Mark Twain wrote this big, bumptious, cross-dressing satire about the art racket while himself burdened with onerous debts he hoped to settle with the success of the play. The 1898 comedy was not produced. Yet when excavated from archival oblivion in 2002, it flourished on Broadway. This revival retains plenty of nuttiness–so much so that you don’t mind its lack of depth. In the suburban Paris of 1846, Twain has appropriated the figure of real-life painter Jean-François Millet (he died a few decades before the play was written). In his busy atelier, exuberant fellow artists carouse, ladies come to call, and Faustian creditor Bastien André (J.D. Lloyd) menaces the artist. If he can’t pay, poor Jean-François (improv’er Brandon Felker) will lose his girlfriend Marie (Brittaney Cox) to Bastien. Buddies propose that he die for a while to increase the value of his paintings-whereupon Felker transforms into Daisy, Jean-François’ far more entertaining sister. Voila–it’s Tootsie time. Director Doug Staley effectively varies the pacing between frenzy and languor, and while the characters are all stereotypes, the joie de jouer proves infectious. Sight gags, well-timed physical comedy, and simple costumes (by Angela Flowers) communicate with the frugality of cartoon lines. Even as Jean-François schemes to strike it rich, this production succeeds with its thoughtful thrift. MARGARET FRIEDMAN [See Margaret’s full review.]

Thursdays-Saturdays. Starts: Sept. 13. Continues through Oct. 13, 2012