Most of the time when a play opens, it’s easy to figure out who the star is – usually an actor with a major part. Sometimes, the star can be something else, like a director or a composer or a costume designer.

Rarely would anybody pick a lighting designer as the star, unless they see the wonderful production of "Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars" that opened the season for First Stage.

The lighting by Jason Fassl is so spectacular that it seems to tell the complex story of this band of young detectives all by itself. Through any number of scene changes and different actions, Fassl has created a panorama of light and effects that are stunning in how they evoke emotion and surprise.

One moments stands out so starkly that you could almost hear the audience gasp when they saw it.

Wiggins, one of the Irregulars played with aplomb and skill by Max Pink, gets into a fight with his crime lord father played by Todd Denning. Think back to Roy Rogers or Arnold Schwarzenegger and those fights they had on top of moving locomotives. That’s where this fight took place, and the lighting was so spectacular that it really looked like they were on top of a moving train. You had to pinch yourself to realize this was taking place in a theater.

Fassl is one of the busiest lighting designers in the country, and it’s easy to see why he is so in demand. He has a love for the theater, a clear understanding of the story and an inventive capacity to create lights that help the story move along.

"Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars" is a world premiere, written by well-known playwright Eric Coble based on a series of graphic novels by Tony Lee and Dan Boultwood. The story begins with the death of Sherlock Holmes and the decision by a gang of young people to take up the battle, using their varied skills to be the detectives who can take up the task of replacing Holmes.

It's a classic detective story with villains, cops, mistaken identities, subterfuge, heroic acts, dangerous situations, budding love stories and twists and turns galore.

One thing about First Stage is that they never shy away from taking a big cut at the pitch and swinging for the fences. What that means, of course, is that on rare occasion they sometimes stage a play that doesn’t always tell a story that clicks.

The other thing about the organization is that they always, always, have the highest production values, from designers and backstage personnel to musicians to actors. "Sherlock" is no exception.

The Irregulars were charming, funny, committed and interesting all night long. Beside Pink, the other members of the gang in the Holmes cast included Matthias Wong, Maxwell Zupke, the darling Eloise Field, Elizabeth Robbins and Katherine Pollnow.

There are secrets to be learned in "Sherlock," and there are enough surprises to fill a Halloween trick or treat bag. The opening night crowd laughed when they were supposed to, and the children in the audience were rapt on the edge of their seats as kids their own age battled the bad guys.

"Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars" runs through Nov. 15. Information is available at First Stage.