“Josephine Tonight,” at MetroStage, by no means offers a complete biography of the Josephine Baker who took the world by storm in the early 20th century. Instead, it’s a delightful sketch of the girl who grew up to be that woman, from her earliest days in Missouri to her first appearances in New York and Paris.

With book and lyrics by Sherman Yellen and music by Wally Harper, this “Josephine Tonight” owes its big, jazzy sound to music director, arranger and orchestrator David Alan Bunn. That sound, together with the look provided by director and choreographer Maurice Hines, are two elements that make this production so worthy, far more so than its rather thin book.