Dallas Thomas plays Rita and Nate Weisband is Peter in Craig Lucas' "Prelude to a Kiss."

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Oh, to be young and flush with the beginnings of love.

Live Theatre Workshop's production of Craig Lucas' "Prelude to a Kiss" makes you long for those giddy times when you discovered new things about each other, looked into the other's eyes, swooned and couldn't keep your hands off each other.

Nate Weisband (who plays Peter) and Dallas Thomas (Rita) portray those young lovers with the exact exuberance and awkwardness required, and it lifts the comedy / fairy tale off to a delectable start.

Director Terry Erbe inserted a cabaret-esque element into this play that seems just perfect. Amy Erbe (the director's wife), aided only by a piano, sings musical interludes of classics such as "Making Whoopie" and "My Funny Valentine." The songs underscore the action while they accommodate mood and scene changes. Amy's voice is lovely, and the interplay between her and Weisband, who narrates bits and pieces of the play, made her an integral part of the production.

Much of the first act of "Prelude" is about the courtship between romantic Peter and skeptical-about-life Rita. Toward the end of the act, they marry, and a stranger, an elderly man (David Alexander Johnston), asks to kiss the bride at the wedding. When their lips touch, their spirits trade bodies. It takes Peter a while to realize his bride is an old man in the body of his new wife.

Johnston and Thomas, perfect as the man and the young bride, make some obvious choices after their spirits shift — her voice becomes more of a monotone, her footsteps heavier; he becomes more fluttery, dons fuzzy slippers and a feminine robe — which adds a sort of plodding, false note to the story.

But not enough to weigh down this delightful piece.

Weisband, a recent University of Arizona graduate, captured the exuberance of young love and gave some compelling color to the befuddled Peter, who can't figure out exactly what it is that makes his wife so different after the wedding.

And Nick Cianciotto and Peg Peterson as Rita's concerned parents came across as genuine, loving parents who just want what is right for their little girl.

This play's sweet, gentle veneer covers deeper themes: true, deep love, wide-open hearts and fast-approaching death.

Those themes have the potential to make this a tear-jerker. At Saturday's opening-night performance, the emotions were on a more even keel, denying the audience the laugh-sob roller-coaster ride the play can be.

But it did provide lots of laughs and a touching tale. And that's quite enough, thank you very much.