Lanford Wilson's play centers on an unlikely romance between an avant-garde dancer and a working-class stiff.

It may revolve around the lives of unconventional New York City bohemians, but the plot of "Burn This" lights out for romance novel territory. Traumatized good girl has to choose between a successful nice guy and sexy bad boy. Guess who wins? Remember, this is on stage, not in real life.

Playwright Lanford Wilson adds an interesting twist or two. The good girl is a dancer turned choreographer whose creative spirit is rekindled by the sexual encounter with the macho diamond in the rough. And the dramatist anticipates the canned comic chemistry of TV's "Will and Grace." The good girl has a gay room mate who slings zippy one-liners, non-stop.

All this is to say that "Burn This" is more about feel good fantasies about turning frogs into princes than a passionate or truthful exploration of the human condition. That may be why it is one of Wilson's most successful plays. Joan Allen won a Tony Award when the script premiered on Broadway in 1987, in a production that also starred John Malkovich.

As an entertainment, the play is long but engaging, especially for the women in the audience when the bad boy is played by a certifiable hunk. In the Huntington Theatre Company production, Michael T Weiss, best known as the star of TV's "The Pretender," is eye candy for the ladies. His version of a nasty guy doesn't give off the aura of edgy danger the role demands. But that may be because director Susan Fenichell approaches "Burn This" as a therapeutic comedy rather than an explosive drama.

Weiss plays Pale, the brother of Robbie, a gay dancer who dies just before the play begins. Filled with standard-issue working class crassness, Pale is insulting but charismatic, at least to Robbie's roommate, Anna. Cranky sex machine Pale is a refreshing alternative to Anna's current guy, Burton, a sci-fi writer who makes lots of money writing movie scripts he disdains. Pale is raw life force to Burton's white bread domesticity. With pale becoming more civilized with each scene, Anna's choice becomes increasingly difficult.

Meanwhile, Larry, Anna's gay room mate, is a snappy joke machine. And he is so skillfully played by Nat DeWolf that the marketing exec dominates many of the scenes. The jokes throw the balance of the play way off -- the pain caused by Robbie's untimely death, Pale's guilt and Anna's regret -- play second fiddle to the laugh lines.

The poignancy of the play is also undercut by Brian Hutchison's awkward turn as Burton and Anne Torsiglieri's less than affecting Anna. Weiss provides some serious sparks for the women in the audience, but "Burn This" is no more than a comfortable comic smolder.

The Huntington Theatre Company production of "Burn This" runs through December 12, 2004 at the Boston University Theatre in Boston, MA. For tickets, call 617-266-0800.