Any show you can direct, Dan Pessano can direct better.

OK, sure, that line is a little over the top -- and is of course a bit of word play on the well-known Irving Berlin tune "Anything You Can Do" in the much-loved "Annie Get Your Gun." And I'm guessing that such singling out of praise will make the veteran Pessano, who famously believes in theater as a team effort, wince a little. But it's impossible to attend the rousing Good Company Players production of the show, which opened Thursday at Roger Rocka's Dinner Theater, and not walk away thinking how well directed it is.

I'm not just talking about the individual components of the show: the superlative singing, the endearing characterizations, the clever staging, the wonderfully low-key set. What sets this production apart is the way all those things come together. The total package, in other words. It's the perfect scale for the intimate Roger Rocka's space.

This "Annie" is a slightly different version than you may have seen before. In the late 1990s, for a new Broadway revival, Peter Stone updated the book (originally written by Herbert and Dorothy Fields). Some songs, including the potentially offensive "I'm an Indian, Too," were dropped. The show was tightened. The song "There's No Business Like Show Business" was used as a framing device.

Now that song kicks off the show and threads through it in various incarnations.

There's more of a theatrical self-awareness to the production. We're told that it's time for the next scene, for example. Cast members move trunks and boxes around on stage to create each new set. (At one entrancing point in the second act, members of the ensemble tiptoe onto stage as not to "wake" Annie's sleeping siblings as their beds are gently carried away.) Some costume changes take place in full view of the audience. Instead of a traditional book musical, where we're invited to suspend our disbelief and enter a world in which characters sing and dance, we're let in a little on the magic of stagecraft. It's pretty clever: For a musical about show business, we actually get a glimpse at some of that business.

On opening night, the first act of "Annie" was especially strong. We hit a joyful stride fairly early with a snappy rendition of "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly," in which we first meet the incomparable Annie Oakley (played by the accomplished Tami Cowger). It's the little details that make the song so spiffy: the way that the young Alexa Depasquale hams it up just the right amount as Annie's sister; the genial stage presence of Jesse Coronado as the innkeeper; the rough-hewn brashness of Ginger Kay Lewis-Reed's costumes; the flourishes of Laurie Pessano's happy choreography.

Cowger is a terrific Annie. When she sings "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun," she's sassy and brassy, but she's also -- ahem -- a lassie. (Sorry for the bad rhyme.) In other words, she weaves a feminine beguilement into her hysterical back-country demeanor. Under all that scraggly hair and her rough ways, there's a hint of the wistful and romantic -- not to mention a major-league crush for the champion sharp-shooter Frank Butler (Brian Pucheu). Cowger's voice is strong, but just as impressive is the warmth and tender strength she finds in her character.

"Annie" is at heart a love story, and from the first meeting between Annie and Frank, the on-stage sparks fly between them. Pucheu is a worthy balance as male lead to Cowger. With long curly blond hair that falls past his shoulders, there's a bit of a rock-star quality at work here, and he has a very fine voice, which he uses to great advantage in such songs as "The Girl That I Marry." All in all, the two of them make a very strong leading couple.

Other standouts in the cast include Quentin E. Sanford (coming off his successful stint in "All Shook Up" with another memorable outing) as a half Indian member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show; Heather M. Price as the snooty Dolly Tate; and Lance Casper as Buffalo Bill himself.

David Pierce's set design -- which puts us into what could be the burlap interior of a traveling circus tent -- smoothly takes us from one scene to the next with a well-planned minimalism that somehow suggests sawdust and grease paint, and Andrea Henrickson's lighting design finds both the brashness and softness of the production.

I only had a few quibbles on opening night: The sound design was a little rocky, especially in the opening scene, where I lost some of Buffalo's Bill dialogue -- an important omission because it basically sets up the structure of the show. The recorded musical accompaniment (credited in the program to "The MT PIT, LLC," and I'm not sure exactly what that is, although for most of the show it had a rich, pleasing sound) occasionally drowned out some of the ensemble voices. Other issues: I'm not sure if it was because I was tired, but the energy level in the second act seemed to dip just a bit, and the sound overall was a little muddier than in the first. Also, in several songs, some members of the male ensemble looked relatively dour (even scared), which is a criticism I've had in previous GCP shows.

Still, these are minor flaws in a show that is remarkable for its cohesiveness, vitality and audience appeal. With two terrific leads, "Annie Get Your Gun" aims high -- and it doesn't miss.