The Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra opened its Pops Live! series Saturday with the return of vocalists Doug LaBrecque and Laurie Gayle Stephenson, who delighted a local audience last year with their "Bravo Broadway!" program.

Hearing them in concert Saturday, it was easy to understand why.

LaBrecque is a strong tenor with a broad vocal range that includes a smooth-as-silk falsetto, the kind of voice that makes men marvel and women swoon. Stephenson's lyric soprano is simply crystalline: bright and richly textured with astounding clarity.

The two are accomplished singers with impressive stage credits - from Broadway to the Kennedy Center and beyond.

But more impressive than the litany of successes in the program's biographical notes (Stephenson once sang before George Bush at the National Theatre; LaBrecque appeared with Marvin Hamlisch in Chicago) was the performance each singer gave to a near-capacity crowd in the auditorium of the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

Accompanied by the DSSO, the duo performed a varied program of Broadway's (and Hollywood's) best-known show tunes. From the lighthearted opening numbers from "Gypsy" to the finale's weighty selections from "Evita" and "Phantom of the Opera", LaBrecque and Stephenson showed versatility and strength in a variety of songs.

LaBrecque has a showmanship and charm that is suited to bright, happy numbers like "Singin' in the Rain" or Jule Styne's "All I Need is the Girl." And he can dance, too.

But the romantic ballads really allowed him to show off his vocal virtuosity. Irving Berlin's "They Say It's Wonderful" and Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine", for example, were just lovely. LaBrecque held the samba-like tempo of "Begiune" and sang with remarkable depth and subtlety.

His final number, "Music of the Night" from "Phantom," showed a mastery of control and grace in singing, with powerful vibrato and that amazing, seemingly effortless, falsetto.

Stephenson sparkled with bubbly, fun numbers like Berlin's "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" and Rodgers & Hammerstein's "I Enjoy Being a Girl". The pair delivered a number of similarly bright duets, like the Porter classic "You're the Top" and Berlin's "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better," from "Annie Get Your Gun." The latter, written to show off a soprano's amazing range and stamina, could have been written for Stephenson, who made each note (the softest, the sweetest, the highest and the longest) a dazzling gem, delivered with pluck and panache.

The upbeat, plucky numbers fit Stephenson's style well. In addition to the bright quality of her voice, she has an engaging smile and an enthusiastic, congenial stage presence. Yet she held her own with the poignant, solemn ballad "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" and "All I Ask of You", the light-and-dark love duet from "Phantom".

Despite one trumpet's ill-timed miscue during LaBrecque's solo performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", the orchestra kept pace with the soloists.

The instrumental selections of this demanding pops program showed that music director Hong-yan Hu is continuing to set the bar higher for the local professionals he conducts. A Leonard Bernstein dance arrangement appeared to be too much of a stretch, but snappy jazz horn solos made the "Gypsy" overture enjoyable, and the orchestra rose to the challenge of the "Jellicle Ball" arrangement from "Cats" with style.

It made a line from LaBrecque and Stephenson's first duet ("Together Wherever We Go" from "Gypsy") ring especially true: as they sang "I've got the vim and you've got the verve, all we need is someone with nerve," Hu hammishly mugged for the crowd.