BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

Three weddings – and a lonely guy. That’s the story for “Significant Other,” a melancholy urban comedy by Joshua Harmon, the newcomer playwright who previously scored a major hit with his wickedly funny “Bad Jews.”

Opening on Thursday in a Roundabout premiere at the Steinberg Center for Theater, “Significant Other” is often amusing and insightful but tends to be too much of a mostly good thing.

Set in Manhattan, Harmon’s play centers on Jordan, a gay man in his late 20s, and the three women who have been his closest chums since their college days. As several years roll by and each of his besties gets married, Jordan – who can’t seem to snag even a date and apparently has no other friends nor interests in his life – increasingly feels deserted and solitary.

Embittered, the self-pitying Jordan finally lashes out at Laura, his closest pal, on the eve of her wedding but later he is partly consoled by some life-is-long wisdom gleaned from his grandmother.

While this pensive comedy affirms Harmon’s charms as a writer – he has a well-tuned ear for prickly talk and a keen eye for modern attitudes – the two hour-plus work suffers from excessive repetition, uneven tonal issues and an underdeveloped protagonist who proves to be mostly an immature drip. The two-act play might register more effectively were its contents whittled back to a tight 100 minutes.

Still, the time passes quickly enough, thanks to the fluency of Harmon’s writing and the ease of director Trip Cullman’s smart staging. The play’s flow of many scenes is facilitated further by Mark Wendland’s sleek, classy, multi-level setting and the atmosphere created by Japhy Weideman’s fine lighting.

The women in Jordan’s world are varied and nicely acted: Sas Goldberg is the self-absorbed party girl, Carra Patterson is a brooding brunette brightened by love and Lindsay Mendez is the warmhearted Laura who loves Jordan sufficiently to level with him. Aided by Kaye Voyce’s apt costume designs, John Behlmann and Luke Smith believably depict a number of different mates and dates who come and go.

Barbara Barrie’s cool, unsentimental performance as Jordan’s grandma subtly traces the erosion of advancing age.

The occasionally manic Jordan is portrayed by Gideon Glick with a somewhat fey manner and a no-sex-in-the-city sense of comedic desperation that does not quite sync with his character’s sadder depths. The actor handles well Jordan’s torrential verbal outbursts, however, and he effectively suggests this forlorn man’s ambivalence about his girlfriends’ newfound happiness.

“Significant Other” continues through Aug. 16 at the Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 W. 46th Street, New York. Call (212) 719-1300 or visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

PHOTO: Lindsay Mendez and Gideon Glick play besties in "Significant Other." — CREDIT: Joan Marcus