Theater Reviews : When It’s Taken Too Seriously, It’s Only a Play : Each actor at North Coast is good, but together they lose some of the fun by overdoing what Terrence McNally intended to be superficial.

“It’s Only a Play” is Terrence McNally’s “Give My Regards to Broadway,” a lightweight tribute to the theater as seen from the lofty but limited vantage point of Broadway artists who are consumed by New York’s hit/flop mentality.

It takes place on the opening night of a Broadway play and delights at poking fun at everyone: star, director, playwright and producer, each anxiously awaiting the all-important reviews, dishing one another nervously while they wonder if they will be the toast or laughingstock of this uptight town. And of course, there’s the all-important critic, without whom there’d be nothing for everyone else to get nervous about.

McNally, who has had his share of flops as well as hits in a long and distinguished career, knows the territory well and has fun with the script.

Unfortunately, the fun doesn’t come across as infectiously as it should at the North Coast Repertory Theatre. The cast and design team are talented, but the show, under the direction of Christina Courtenay, takes itself far too seriously.

It slogs around in sentimentality when it should fly on hilarity. Earnestness has its place, but with characters this pretentious, it’s best to keep it brief and get on with the liveliness of McNally’s satire.

The action takes place in the upstairs bedroom of first-time Broadway producer Julia Budder (Diane Addis), who is hosting a party for the opening night of her new show.

The party-within-a-party that finds itself in the bedroom includes the playwright, Peter Austin (Luther Hanson), suicidally anxious about his big Broadway break; Peter’s best friend, James Wicker (Michael Pieper), who turned down the lead and wants to see it flop so he’ll know he made the right choice; star actress Virginia Noyes (Sandra Ellis-Troy), hoping for a comeback; director Frank Finger (Christine Nicholson), the critics’ darling who knows in her heart she’s a fake, and the much-hated critic, Ira Drew (Bob Larsen), who for once would like to be on the inside instead of the outside looking in.

Actor by actor, the cast is a good one. But the parts never meld into a whole. Addis, a newcomer to the North Coast stage, brings a sweet naivete to the part of the producer who never quite seems to get what’s going on.

Patrick Hume, another newcomer, brings fresh wide-eyed charm to his role as an aspiring actor. Ellis-Troy, resplendent in a glittering gown by John-Bryan Davis, lends depth to McNally’s caricature of the shallow star who makes dramatic speeches about “The Theater” in between lines of cocaine.

Marty Burnett’s set design is sumptuously elegant and nicely lit by Lisa M. Lane, although the living room itself could have been better personalized to Budder.

Davis’ costumes are, as always, on the mark, capturing the glamour and the grit as needed--as when a cabby, Emma (Dawne Ellison), comes up to join the party.

As for Jim Johnston’s sound, one wishes there were more of it to more fully convey the raucousness of the main party from which the characters in the upstairs bedroom are escaping.

*

The biggest problem in this production is the subtle but all-important one of tone. The actors play these parts as if they are getting in touch with all the times they have been burned in their theatrical careers. They seem to forget that they are playing the privileged in “It’s Only a Play.”

Sure, their characters complain, but they complain as stars in the big leagues do--crying crocodile tears that dry in a flash as they spy their next conquest.

The funniest parts of “It’s Only a Play” center on McNally’s attacks of critics, the highlight being a scathing review as supposedly written by Frank Rich, then the chief and much feared drama critic of the New York Times (who actually gave a good review to the Manhattan Theatre Club production of this work).

It’s the panned playwright’s ultimate revenge--and it’s a delicious one. McNally’s point, as expressed in the very title of this play, seems to be, why the viciousness of the critics? After all, it’s only a play.

Of course to this, the critic may well respond, “Hey, it’s only a review!”

* “It’s Only a Play,” North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987D Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends July 31. $14-$16; $2 discount for seniors, students, active military personnel. (619) 481-1055. Running time: 1 hour, 58 minutes. Patrick Hume: Gus Head

Michael Pieper: James Wicker

Sandra Ellis-Troy: Virginia Noyes

Christine Nicholson: Frank Finger

Diane Addis: Julia Budder

Bob Larsen: Ira Drew

Luther Hanson: Peter Austin

Dawne Ellison: Emma

A North Coast Repertory Theatre production. By Terrence McNally. Directed by Christina Courtenay. Set: Marty Burnett. Lights: Lisa M. Lane. Sound: Jim Johnston. Costumes: John-Bryan Davis. Stage manager: Suzanne Beguelin.