ONE MO' TIME

Veteran song-and-dance man Vernel Bagneris, slick and smooth with legs to his chin, wrote, directed, and starred in the 1979 Off Broadway reincarnation of a hot night in 1920s New Orleans. His critically lauded show, set in an old black vaudeville theater, now returns to Broadway for a much-deserved encore. Clingy, candy-colored dresses, sharp suits, ragtime hits, and a terrific house band make this a night to remember. If Bagneris -- bony knees poking through his pleated pants as his Papa Du character struts through numbers like ''New Orleans Hop Scop Blues'' -- brings the cool, B.J. Crosby (as Ma Reed) supplies the heat. ''Nobody wants to marry me when I'm drunk, and I sure as hell don't want to marry somebody when I'm sober!'' she lets loose in one of her great one-liners. Fun, with just the right hit of raunch, from start to finish.