Steelermania invaded the usually sedate Heinz Hall, where the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops was bedecked in black and gold last night. The orchestra accompanied audience members in taping the team's trademark fight song, to be shown on the Jumbotron in the more raucous atmosphere at Heinz Field prior to Sunday's playoff game.

When the orchestra's subsequent flurry of Terrible Towels had died down, the program restarted its business -- the rousing show business of song master Irving Berlin.

Conductor Marvin Hamlisch could design a whole season for the Pops concert series around Berlin's melodies, for this American icon composed approximately a thousand songs, many of them instantly recognizable and infinitely hummable.

It was somewhat puzzling, then, that several tunes, such as "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "They Say It's Wonderful," were repeated. Both of them came from "Annie Get Your Gun," which gobbled up a hefty percentage of the program. But no matter, the arrangements were first-rate and toe-tappingly exuberant, amounting to one of the strongest Pops performances during Hamlisch's tenure.

With obvious respect, Hamlisch seemed loath to resort to much banter -- until near the end, when he unloaded a classic stream of marvelous Marvinisms -- preferring instead to let the music speak for itself.

It was a handsomely crafted program, beginning with the sweet simplicity of "Always," played by Hamlisch alone at the piano, something Berlin surely would have liked.

Mostly full of upbeat tunes like "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," "Let Yourself Go" and "Blue Skies," Hamlisch inserted a few breathers with soothing melodies like "Easter Parade" and "White Christmas."

Never one to walk the easy musical path, Hamlisch also took a few detours with the lesser known "I Want to Go Back to Michigan" and "Mr. Monotony," exploring Berlin's extraordinary way of meshing music and lyrics.

Joining Hamlisch on this musical cruise were powerhouse Broadway vocalists Debbie Gravitte and Doug LaBreque, nifty tapper Eugene Fleming and the All-Star College Chorus, certainly the strongest group yet gleaned from area schools to work under the direction of Robert Page.

Gravitte, who had a larger-than-life voice to go along with her ebullient personality, made the most of every song. With Ethel Merman touchstones like "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun," she held her ground with Broadway's renowned belter and did a great imitation during "You're Just in Love," an intertwining duet with LaBrecque.

LaBrecque, who unleashed an extensive range of his own, could go the Irish tenor route in "Michigan" as well as sail through "They Say It's Wonderful" with unforced ease and clarity.

But, in the end, the evening belonged to Berlin, even though the inspired jazz orchestral medley (love those brass!) that closed the first half eclipsed a spirited patriotic finale, capped by "God Bless America."