The Lizard Lounge opens here tonight, but the zeitgeist is decidedly warm-blooded.

The first nightclub on Bainbridge, featuring 1940s-style singers and a swing band for one night only, celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Playhouse.

“We’re dancing in zoot suits and evening gowns,” said BPA managing director Per Sherwin. “Or come in casual attire. It’s a chance to dance.”

Hodges Hall has been transformed from a theater to a nightclub, complete with dance floor, tables and even a piano bar.

“People think of performance when they come to BPA, but this is a real nightclub atmosphere,” said event co-coordinator Sue Harader. “There’ll be acts, but people will get to sing at the piano bar and dance.”

And quaff some exotic beverages.

Wing Point Country Club food and beverage director Jim Bowden will mix some unusual drinks, including martinis made with pear liqueur and a “lava lamp martini” of Chambourd liqueur with honey dripped into chilled vodka.

Patrons find a sing-along piano bar, where noted pianist Daryl Spadaccini tickles the ivories.

Island chanteuse Deborah Cheadle torches it up, and Seattle actress Katelyn Black, who opens next month in BPA’s “Fantastiks,” mixes humor with melody.

Improv member Bhama Roget, noted for her work at Seattle’s Empty Space Theater, belts out Broadway numbers, and popular Bainbridge singing group Side By Side heats up the atmosphere with the group’s signature harmonizing.

The fleet-footed can twirl on the Hodges Hall stage to swing band tunes by the Anne Pell Trio, with Tim Tully singing straight-ahead jazz standards to Pell’s piano, Ted Enderle on bass and John Lester on drums .

In the Playhouse lobby, an exhibit of posters and other artifacts places construction of the Playhouse, completed in 1993, in the larger context of BPA’s history.

Actor and supporter Frank Buxton writes:

“My first memories of the Playhouse were from 12 years ago when we took our ‘dog and pony’ show literally from house to house on the island in the capital campaign to raise funds for the building…

“It worked, as you can see by what has happened in the intervening years; a great facility that’s constantly improving, a thriving theater school and consistently excellent productions playing to capacity crowds.”

The exhibit, festivities and floor show are a bouquet for BPA supporters, says BPA board vice-president Chris Snow. “This is a moment to acknowledge the generous support of donors, contributors and sponsors,” Snow said.

The event also marks the survival and rebound of the arts organization, which, like others here, faced economic challenges over the last year and a half.

“We’ve gotten much stronger as an organization,” Sherwin said, “thanks, in part, to support from the business community. We broke records for attendance last year and this year the theater school is sold out for this fall.”

Attendance is up from 13,000 in 2001-02 to 17,000 last year.

“We just want to say thank you to the community,” Sherwin said. “Thank you and keep on coming through the doors.”