Diva lovers, rejoice! Dreamgirls is in town at the Prince Theater, and this fine production offers all the fizz and fun you could want. At opening-night curtain call, the entire company—cast and crew—gathered for a moment of celebration. They have a hit on their hands, and they know it.

Legendary status has attached to this 1981 musical, closely based on the rise and fall of The Supremes. "Broadway history was made," wrote Times critic Frank Rich, and he went on to praise in particular the electric performance of Jennifer Holliday as Effie, the singer sidelined to make way for a more glamorous front girl. (The models here are, of course, Florence Ballard and Diana Ross.) Rich was equally rapturous about the sweeping, cinematic direction of Michael Bennett.

But the mythology surrounding Holliday and Bennett shouldn't overpower the core of Dreamgirls. Henry Krieger's music is simply superb, incorporating brilliant pastiche numbers ("One Night Only"), soulful commentary ("And I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going") and operatic scope and size. (Note: If you know Dreamgirls only through the fatally abridged original cast album, you have little idea of Krieger's imagination.)

In comparison, Tom Eyen's libretto is more earthbound, yet still manages complex, interwoven narratives—personal history among the girls, the good (and bad) men who work with them and even a bit of social commentary about black musicians in a largely white industry—with some craftsmanship. (I wonder whether the saccharine ending stems from the creators' sense of wish fulfillment, fear of legal reprisals from Call-Her-Miss-Ross and others, or something else?)

Anyway, the best news is that here is Dreamgirls to wow us anew. If the Prince understandably has more limited resources than Broadway, it hasn't stopped director Richard Parison Jr., from delivering a high-voltage production. Musical director Jesse Vargas achieves elegant harmonies as well as perfect period sense. The latter is true also of the dances (by choreographer Mercedes Ellington), and the often astonishing costumes (by Mark Mariani) and wigs (by Jason Hayes).

Of course, none of this would work without a great cast—and the Prince has that, too. Special kudos to the Dreamgirls themselves: Nova Payton (Effie), CJay Hardy Philip (Lorrell) and Chauntée Schuler (Deena). In fact, Schuler is so good that she seems naturally to belong in the first position, which rather goes against the grain of Eyen's book.

Get yourselves over to the Prince for a holiday treat. Christmas belles are blinging!

DREAMGIRLS Through Dec. 31, Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St., 215-569-9700