Writing a romantic comedy that does not collapse into schmaltz is daunting. "Crossing Delancey" by Susan Sandler, now running at Allens Lane Theater, succeeds because heroine Izzy deals with authentic distress before she arrives at the requisite happy ending. 

Izzy is a college graduate who now runs a bookstore. A modern uptown sophisticate, she hungers to fit in with the Manhattan literati. She is enthralled with Tyler, a college teacher and writer whose novels she has devoured. At the same time, Izzy likes to visit Bubby, her maternal grandmother, who still lives in the remnants of the Jewish neighborhood in the Lower East Side. Bubby clings to the old ways and does not believe an unmarried woman can ever be happy.

Director Joel Rosenwasser's production is striking. Scenic Designer Murrie Gayman uses the stage eaves to broaden the location. You split your time between the New Day Books store and Bubby's apartment. A rear wall holds video projections of Manhattan locales — a subway, a restaurant, the storied streets of the Lower East Side. Costume Designer Samantha Simpson doubles up clothes as props integral to the plot. 

Elizabeth Clarkin-Breslin makes you feel Izzy's confusion, yearning and implied despair. You scarcely notice Clarkin-Breslin's whole body language because her facial expressions are so arresting; they capture Izzy's shifting moods. It is an effect you see in cinematic closeups, rarely in a theater venue.

The charm of the older Jewish women offsets Izzy's turbulent presence. Stacy Skinner plays Bubby, so worried silly over Izzy's single status, she hires Hannah, a marriage broker. As Hannah, Lorraine Barrett makes a kibbitzing, operatic entrance, handing out business cards as she works the audience en route to the stage.

The two old-timers have so much in common you are nudged to see them in cultural terms. Both speak a Yiddish-inflected English; both are tricksters; both so resolute they evoke the ironic air of not being in control of their own willfulness.

"Delancey" debuted Off-Broadway at The Jewish Repertory Theater in 1985. At the time, romantic comedies were in vogue. The 1988 movie version of "Delancey" was a modest hit (but overshadowed by blockbusters like "When Harry Met Sally" and "Moonstruck").

At heart, "Delancey" is an odd triangle love story. As the adored author, Tyler, Eric Tuller makes your skin crawl. His novels are not best sellers, and nothing about his presence leads you to believe he is an unappreciated talent. Why is Izzy enraptured with this self-absorbed klutz? Does she want to be taken away from her Jewish roots?

If so, Bubby is determined to drag her back home. In cahoots with Hannah, they arrange a meeting between Izzy and suitor Sam, a Lower East Side pickle vendor. Played comically by Matthew Carter, Sam is ill at ease, and Izzy is unimpressed: "There has got to be something happening between two people. There has got to be heat."

Sandler's play has a curious structure. Act one is a plethora of short scenes presented with rapid-fire regularity, each five minutes or so, introducing you to characters and to the dramatic premise. In Act Two, scenes are more extended. Bubby and Hannah stay true to form, but the love triangle characters are full of surprises.

As if challenged by Sandler's dramaturgy, Rosenwasser's staging is equally distinctive. Prop adjustments are conducted between scenes in near darkness to a background of Jewish music, Klezmer and otherwise. The scene changes are like musical beats. As "Delancey" builds to a climax, the show's overall effect has the cadence and rhythmic feel of a musical composition.

At one level, "Delancey" is a love letter to the culture of the old immigrant world of the Jewish Lower East Side. The video cityscapes are like a photographic retrospective, and the show rejoices in references to places like Sammy's Roumanian Steakhouse and the Russian Tea Room.

At the same time, "Delancey" has universal appeal. The clash between the old Jewry and their Americanized offspring is piquant. Still, some form of generational clash is commonplace among the immigrant cultures of America's unfolding and helps explain the broadness of "Delancey's" appeal.

Allens Lane Theater is located at 601 W. Allens Lane. "Crossing Delancey" will run through May 11. Tickets available at 215-248-0546 or info@allenslane.org