Theater Review : ‘Tenor’ in Tune With ‘30s Fun : Uneven performances drive the pace of zany, slapstick comedy in fits and starts.

The perpetually produced door-slammer “Lend Me a Tenor” has returned, this time by way of the International City Theatre in Long Beach. It’s a so-so staging of Ken Ludwig’s comedy, all about a phony Italian tenor running around in blackface in a Cleveland hotel suite, unbeknownst to a real Italian tenor doing the same.

Skye McKenzie plays the real one. He gives a wily, artfully shameless performance--this edition’s peak achievement, by a full octave or two.

Fledgling playwright Ludwig became rich off this script, and in some ways it’s easy to see why. Originally titled “Opera Buffa,” it kicked around for a couple of years, then scored a high-profile London West End premiere in 1986. The production wasn’t all that funny, despite the presence of the excellent Denis Lawson (Gordon the barkeep in the film “Local Hero”). Still, it got by.

Three years later, it really got by on Broadway. Director Jerry Zaks served “Tenor” on a mighty swank platter; with farceurs on the order of Philip Bosco reveling in the art of the spit take, the double take and the bellboy throttle, “Tenor” came off smelling like a comic rose. From there, everywhere: translations in 16 languages, regional theaters, summer theaters. Along with Larry Shue’s “The Nerd” and “The Foreigner” and not many others, “Tenor” graduated to the status of late-century theatrical staple, proving that a play fitfully well made at best--B-minus for structure, C-minus for verbal wit--can still make the grade.

Seeing “Tenor” for the first time since Broadway, what strikes me is its eagerness to deliver Brit-com “Run for Your Wife” stuff--women in nighties, et al--in a retro 1930s package. It works for most folks. Ludwig hasn’t much of an ear for ‘30s-sounding banter, but he certainly can recycle the old Marx Brothers “Duck Soup” mirror routine. He likes it so much, he does it twice; Ludwig’s subsequent libretto for the new/old Gershwin musical “Crazy for You” has a mirror routine too.

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Anyway, 1934, Cleveland hotel, ailing tenor. Dweeby assistant (Matthew Walker) to opera company general manager (Frank Ashmore) fills in and blacks up for the title role in Verdi’s “Otello.” Chaos ensueth.

Director Shashin Desai’s staging nails the basics. But there’s something off in the overall pacing. With Ashmore’s performance especially, you never get the sense the clock’s running, or that something big is at stake. Though skilled enough, Ashmore is no master of the cue pickup. You could drive little 1934 model trucks through the pauses.

Not true, happily, with McKenzie’s Tito Morelli, who knows how to barrel a scene forward. Paired with Jill Brewer, who’s quite good as Tito’s insanely and justifiably jealous wife, McKenzie makes a virtue of swiftness, of low dialect humor, and the carefully deployed double take. (Walker’s Max works the audience in a more blatant and less pleasing way.) Kathy Davis embellishes the supporting role of Julia with some amusing vocal coos.

Farce is many things. It’s the one milieu wherein a hit-and-run constitutes admirable behavior. It’s all about rhythm and tempo and picking your best cheap shots. McKenzie understands this. And it’s a good thing for this production.

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“Lend Me a Tenor,” International City Theatre, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Sept. 26. $28-$32. (562) 938-4128. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.

Frank Ashmore: Saunders

Rick Batalla: Bellhop

Jill Brewer: Maria

Kathy Davis: Julia

Alyse Mandel: Maggie

Skye McKenzie: Tito

Patricia Thielemann: Diana

Matthew Walker: Max

Written by Ken Ludwig. Directed by Shashin Desai. Set by Bradley Kaye. Costumes by Sherry Linnell. Lighting by Liz Stillwell. Sound by Scott Fraser. Stage manager Richard R. Chapin II.