AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

City Center, 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues; (212) 581-1212. Season runs through Nov. 3.

TWYLA Tharp’s new Bob Dylan dancical, “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” doesn’t open until next week, but another Tharp was on the boards Wednesday night: her ballet, “In the Upper Room,” which ended American Ballet Theatre’s gala fall-season opener with a resounding bang.

It was splendid – a July Fourth fireworks display held over until October.

Yes, ABT has danced it in the past with a tad more zest, and certainly more cohesion, but gala audiences are rarely quite as responsive as they might be, and the performance – with Stella Abrera, Misty Copeland, Gillian Murphy, Herman Cornejo, David Hallberg and Sascha Radetsky all outstanding – was bright enough in all conscience.

Tharp also scored with the major revival of her “Sinatra Suite,” a smoky, slinky duet smoothly danced to vintage recordings with the right saloon-singer gusto by Sarah Lane and Cornejo – although whether the audience was cheering the dancers, the choreography, or, most likely, Sinatra, was open to question.

The rest of the gala was agreeable, with a truly sensational performance of Vaganova’s “Diana and Acteon pas de deux” by Xiomara Reyes and Jose Manuel Carreno.

It had just that mind-bending ABT virtuosity that can break a right-thinking balletgoer’s heart.