Well, it may not be forever, but Broadway's Forever Tango is certainly enjoying a long run. The show will give its 250th performance at the Walter Kerr Theatre Jan. 24. That's already 51 performances more than Tango Argentino, the second-longest running Tango show in modern Broadway history.

The Argentinian dance revue originally opened June 16, 1997 for a limited run that was supposed to end Aug. 9, but then was extended several times before announcing an open run.

Produced by Steven Baruch, Richard Frankel, Thomas Viertel, Marc Routh, Jujamcyn and Interamerica Inc., Forever Tango offers 14 dancers, one vocalist (Carlos Morel) and an 11-piece orchestra. New and traditional Argentinean music accompanies the dances. Asked why he thought Forever Tango was such a hit with Broadway audiences, spokesperson Stephen Pitalo said, "1997 was the year of the `Tango.' Now it looks like 1998 will be, too."

"Tango is a feeling that you dance," said creator/director Luis Bravo. "A story you tell in three minutes. It's passionate, it's melancholic. It's tender, violent. You dance it with somebody -- but it's so internal, you dance it by yourself. More than just a dance, the tango is a music, a drama, a culture, a way of life." Bravo is best known as a cellist with the various international philharmonic orchestra.

Dancing this Tango are Miriam Larici & Diego DiFalco, Luis Castro & Claudia Mendoza, Carlos Gavito & Marcela Duran, Jorge Torres & Karina Piazza, Carlos Vera & Laura Marcarie, Guillermo Merlo & Cecilia Saia, Pedro Calveyra & Nora Robles, and Gabriel Ortega & Sandra Bootz, Carolina Zokalski. Designing the show are Bravo (lighting), Argemira Affonso (costumes), Tom Craft (sound) and Jean-Luc Don Vito & Marian Torre (make-up). Lisandro Adrover serves as music director and arranger, and composed several pieces in the production.

As if creating, directing and lighting Forever Tango weren't enough for Bravo, at some point in the fall he'll also take part musically. A world-class cellist, Bravo will sit in with the orchestra for two weeks.

Forever Tango was the first show of the 1997-98 Broadway season and the first tenant in the Walter Kerr Theatre since the Frank Langella revival of Noel Coward's Present Laughter. For tickets ($30-$75) and information on Forever Tango, call (212) 239-6200. You can also order tickets on Playbill On-Line.

--By David Lefkowitz and Andrew Ku