There's a moral somewhere in "The Visit," the John Kander and Fred Ebb musical now on Broadway. But what is it?

Surely it has something to do with money. Money not only makes the world go round (as a sharper Kander & Ebb production had it) — it drives the narrative of this play. An old woman, the richest woman in the world, returns to her Swiss hometown and offers $10 billion to the sad sack residents. The catch? She wants them to kill her former lover, who abandoned her when they were teenagers.

The townspeople think about it for a minute or two, and then shrug their shoulders and go off to buy fancy yellow shoes on credit. Ten billion dollars must seem like a deal to kill one old, measly man whom none of them like much anyway. In return, their lives will be changed in all the ways that matter: now, they'll get to buy automobiles and take French lessons and wrap themselves in fur stoles.

That's terrible, right? Yellow shoes in exchange for a man's life. Tut tut.

The trouble is, the devil making the bargain is the dazzling Chita Rivera, who at 82 can command an audience with a tilt of her head. The guy she wants dead is Anton Schell, played by a moping Roger Rees. He's vain and dull and, indeed, the show seems like it would be better without him — so why not just kill him off?

Within the first 10 minutes, we're rooting for her to succeed, even though her character has no redeeming qualities. Her wit, sharp poise and dashing white dress make her the hero of a gray, monochrome world.