The first act races out of the gate, with clever lines and snappy, numbers. Lou picks up the pace in his jazu anthem to a reprobate. "Devil Without a Cause" Like the next song. "Ding Dong," which features Mandy Torpedoes and the Pips, the strength of "Devil" lies more in the excellent music and choreography than in any single performance. By the fourth scene, though, the audience is clearly itching to get back to subplot A--Harvard undergrads and alumni of what may be the most anachronistic club on campus dress up, drink up, and go wild. The mini-kickline near the close of the act brings rabid cheers from a crowd that smells serious socializing just down the aisle.

The closing scene of Act I leaves the seductive on the chopping block, but the audience is lost to self-congratulation. "We're not all here," one particularly groomed young man confided to a companion while stumbling up the side at intermission. "We made it through the first act which"-- punning in spite of himself?--"is better than last year." Observers, noting the queasy rush toward the bathrooms, doubtless agreed. But the lure of the magnums proved difficult to resist; although the lights dimmed and then flicked frantically, hundreds of champagne-soaked feet remained planted firmly in the crowded lobby.

ASSUAGED WITH FULL bottles, the crowd was eventually induced back into the theater where the performance once again asserted itself over the background clamor. Beginning with an hysterical "Witchbusters" sequence, the second act launches into a string of Murrayisms worthy of the Man-of-the-Year. From there, the plot meanders down to hell for a breakdancing scene, then back on high, first for lustful ode from Alexis, and then for a Last-Judgement-as-beauty-contest scene to distinguish the true sinners and get the whole cast in tights. The crowd is impressed enough to forget to take center stage.

Sure, Witch and Famous suffers from Puddingitis--incurable length--and lacks any truly show shopping numbers. But since the numbers are uniformly quite good, the show never seriously falters. Alexis Position is the one real standout as the snippity angel who makes her entrance in enough gold lame to redo the State House dome, and who secretly longs to have. "The Devil in Me." Strong performances as well come from Anita Mann and Lou Suffer, proving once again that evil is easier to imitate than is virtue.

But what the show lacks in standout talent, it makes up in overall quality. With creative choreography and a troupe that can sing and even dance--together, the group scenes are everything a drag musical about witches is supposed to be. Even the faithful kickline gets a creative in this year's show--not to mention that the legs even approximate unison. Of course, the stunningly lavish sets and costumes--which make Loeb mainstage show, look like church theatricals--do their part.

True to its own dictates. Which and Famous marks another successful theatrical. Unburdened by any moral weight it displays the buoyancy of the very sinful--and the very entertaining Meanwhile the closing aci bubbles on in a room full of the very drunk, the very dressed, the very Harvard.