THEATER REVIEW : A Supreme Production of ‘Dreamgirls’ : The musical’s second visit to the Long Beach Civic Light Opera outclasses the Broadway original in some respects.

Not once, but twice, “Dreamgirls” has been a lucky musical for the Long Beach Civic Light Opera.

This glitzy 1982 show, originally directed and choreographed on Broadway by Michael Bennett and loosely inspired by the rise and fall of the Supremes, played the Long Beach Convention Center’s Terrace Theatre to much acclaim in 1988.

It returned there over the weekend, guided by the same director (David Thome), with three of the same principals (Philip Gilmore, Connie Jackson, Linda Lloyd), the same glittery sets (Robin Wagner), glamorous costumes (Theoni V. Aldredge) and every bit of its former fever, dazzle and punch.

If not more.

The book by Tom Eyen (he did the lyrics too) tracks the ascension of the Dreamettes, three bubbly, young, African-American women anxious to hit the big time and manipulated to the top by an ambitious manager.

They’re coerced to sign on as backups for Jimmy Early, a singer in trouble with his career, and walk off as the Dreams, a sleek, carefully manicured trio. But budding success has its victims, chiefly Effie, the Dreamette with the biggest voice and biggest body who gets dumped--sexually and professionally--by manager Curtis, who can’t let big stand in the way of fortune, especially his.

The musical also packs an emotional wallop in the fall and recovery of the bereft Effie. Ellia English, a vocal contortionist, is even more impressive in the role--with its bravura first act climax (“And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”)--than its Broadway creator, Jennifer Holliday.

Holliday was very young at the time, lacking the maturity needed in the later scenes. English has the soaring, booming power and all of the impulsiveness of youth, but is also much more heartbreaking when she falls apart and slowly has to put herself back together again--just as the Dreams begin to tally up the true cost of success.

Nice idea, beautifully conceived and structured in the original by Bennett and strikingly re-created here by Thome, who had performed in “Dreamgirls” before being invited to stage it in Long Beach in ’88 and now.

His production has great clarity and the power to move, besides faithfully approximating the Vegas opulence of the original and the charged tempo of its choreography. The opening of Act II may lack designer Wagner’s dazzling original stagewide stairway to heaven, but, with a little help from lighting designer Ted Ferreira, there’s nothing second rate about the pared-down restaging here. Thome does not just re-create. He reinvents, creatively.

John McDaniel’s musical direction sees to it that the high voltage of the Henry Kreiger score kicks in and never lets up from the moment the curtain rises. The snatches of dialogue, designed to glide from one number to the next, serve as much as bridges for the nonstop music as they do the story.

A lot of care was lavished on the casting, from the show’s powerful, well-integrated singing and dancing ensemble to its well-chosen principals. As Deena, the Dream- ette singled out for celebrity, willowy Susan Beaubian has the requisite elegance, but also the fateful pliability of a woman too easily swayed by a man like Curtis.

Connie Jackson’s no-nonsense Lorrell, Dreamette No. 3, is all sass, which makes for an invigorating “Ain’t No Party,” the song in which she sends her lover, Jimmy Early, packing.

Gilmore’s Jimmy is a confident mix of playfulness and hype, while Jerry Dixon is all cool calculation behind the clean-cut good looks of cutthroat Curtis. Notable on the periphery are Marvin Thornton as Effie’s songwriting brother C.C., Bill Douglas as the manager bumped by Curtis who helps Effie get back on her feet, and Linda Lloyd as Effie’s Dreams replacement (the only member of this company, by the way, to hail from the original Broadway cast).

This revival of a revival ranks high among other recent Civic Light Opera hits, right up there with last year’s “Chicago” and this year’s “Into the Woods.” But like them it stands staunchly on its own merit as top-drawer musical theater: Sequins, spangles and ermine wrapped around solid gold.

* “Dreamgirls,” Terrace Theatre, Long Beach Civic Light Opera, Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends July 25. $14-$34; (310) 432-7926, (714) 826-9371, (213) 365-3500, (714) 740-2000. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes. Ellia English Effie Melody White

Susan Beaubian: Deena

Connie Jackson: Lorrell

Linda Lloyd: Michelle/JoAnne

Jerry Dixon: Curtis

Philip Gilmore: James Thunder Early

Marvin Thornton: C.C. White

Bill Douglas: Marty

Andre Carthen: The Emcee/Mr.Morgan/Wayne

Martin Drobac: Dave/Frank

A Long Beach Civic Light Opera presentation. Producer Barry Brown. Director-choreographer David Thome. Book and lyrics Tom Eyen. Music Henry Kreiger. Sets Robin Wagner. Lights Ted Ferreira. Costumes Theoni V. Aldredge. Additional costumes Garland Riddle. Hair/Makeup Elena Breckenridge. Sound Jonathan Deans, Francois Bergeron. Properties design Deborah J. Dennis. Music director John McDaniel. Production manager Donald Hill. Production stage manager Susan Slagle. Stage manager Cari Norton.