Cupid and Psyche is a fabulously funny retelling of the famous love story from Greek mythology. It is a well-crafted musical with a phenomenal cast.

The story of Cupid and Psyche is timeless. This version twists a few of the plot elements (especially near the ending) but mostly follows the tale. The show opens with Venus, the narrator of the show, who takes center stage and commands the other actors to follow her lead.

The show flashbacks to the past as Venus tells of her jealousy at finding out that a human, Psyche, as beautiful as she. She sends her son, Cupid, down to earth to hit her with one of his arrows and make her fall in love with a Cyclops or similar monster. However, Cupid falls in love with Psyche instead. His pal Mercury (who fills in for every other small role in the show) warns him that there are laws that state that no mortal can be with a human.

Cupid then devises a plan. He brings Psyche to a hidden castle and becomes invisible. There they fall in love, but she never knows who he is or what he looks like. This pains her. Venus finds out about Cupid's betrayal and chaos ensues. What follows is a battle of wits between Venus and Cupid and Psyche.

The script by Sean Hartley is well written. It flows fluidly from song to dialogue and back again. The plot is streamlined and, at ninety intermissionless minutes, is a perfect length. The dialogue is very clever, with many Greek as well as theater references. The lyrics, also by Hartley, are generally quite good with clever internal rhymes, as well as perfectly crafted cadences. That said, the lyrics are much more on target in the comedy songs; the ballads border on the mundane and cheesy.

The varied and nicely complex music by Jihwan Kim suits the show perfectly with nice harmonic progressions. However, the melodies, though singable and lyrical, are neither hummable nor memorable, which is one of its problems along with its inability to live outside the show because it is so contextually limited.

The cast is wonderful. Laura Marie Duncan is divine as the egocentric Venus. She knows how to draw attention to herself and shines in her numbers, especially in the touching "Improvise." Barrett Foa is charming as Cupid. He also has sings beautifully. Deborah Lew is as gorgeous as Psyche has to be, and has the voice to match. Finally, Logan Lipton is hilarious as Mercury playing oodles of small parts. He has a great comic talent.

The show is aptly directed by Timothy Childs. The choreography by Devanand Janki is extremely lively. The set and costumes by David Swayze and Christine Darch, respectively, are effectively mostly black and white. Finally, the pianist whether it was Peter Yarin or Jihwan Kim is exceptional and brings out every nuance of the score.

Cupid and Psyche is worth seeing. The ending borders a little on the sappy but overall the production is very well written and performed. Its arrow is certainly on target.

The Imagination Company

John Houseman Studio Theater

450 W42nd St

212-868-4444