`PANACHE' FEELS LIKE AN INTERESTING, IF UNEVEN, PASTICHE.

Byline: Reed Johnson Theater Critic

Panache is a tricky substance to pin down. So is ``Panache,'' the wispy romantic comedy that opened last week at the Playhouse Balcony Theatre in Pasadena.

Actually, ``Panache'' is two or possibly three different plays that never really hang together.

Through its first 15 minutes or so, it's a smartly observed odd-couple setup about a condescending socialite who discovers an unlikely soulmate in a (gasp!) fry cook. You know the format: Free-spirited man liberates pampered, ``uptight'' woman, who in return finds the sensitive soul lurking behind her paramour's rough-hewn exterior.

Not the most original premise, perhaps. But local playwright Don Gordon has a light, pleasant touch with conversational rhythms, which pulls his audience along until the play's structural deficiencies begin to seriously detract from the mildly witty repartee.

It seems that disheveled chef Harry Baldwin (Eric Pierpoint) has purchased a vanity license plate, ``PANACHE,'' that WASP-y matron Kathleen Trafalgar (Lisa Pelikan) covets as a gift for her workaholic husband. Kathleen, who's tougher than she looks, resolves to use her feminine charms, and her checkbook, to make Harry fork over the goods.

``Panache'' then jack-knifes into a prolonged flashback sequence that begins promisingly but devolves into an unpersuasive attempt to provide Harry with a psychological backstory. While the playwright engineers a couple of unexpected twists, they fail to add much emotional insight or comic layering to the story's central relationship.

Transitions among the play's five scenes are often casually handled, leaving the actors to roll toward a conclusion that finally seems more imposed than earned. A subplot involving Harry's card-playing buddy Jumbo (well performed by Wesley Thompson) feels particularly beside the point.

Both principals acquit themselves well. Pierpoint, of Fox TV's ``Alien Nation,'' deploys a sly, offhand charm that does wonders for a worn-out scenario. Pelikan at first overdoes her character's snooty alacrity, but relaxes into the role as the play moves forward.

Director David Cox, part of a producing partnership that hopes to bring more theater to this small, amiable venue, keeps Gordon's dialogue flowing smoothly and maintains a high level of on-stage energy. James Benjamin Cooper and Jillian McWhirter, who could be a Kim Basinger body double, are fine in secondary roles.

The facts

What: ``Panache.''

Where: Playhouse Balcony Theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena.

When: Running indefinitely. Performances at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets: $25 and $30. Call [phone].

Our rating: Two stars.

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Photo

Photo: Eric Pierpoint and Lisa Pelikan star in ``Panache'' at the Playhouse Balcony Theatre.