Over the weekend, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis cracked opened its 45th season with a powerhouse production of "Red," John Logan's Tony-winning drama about the great abstract expressionist Mark Rothko. It was as if Steven Woolf, the theater's artistic director as well as the director of this production, had decided to remind us, "See? Here's what you come to the theater for."

Friday's opening-night show bubbled with bonhomie. The theater community turned out in force, partly because "Red" is an acclaimed drama that has not been widely produced yet. That will change, but the Rep is one of the first theaters to stage it since it closed on Broadway last year.

But even though we don't exactly starve for theater in the summer (thanks to the Muny, Stages and Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, among others), first night at the Rep signals the start of "the season" at theaters all over town. With an opening night audience that included Gary Bell (Stray Dog Theatre), Scott Miller (New Line Theatre), Kathleen Sitzer (New Jewish Theatre), Philip Boehm (Upstream Theater) and many others, you only had to look around to feel a little buzz.

Before you know it, it's going to be hard to choose what to see. Gee, what a dilemma.

"Red" gets it off to a fast start. Set in the late 1950s, this short, muscular drama follows Rothko (Brian Dykstra) as he works on an important new commission. He is being paid a fortune to create a series of murals for a new Manhattan restaurant, the Four Seasons, ensconced in a masterpiece of modern architecture, the Seagram building. This project is so big that Rothko has hired a young painter, Ken (Matthew Carlson), to apprentice him.

Dykstra's impassioned performance delivers a man who, at the height of his powers, understands that only one thing comes after heights. From the opening moments, when he takes the audience in his long, deep gaze, we realize he sees what we can't. And it's true, he's not looking at us. He's looking at the (invisible) painting in front of him. "What do you see?" he asks Ken. This much we know: not what Rothko does. Not yet, anyhow.

Logan and Woolf give Dykstra room for his expansive performance. So does scenic artist Michael Ganio, who designed the ample set and the "Rothko paintings" that inhabit the artist's studio. Phil Monat's lighting design is dramatic and apt, prominently featuring the title color in all its arterial glory.

Claiming the stage in wide strides, Dykstra speaks almost nonstop, and Logan provides him with a conversational arsenal: the Russian-Jewish childhood, the varied inspirations (Rembrandt, Turner, Monet), the famed contemporaries (notably Jackson Pollock) and the upstarts (Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg).

Most of all, Rothko wrestles with the nature of art itself — his or anybody's — and its connection to commerce. Dykstra's big performance reveals a man as troubling as his paintings, subtly packed with deep shadows and almost-hidden sparks of light.

Ken's role is structured differently. In contrast with Dykstra's lumbering form, Carlson moves lightly. He doesn't speak too much, or for that matter have the chance to. But in the second act, he explodes with a shot of blinding brilliance, one long speech that redefines the men's relationship. What will Ken go on to paint? Carlson's performance is so acute, you can almost imagine its style: taut, intense, self-confident. Or maybe he'll switch to sculpture.

One of the pleasures of theater is its ability to take us to places we can't go, places where we'll hear conversations worth listening to among people with something to say. With "Red," Logan, Woolf, Dykstra and Carlson give us that kind of theater.

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'Red'

Who Repertory Theatre of St. Louis • When Through Oct. 2 • Where Browning Mainstage at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road • How much $16-$72 • More info 314-968-4925; repstl.org