Jocelyn Noveck

But the Tony-winning actress, who by the way looks smashing in all those silky and sparkly costumes by Martin Pakledinaz, is the very definition of a Broadway triple threat. And she shows it all off in the title song, which closes the first act with a cascade of tapping feet reminiscent of '42nd Street.' After what feels like 10 minutes of tap dancing, you imagine there's just no way that Foster, leading the pack, can still belt out the rest of the song. But she manages it...Happily, the real star here is Cole Porter and his wonderful music and lyrics.

It seems odd, too, when Bernadette offers her mechanic friend a cake as they sit outside the bus. Why do they have a cake? Is it someone's birthday? It's all left hanging until we realize ... The cake is LEFT OUT IN THE RAIN. Cue 'MacArthur Park.' The crowd loves it. At such moments of go-for-broke zaniness, quibbles seem beside the point.

At the curtain call of a recent preview, one of the cast members cracked a joke, and the rest of the actors broke up laughing. They left the stage arm-in-arm, still guffawing. Such easy camaraderie would seem hard to fake, and it serves the cast well. 'That Championship Season' has been revived to excellent effect by a talented, committed ensemble of actors.

She and Stritch, a fellow Tony winner, are making a welcome return. When Stritch sings of failing standards in 'Liaisons,' she's not talking about acting (well, not in the traditional sense) but one can't help extrapolating a bit. 'Where is style?' she asks. 'Where is skill?' 'Where's passion in the art, where's craft?' Here's one place you can look: Right at her, onstage at the Walter Kerr Theatre.