Star Tribune photo by Jeff Wheeler

Put Twin Cities musical theater star Greta Oglesby in a nightclub and she becomes a diva without attitude.

Her local nightclub debut Saturday at the Dakota was an unequivocable triumph, two sets that were emotionally enriching, spiritually uplifting, vocally potent and nourishingly entertaining. She was even more impressive at the Dakota than at her spring concert debut at the Capri Theater. And that was an often breathtaking performance.

The Dakota performance had more range, depth and material. But the Capri had Oglesby's super-talented husband, the Rev. Dennis Oglesby, dancing and singing. At the Dakota, he was just the supportive husband in the audience.

Backed by a pianist, bassist and drummer, Oglesby introduced nearly every song with an engaging if long-winded backstory and then she carried on like an actress playing a singer, her hands conducting a choir of one. Her immaculate enunciation suggested her theater training (think Streisand) but she still poured her heart and soul into her singing.

While her Marian Anderson piece ("Every Time I Feel the Spirit," with its wine-glass shattering final note) may have been a bit formal and trilling for some, Oglesby won over the full house with show tunes, blues, jazz, standards, rock, gospel and spirituals. She got so caught up in the Lena Horne-inspired reading of "Deep River" that she uncontrollably blurted "auck" in mid-song. Oglesby let her hair down, with a hammy treatment of "Minnie the Moocher" (inspired, she said, by Dennis Spears' interpretation, which is frankly more campy) and a playful "Proud Mary," done with T. Mychael Rambo and Louis Porter as the dancing, singing Ikettes.

The latter number was a hoot — a perfect kickoff to the near-perfect second set, during which Oglesby seemed more relaxed. Highlights included the saucy talkin' blues "Dance for Hannah"; the quiet ballad "Ti Moune"; the lusciously jazzy "Here's To Life," a slow dance you never wanted to end; the gospel-meets-swing "Summertime," which Oglesby was born to sing, and, of course, "Lot's Wife" from the musical "Caroline, or Change," during which Oglesby transformed herself into character and gave a transcendent performance that took your breath away..

It's a closing number that makes an encore unnecessary — except an encore of another night or two at the Dakota by the great Greta