The years from 1967 to 1977 were the richest of the radio era. Abbey Road is the single greatest album ever recorded, and whatever's in second place is also by the Beatles. Leather pants will always be awesome. These are indisputable scientific facts, Gentle Reader, so I welcome your nods of agreement.

Now. Can we also agree Harlequin's summer jukebox extravaganzas aren't proper theater? No, we cannot. Last year I thought it; this year I don't. True, there's no spoken dialogue in Summer in the Sixties. There's no storyline, either, just one killer pop/rock smash after another, sung by truly standout voices. Yet it's fully and gracefully choreographed (by Nancy Rawson), and as if that weren't production value enough, God knows how long it took Jill Carter to edit hours of video to play above the band.

I did miss the gospel heart Antonía Darlene brought to last year's production. In her stead, we get the multitalented Christian Doyle and his bodaciously groovy top hat, so there's compensation. The rest of the cast is straight from Sixties Kicks, so if you liked that show, and you probably did, then this year's model will once again pummel you right in your sweet spot. It takes a while to reach escape velocity, but boy, grab your hat when it does.

To read Christian Carvajal's full review of Summer in the Sixties click here.

[Harlequin Productions, Summer in the Sixties, $37-$40, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through July 24, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia, 360.786.0151]