There's nothing inherently wrong with a farce; you just have to be in the mood for exaggerated characters, physical comedy, foolish plots and fast pacing. And it must be packaged so well that we aren't allowed for a moment to see anything of its tawdry insides.

The package in "Lend Me A Tenor" includes an opera singer and his stand-in, both made up as Othello, and the havoc that ensues when they are believed to be the same person.

Rob Duval directs the show with great flair. He builds a fumbling Act One into a door-slamming Act Two that is diagrammed like a complex team sport. It's capped off with a fast-action curtain call that replays the highlights of the previous two hours.

Interestingly, the production improves as it moves along, but that's purely because of its style, not character development or a deepening plot.

Duval's staging of the curtain call is the best thing in the show. It leaves us a bit dazzled. But when our heads clear, we're still hungry for real theater.

The show certainly looks and sounds good. Willie Sabel's set and Karen Wolfe's costumes reflect sumptuous glamour, color and rich detailing. The cast members bite off dialogue with crisp articulation and move through their blocking with the confidence that comes from strict rehearsal.

Derek Calibre is interesting as Max, an administrative flunky who curiously finds his machismo by pulling on a pair of tights. Larry Bialock begins to develop a character as the temperamental Tito but spends most of his role presumed dead or staggering about in confused blackface.

Although this isn't a musical yet (one is being contemplated), Calibre and Bialock harmonize sweetly on an early short duet — sadly not matched by Calibre in his finale solo.

Most everyone else plays broadly to type: Melanie Garcia as a starstruck small-town girl, Gerald Altwies as a corner-cutting producer, Euphrosyne Rushforth as the jealous wife, Tricia Marciel as the vamp, and Alexandra Horn as the grande dame. Wesley Busser is a surprise as the worshipful puppy of a Bellhop.

What hurts any production, even that of a farce, is not being able to care about its characters. That's what causes Act One of "Lend Me a Tenor" to sputter.

You may not recognize the name of playwright Ken Ludwig, but if you've seen "Crazy for You," you've heard his dialogue, and if you've watched his "Moon Over Buffalo," you've seen a better comedy than this one. He also adapted "Twentieth Century," a train story that failed to improve on the classic Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur original.