The cast of Memphis: Photo by Paul Kolnik
Memphis has so much going for it that the show sails right past its flaws and into the winner’s circle.

The touring company that opened Tuesday at Hobby Center does the show proud — with a powerhouse cast, savvy direction, vibrant choreography and smart design work making the most of the solidly crafted yet predictable book and score.

Even a technical snafu that halted the proceedings for five minutes just after the first scene — an opening nightmare — could do little to impede the overall momentum of the slick production and the cast’s high-energy performance.

Winner of the 2010 Tony as best musical, Memphis centers on Huey Calhoun, a rebellious white disc jockey who introduces black R&B to mainstream radio in the segregated Memphis of the 1950s — and at the same time, falls in love with Felicia, a dynamic black singer whose career he promotes. Fireworks ensue.

Joe DiPietro’s book covers familiar terrain, as other shows and films have treated the crossover of black music into the mainstream and the birth of rock and roll. DiPietro oversimplifies to set up the “white” music to “black “ music transition, and naturally, each time the hero puts on a record of the forbidden music, every listener falls in love with the sound and the renegade D.J. — all a bit too easy.

DiPietro’s handling of the challenges Huey and Felicia face as a couple is more convincing, though it’s here that the script can turn manipulative or melodramatic. Yet there’s a genuine emotional pull to the love story that proves the writing’s key strength, especially for those not all that interested in pop music history. It helps greatly that DiPietro knows when and how to apply a sentimental heart tug or leavening dollop of earthy humor.

The score, with music by David Bryan and lyrics by DiPietro, is serviceable if seldom inspired. Bryan serves up some solid melodic hooks, plenty of driving rhythms and suitable reflections of the period’s sounds. DiPietro’s lyrics, while short of brilliant, usually make the right point at the right time — which, combined with Bryan’s best music, creates such highlights as Felicia’s Love Will Stand When All Else Fails and Huey’s Memphis Lives in Me.

Christopher Ashley’s fast, high-voltage direction is a model of pace and cinematic flow. He sustains the requisite earnest tone in the love scenes. Sergio Trujillo’s propulsive choreography is superbly danced by the dynamic company.

Bryan Fenkart makes a winning Huey, genial yet impulsive, a loose cannon Tennessee eccentric with a molasses dialect. He sings with feeling and character, dances fleetly and neatly negotiates the role’s tricky aspect — that he’s sometimes a goof, yet totally sincere in his passion for the music and for Felicia.’

Felicia Boswell proves an ideal Felicia — and not because she shares her character’s name. She invests the role with poise, intensity and authenticity, a mix of sultry warmth and wary humor. She sings with great range and soulful power.

Quentin Earl Darrington brings vocal and dramatic clout to Delray, Felicia’s overprotective brother. As Huey’s disapproving Mama, Julie Johnson blossoms from bigot to gospel shouter in a showstopping turn. Will Mann and Rhett George give big voices and personalities to key members of Delray’s juke joint family, and William Parry does sturdy character work as Huey’s crustily pragmatic boss.

David Gallo designed the clever and fluid settings; Paul Tazewell, the apt ‘50-style clothes; and Howell Binkley, the lighting, spectacularly splashy for concert scenes.

A show that gets stronger as it advances, Memphis seems determined to get everybody dancing together despite their differences — as it ultimately does. Who could resist that timelessly cool objective?

MEMPHIS
National tour in Broadway at Hobby Center series
7:30 tonight-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Hobby Center, 800 Bagby
Tickets: $27-$76; 800-982-2787