Grade: A

It's been awfully hot lately, and the change in the weather seems to have coincided with the arrival of a mysterious stranger riding across the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse stage. The odd thing is, though, that this guy is so cool. He can start the music just by touching a jukebox. He walks; you just have to move. The music in him becomes the music in you ,and there's something weirdly Shakespearean about him. Luckily, he makes you feel the Elvis in you and not the Macbeth.

“All Shook Up” is a hunka' burnin' fun from start to finish with superb direction and choreography, a flawless ensemble of leads and supporting players and an electric chorus, all backed by a crack orchestra and perfectly executed tech.

The leads and supporting performances are so uniformly good that to single out any one or two would be unfair to the rest of them. David Sattler and Noel Molinelli, Greg Bostwick and Joy Lynn Matthews, Amy Halldin and Collin Leydon, Melinda Wakefield Alberty and Ernie Pruneda and Mary Jo McConnell and Mitch Tiffany all turn in consummate performances. The large and energetic chorus performs Director/Choreographer David Swan's dynamic dance numbers with high style and enormous vitality.

Musical Director Corrine Aquilina has the vocals pitch perfect, and her orchestra is fabulous. Michael Hottois returns to MGR with another marvelous set design, and Solomon Weisbard does fine work lighting the show. Laura Simcox and Marty Kopulsky provide terrific costumes and makeup designs, respectively, and Patrick Lanczki and his crew run the show seamlessly.

Swan, and his wife, Kat, who serves as assistant choreographer, have considerable experience with this play, and it shows. Everything is crisp, the pacing absolutely crackles and the cast appears to have completely bought into the director's vision.

With a plot loosely based on the Bard's “Twelfth Night” and music selected entirely from the canon of Elvis Presley hits, Joe DePietro's script ricochets from touching to hysterically funny to wry to explosive and then hits them all again like a pinball machine. This cast and crew make the ride as much fun as you're likely to have in a theater this summer.

There is nothing objectionable in this show for families.

If you go

What: “All Shook Up”

When: Continues through June 21

Where: Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Emerson Park, Owasco

Cost: $25 to $39

Info: Call 255-1785 or visit www.merry-go-round.com