BRIDGEPORT — From now until the end of the millennium, Bridgeport’s Polka Dot Playhouse is presenting as its holiday show, Annie Warbucks, the sequel to the long-running show about the red-headed orphan with the faithful dog.

Written by Thomas Meehan, with music and lyrics by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, this work begins where Annie left off. Daddy Warbucks has just adopted the curly-headed tyke and is throwing her a splendiferous Christmas party, when he is confronted by a malevolent child welfare commissioner, Harriet Doyle, who informs him that it is against New York City regulations for an unmarried man to adopt a child. Unless the bashful billionaire takes a wife within 60 days, Annie will be thrown back into the clutches of the orphanage.

While the wicked commissioner schemes to set Warbucks up with various candidates of her choice, Annie tries to point him in the direction of his devoted secretary, Grace Farrell. Despite the endorsement of his entire household staff, Warbucks refuses to see the light. Instead he falls into the trap set by Doyle and her conniving “secretary,” and the lovelorn Grace heads to Washington, to offer her services to President Roosevelt.

In desperation, Annie hops a freight to Tennessee, where she and Sandy find wonderful new friends in a family of dirt-poor farmers who are suffering in the throes of the Great Depression, but still know what real love and family mean. Before things come to a satisfactory end, the show moves from the White House — where President Roosevelt listens to Annie’s advice and sets up the TVA — to an engagement party on the Staten Island ferry, and finally to the Waldorf Astoria ballroom where in the nick of time, the truth comes out and, as in Shakespeare, the proper lovers are united at last.

I admit I have never seen Annie. Having grown up with Punjab and the Asp, I actually learned to read from the Harold Gray comic strip. I felt that was enough for me. So the current Polka Dot production was a delightful surprise for a number of reasons.

First of all, the show is done with the same impeccable standards that marked the playhouse’s recent rendition of Noises Off. Brian Feehan, who directed that show as well, keeps his actors moving with crisp timing and droll comic movement. The six-piece orchestra has a big sound, and the sets, while simple and suggestive rather than splendiferous, effectively convey a dozen diverse settings.

Then there is the cast. Remy Zaken, the tiny moppet who plays Annie, belts out her numbers with the vitality of a mini-Ethel Merman. Except for the fact that he has eyeballs, William J. Ward, who plays Warbucks, could have stepped from the pages of The Daily News.

Kendra Munger, playing Miss Farrell, has the elegance and bearing of the original Grace Kelly. Newtowner Tracy James brings a lovely voice and genuine warmth to the part of the Tennessee farmer’s wife who gives Annie the courage to return home. And then there is the ensemble of orphans… and Mary Lou, the beautiful airedale-ish doggy who follows Annie everywhere (except when President Roosevelt is slipping her treats).

But it is the pair of villainesses — Susan Terry as Commissioner Doyle, and Desta Sheridan as Mrs Kelly — who steal the show. Whether doing a soft shoe number to celebrate their intentions of remaining “above the law,” singing with power and passion, or playing their straight bad dame roles in the style of a 1930s B movie, they emanate such presence that you just want to see them stay on stage for the whole show.

Finally, I was continually impressed with the songs. Strouse’s music is workmanlike but unremarkable. However, Martin Charnin’s lyrics are sheer poetry, as clever and complex as Cole Porter or Oscar Hammerstein.

In short, while Annie Warbucks is billed as a “family show” to which people are expected to bring kids, there is much here for the adults to enjoy (some of which will go right over the children’s heads). There is a great deal of political joking going on. After all, Daddy Warbucks is a right-wing plutocrat who, in 1934, bemoans the fact that although he only made $86 million for the year, he is expected to pay $4,000 of that in taxes. And President Roosevelt makes an assortment of references to his wife, his cabinet and his vice president that are fun for an adult history buff.

Also, with its grim scenes of orphanages, street corners and freightyards, the show captures the feel of the Depression, as much as it does the glittering splendor of Warbucks’ immeasurable wealth.

It’s a great show to take your school-aged children (or someone else’s) to. Smaller ones will be confused – but they’ll love Sandy.

(Performances continue through December 30, with shows every Thursday through Sunday, along with a schedule of special holiday performances. Call the Polka Dot Playhouse box office at 203/333-3666 for reservations or directions.)