‘NITE CLUB’ STILL JUMPS

Last February, a little musical called “Nite Club Confidential” opened at the Tiffany on Sunset Boulevard and in a burst of slick, sleek, talented exuberance proved that you don’t have to have bread and circuses or $40 tickets to have a smashing evening in the theater.

For about half that money, “Nite Club,” now in its 10th month, offers a Raymond Chandleresque send-up of the ‘50s and the sleazy nightclub circuit, with a few digs at Mickey Spillane, singing trios, love triangles and the Eisenhower Administration among a number of hilarious other items.

Its savvy music, deadpan tongue-in-cheek and all-inclusiveness make “Nite Club” plain, uncomplicated fun. Don’t look for plot--there’s the merest excuse for one. Look for one-liners. The more digs, the hairier; the more songs (by Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Jimmy Van Heusen, Harold Arlen, Sammy Fain and, above all, writer/director/composer Dennis Deal), the merrier.

While “Nite Club’s” uncontested star performer, Fay DeWitt, is on medical leave (she created the pivotal role of that maturing star of the nightclub circuit, Kay Goodman), Edie Adams has stepped into her slinky gowns, many of her withering songs, and has added one or two of her own.

True that gone now is DeWitt’s show-stopping takeoff on Edith Piaf (in Harold Rome’s “French With Tears”), but Adams has a few zingers in her own bag of tricks.

She skewers Marlene Dietrich on a slow spit and manages dead-on vocal impersonations of La Channing, Zsa Zsa and Bette Davis. All of which goes to say that, while DeWitt remains queen of “Nite Club Confidential,” Adams, smartly, has taken her cue from that performance and added her own modulations. They were still a bit tentative Wednesday, but nothing a little time couldn’t fix.

Whether she gets the time or not is the focus of considerable speculation. “Nite Club” producers have advertised--though they will not categorically confirm--that female impersonator Jim Bailey will replace Adams Nov. 29 in the Kay Goodman role. Jim Bailey? Curiouser and curiouser.

Meanwhile, the show, with a couple of other cast changes, still packs a wallop. Despite its long run, it remains pure, well-crafted, mindless and quite sensational entertainment.

Steven Forbes Hall (who replaced Scott Bakula) could come on broader and sharper as that likable heel Buck Holden, but Joan Ryan’s nearsighted Dorothy Flynn has as brassy a voice and as game a personality as the character requires. The only trouble Wednesday was her “Canarsie Diner” song (written by Deal and Albert Evans), where the words, unlike the food, should not be swallowed.

Tom Spiroff and Steve Gideon (a “Nite Club” co-producer) continue strong in their respective sidekick roles of Sal and Mitch.

Seeing this musical spoof once more served to remind us of how classy is the costume design by Lindsay W. Davis (Van Farrier and Adams herself are credited with “coordinating” her gowns), of the exemplary simplicity of his platform set, the fine use of light by designer Greg Sullivan and the superior contribution of first-rate musicians. Joel Taylor has replaced Joe Scrima on drums and he joins John Ward (bass) and Corey Allen (piano and musical direction) in keeping the joint jumping--before, during and after the performance.

Performances at 8532 Sunset Blvd. are currently expected to continue indefinitely, though unless things change again, Adams will not be in the show beyond Nov. 29.

“Nite Club” plays Wednesdays through Fridays , 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 7 and 10 p.m.; Sundays 3 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $19.50 to $22.50 (213) 652-6165.