A ‘Tribute’ to Laughter, Tears : A father and son’s bittersweet tale gets a fine staging in Long Beach.

Although Bernard Slade’s “Same Time Next Year” is revived more often, his “Tribute” probably will outlast it, for the simple reason that is reaches deeper into human relationships and into the errors and foibles of real life.

The Long Beach Playhouse Studio Theatre’s revival of “Tribute” is testimony to the strength of the play’s examination of an erratic but much loved man’s relationship with his estranged son.

Scottie Templeton is a public-relations hustler who has failed at writing, performing and most everything else he’s tried because of his uncontrollable sense of humor.

On discovering his fate, Scottie welcomes a visit from ex-wife Maggie, who brings with her the son, Jud, he barely knows. Jud’s anger doesn’t keep him from wanting to spend the summer with Scottie as a way of finding out what it is that makes his resentment toward his father linger so harshly.

The course of their rediscovery of each other is full of potholes and debris from the past. Yet--believe it--this is basically a comedy, a bittersweet tale with tongue in cheek that even has a fairly happy ending. Slade manages beautifully that old dramatic trick of making you laugh, then, without warning, shed a tear.

Director Gregory Cohen has cast the piece keenly, and a couple of minor flaws he has not been able to fix do not detract from the evening’s effect.

One is Cohen’s leisurely tempo throughout. This is, after all, basically a comedy, and without crisp timing in most scenes, there’s really no place to go at those moments when it should slow down and darken. It doesn’t weaken the production but gives it less space to develop in.

Jack Thomas as Scottie gives a fine performance, full of Scottie’s joie de vivre and the comic inflection in his every utterance. Even as his life winds down, and as his son continues to shun him, this Scottie is buoyant and full of vinegar, even when he has to force the humor.

As Scottie’s very confused son, Brian McDonald is top-notch. He’s laid back, with interesting restraint hiding the pain that haunts him, and delightfully honest in breaking up when his father really amuses him.

He is especially effective in the climactic scene when he discovers his divorced parents have spent the night together. As he allows Jud to revert to his uncontrollable adolescent stammer, he’s touchingly true to Slade’s intent of the moment.

Rende Rae Norman as Jud’s mother is just as solid, and, with Thomas and McDonald, helps make the trio feel like a real family group on stage. Steven Shaw is superior, and very funny, as the boss who loves Scottie more than any other human he has known. Cathy LaCascia, as a hospital mate Scottie tries to fix up with his son, is charming and true.

Sharyn Case has many affecting moments as Scottie’s concerned doctor, both when ordering him about and when melting under his charm, and Lisa Alpi has a few strong but brief turns as an ex-hooker whom Scottie helped into a more respectable business.

*

BE THERE

“Tribute,” Long Beach Playhouse Studio Theatre, 5201 E. Anaheim St. 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. matinee Sunday and July 11. $12-$15. Ends July 17. (562) 494-1616. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.