Taking a no-compromise approach to its production of "Miss Saigon" has paid off for Diablo Light Opera Company.

The musical, which opened Friday night, is not only a lavish, dazzling, big-league production, but it also tells a moving, emotional story -- a rare feat for these Broadway mega-musicals that more often than not trade soul for dazzle.

Here, though, you get both, served up as a heady cocktail, with equal parts adrenaline and tears.

Set during the fall of Vietnam and based on the story of Madame Butterfly, the story begins in the seedy bars of Saigon, featuring the sort of recreational opportunities sought by many men taking a break from combat.

In this particular bar, operated by The Engineer (Franc-Anton Harwart), the nightly gimmick is to crown a Miss Saigon, and offer her erotic services to the highest bidder -- then sell off time with the other girls.

On this particular night, however, Kim (Catherine Gloria, who is double-cast with Nina Gosiengfiao) young girl from the country, who is offered as a first-time professional.

John (Nephi Speer) purchases her services for his buddy, Chris (Dane Stokinger), who ends up falling for the girl. That first night launches a dizzying romance that blossoms as Saigon is in its last days before falling to North Vietnam.

The couple is married in a religious rite that Chris doesn't quite understand, but he is so smitten with Kim that he doesn't seem to care, even when Thuy (Sung Park), the man to whom she had been promised years before by her father, shows up to claim her.

They pledge their love, but become separated when Saigon is evacuated. In the Vietnamese government changes, Thuy gets a high position and pressures Kim to return to him. Meanwhile, Chris has returned home and eventually married, although still haunted by dreams and nightmares of Kim and Vietnam.

And, somewhere along the line, he discovers Kim gave birth to his son, which leads to the heart-tugging emotional onslaught that fills the second act.

That small story of romance plays intimately, with the spectacle of the war in the background, and the ambitious and incredible special effects surrounding them.

In what has to be the most ambitious effect of the show, a full-sized helicopter lands on stage to pick up the evacuees. Blending sound, light and a frighteningly realistic copter that lurches down from the sky, the effect is both chilling and memorable.

But even without the expensive and effective effects, the show is a strong piece of theater, thanks to the tremendous cast, particularly Stokinger and Gloria, who have a great chemistry, and sing beautifully, and Harwart, who makes the wheeling, dealing Engineer a truly memorable character.

The sets and costumes, created by the Fullerton Light Opera company, are superb. They are enhanced by the lighting and sound design by Chris Guptill and William Carrico. And the whole piece blends together through the music, directed and conducted by Cheryl Yee Glass, and performed by an outstanding orchestra that combines standard musical performance with an array of unusual percussion pieces.