cliffhanger.

Steve McMillan makes for a dignified and vulnerable Judge Thatcher. Kelly Albright is an amusingly kind, self-absorbed Becky Thatcher. Keith Dotson is a hilarious Bible-thumpin' Rev. Sprague.

Elijah O'Connell makes for a deviously elegant, goody-goody kid brother Sid. And Carlos Mathis-Johnson brings a surprising, majestic timbre to the character of the nasty Injun' Joe. He makes you want to know more of his character's story.

The two problem cast members are the two leads. Twenty-somethings Steve Huntsman and Brandon Albright both are enormously talented, but as Tom and Huck, they overact youth with such pronouncement that they come across as mentally challenged rather than young.

The script doesn't help things. Our Tom, who's supposed to be a pre-adolescent boy, has a one-on-one knife fight (not in Twain's book) with a powerful, grown-up villain and wins! Just how powerful is this Tom supposed to be? Adding to the confusion, Shelburne casts a very young-looking boy as Sawyer's half-brother, which makes the sibling rivalry seem sadistic.

Suzanne Childers' wonderfully detailed choreography tells us much about the characters' attitudes and emotional temperatures. Evan A. Bartoletti's varied set, Matt Dillingham's dramatic lighting, and Federic Pineau's light-hearted costumes help create an irresistible physical environment.

And the six members of the all-female band Killian's Angels sound great and expertly interact with the cast.

There's so much joy in this expertly paced production, you may find yourself not wanting to get back to life after the curtain call. Reality is seldom as appealing as a musical comedy done right.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.