The spirit of Michael Bennett is alive and kicking in Shea’s Performing Arts Center, where a pristine national tour of “A Chorus Line” opened its six-day run Tuesday night.

Bennett, the Buffalo native who conceived, directed and choreographed the show’s original production in 1975, clearly had an indelible effect on his proteges, who have managed to infuse every dazzling bit of the late director’s DNA into the current production. On the Shea’s stage, his vision came across as pure, as perfect and as full of aching pathos as it must have looked when it debuted.

Theater Review

“A Chorus Line”

Four stars

Opened Tuesday night and runs through Sunday in Shea’s Performing Arts Center, 646 Main St. For more information, call 852-5000 or visit www.sheas.org

The cast of this show has been whipped into shape by director Bob Avian, who served as Bennett’s co-choreographer on “A Chorus Line,” and choreographer Baayork Lee, an original cast member and Bennett’s assistant. This is nothing if not a dance-driven show, and the meticulous work of the creative team and cast shows in every frenetic move and complex combination they execute.

The fact that we’re not dealing with anything remotely second rate is evident from the instant Brandon Tyler, who plays the character Larry, kicks up a cloud of talcum powder with a sky-high kick in the show’s opening number, “I Hope I Get It.”

For many a casual Broadway fan, the story of “A Chorus Line” is familiar, but, like the show itself, it bears repeating. It tells the story of 17 stage performers, each compelled by an irresistible force of will to pour their hearts and souls into a career on the stage. At its heart, the show is an homage to performers, a plea for audiences to consider what they’ve sacrificed in order to make us smile or cry.

As for the universally gifted performers in this show, naming names seems unfair. Except of course for University at Buffalo graduate Bethany Moore, who delivered a supremely confident and honed performance as Judy Turner, the lanky redhead with a quirky personality to match. Moore’s comic delivery is spot-on, and in the few opportunities her role provides her to sing, she shines.

It’s difficult to overstate the effect a show so practiced and refined can have on its audience. This is something Bennett knew when he first began the project that turned into “A Chorus Line.”

Had he not exited the stage long before his time, there’s little doubt Bennett would be proud of what’s happening in his hometown this week.