The Omaha Symphony SuperPops takes a ride down the Great White Way almost every year, and this season it pays tribute to three of Broadway's most famous songwriters with a series of three concerts that opened Friday night at the Orpheum Theater.

The guest artists for this program, which was aptly titled "Bravo Broadway," were three well-matched stage Broadway veterans: Jan Horvath, Doug LaBrecque and Michael Maguire. If their performances were not star quality, they were certainly strong all the way through.

The trio did not try anything fancy or innovative. They stuck to the straightforward, keeping the staging and banter to a minimum and just letting this wonderful music winningly carry the show.

It certainly helped that the songs were backed by a full orchestra. Too often in Broadway theaters these days, the pit ensembles have been pared back to almost scandalously small sizes to keep costs down.

The first half of the program was devoted to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. One could quibble perhaps with the song choices, which seemed weighted too heavily to love ballads, but there was no shortage of terrific tunes.

The section opened with "The Carousel Waltz," a delightful instrumental excerpt from "Carousel." It continued with highlights of such musicals as "South Pacific" and "The King & I," climaxing with four first-rate selections from "Oklahoma."

For the second half, the program moved up in time to Andrew Lloyd Webber. If he is not on the same artistic level as Rodgers and Hammerstein, he nonetheless remains the most popular Broadway composer of this era.

Having probably the most challenging job of the three singers was Horvath. As the only woman, she had to take all of the quite varied female parts - a challenge she handled with considerable aplomb.

She was particularly good at evoking the bright-eyed innocence that is so much a part of such Rodgers and Hammerstein songs as "I Enjoy Being a Girl" and "Wonderful Guy." Her version of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" lacked some of the piquancy it requires, but she hit the mark in "With One Look" from "Sunset Boulevard."

The strongest of the two men was LaBrecque, whose interpretations were a bit more complex. He adapted his singing to fit each selection, and he had the kind of theatrical sense that is so important to Broadway songs. He really dug into "Music of the Night" from "Phantom of the Opera," offering a memorable version that was fresh and alive.

Rounding out the cast was Maguire, a Tony Award winner. He put his smooth resonance to effective use in songs such as "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'. "

A box-office spokeswoman said 2,326 people attended.