STAGE REVIEW : Great Looks--and a Terrific Sense of Humor : Neil Simon’s ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ by the Laguna Playhouse is both a handsome and hilarious production.

Neil Simon’s “Brighton Beach Memoirs” is a laugh-a-minute comedy, notwithstanding all the critical commentary about how this 1983 play signaled the author’s first serious attempt to write of serious matters.

And while it’s true that there seems to be a crisis for virtually every laugh in the play, anybody who wants to test its humor quotient ought to rush over to the Moulton Theatre for a look at a terrifically handsome production, topped by the stylish performance of Michael Sladek.

In the central role of 15-year-old Eugene (“I hate my name”) Jerome, Sladek delivers wisecracks, and a lot more, with a winsome portrayal that combines endearing wit and earnest charm. His unflagging energy never seems anything but relaxed, and he carries the momentum of almost the entire evening without the least bit of strain. It is a memorable, even stellar, performance.

Under Jerry Evans’ incisive direction, moreover, this Laguna Playhouse revival keeps us thoroughly entertained with comic characterizations in the major supporting roles as well. They are not only neatly etched--particularly Kathleen Collins’ portrait of Eugene’s mother, Kate--but there is a gratifying lack of sitcom shtick in the playing.

For those who don’t already know, “Brighton Beach Memoirs” is the first in Simon’s semi-autobiographical trilogy of plays (“Biloxi Blues” and “Broadway Bound” are the others) with Eugene as his alter ego at the center of all three.

In “Memoirs,” Eugene is coming of age just before World War II in Brooklyn, where he lives near the ocean in a crowded Jewish household that includes his brother, his parents, an aunt and two cousins.

At this stage of his life Eugene has one basic dilemma: whether to play for the Yankees or become a writer, and several not-quite-peripheral concerns such as puberty, wet dreams and what his 16-year-old cousin Nora looks like naked.

If Eugene has a task in life, it is to run errands to the grocery store for his mother. In fact, since “Memoirs” takes place in 1937, during the Great Depression, jobs are never far from Simon’s attention.

Eugene’s father, Jack (Michael C. Miller), is the family’s overworked breadwinner. He cuts raincoats in New York’s garment district and moonlights selling party hats and party favors.

Kate has the job of running the house--which entails cooking and cleaning, of course, but also making cracks about the Irish neighbors as well as making sure that everyone feels guilty and that Eugene eats his liver.

Eugene’s older brother, Stanley (Michael Landes), has a job in a hat factory making deliveries. The trouble is Stanley’s sense of principle gets him into trouble with his boss, who threatens to fire him, which looms as an economic disaster for the family.

Eugene’s neurotic Aunt Blanche (Julia McDowell) is the widowed mother of Nora and Laurie. Except for some home sewing, Blanche doesn’t have a job. She gets occupational headaches, though, from a chronic inability to make decisions for herself or her daughters.

Nora (Lisa Buda) has been promised a job by a Broadway producer, meanwhile, as a chorine in “Abracadabra,” a new underwater musical that is about to go out of town for tryouts. Taking the job would mean having to quit high school, however, a family no-no.

Finally, Eugene’s other cousin, Laurie (Katlin Evans) doesn’t have to do anything but her homework because, as everyone is always reminded, she has a heart flutter. Her job seems to consist of nothing but sitting around being pampered all day, in Eugene’s view, and that annoys him to no end.

Apart from the exceptional caliber of Sladek’s performance, there is much else to praise in the production, which opened Thursday as the final offering of the Laguna Playhouse’s 1991-92 season.

Though Landes cuts a relatively suave figure as Stanley, for instance, he still manages to suggest both the innocence and the insecurity that percolate just below the surface bravado of the character.

Collins not only provides an impeccable Brooklyn accent, which lends considerable authenticity to the atmosphere of the dialogue, but she’s also an anchor for all the other players. Without Collins’ sturdy performance, McDowell’s caricature of Blanche, to say nothing of Eugene’s humor, would have little to tug against.

There’s only one major dead spot, a lengthy first-act bedroom scene between Laurie and Nora.

In addition to assembling an otherwise very watchable cast, Evans has also put together a wonderfully detailed physical production. The scenic design by Andrew Barnicle, who is also the Playhouse’s artistic director, can’t be too highly praised. In a season filled with beautifully designed productions, one other also by Barnicle (“The Diviners”), this one may be the most extraordinary.

The set shows us everything we need to know, from back yard to front porch, downstairs living room to upstairs bedrooms, even to the interior of a kitchen glimpsed only rarely through a swinging door. No detail seems wrong, and some are sublime--such as the telephone pole silhouetted above the house against a scintillating pastel sky in contrast with the burnished earth tone of the wood flooring.

The costumes by Bary Odom are a marvel of understated excellence as well, and the lighting by Robert L. Smith is superb.

‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’

A Laguna Playhouse presentation of Neil Simon’s play. Directed by Jerry Evans. With Michael Sladek, Julia McDowell, Kathleen Collins, Katlin Evans, Lisa Buda, Michael Landes and Michael C. Miller. Set design by Andrew Barnicle. Costume design by Bary Odom. Lighting by Robert L. Smith. Sound by David Edwards. Stage manager: R. Timothy Osborn. Through June 7 at the Moulton Theatre, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Performances are Tuesdays to Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. $13 to $18. (714) 494-8021 or 494-9244.