Bronx Opera in "The Poisoned Kiss" at Lehman College No one who encounters "The Poisoned Kiss," the third of five operas by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, can fail to see why it never found a place in the standard repertory. Seen in what was claimed to be its first professional New York production, mounted by the Bronx Opera Company in the Lovinger Theater at Lehman College on Saturday night, the work readily showed its intrinsic shortcomings: a plot too whimsical for modern tastes, a wayward libretto, a girth too protracted for the frivolity of its material. Julie-Anne Hamula and Rogelio Peñaverde Jr. (foreground), with from left, Andrew Klima, Luis Gonzalez and Robert Joubert in "The Poisoned Kiss." Carolyn Sebron and Michael Blake O'Hearn in "The Poisoned Kiss." Tynan Davis (seated) with, from left, Julie Borst, Jodi Karem and Elizabeth Perryman in "The Poisoned Kiss." But oh, what strengths this playful comedy has, especially in a staging as thoughtful as the one provided here by Michael Spierman, the Bronx Opera's artistic director, and Benjamin Spierman, his son and the stage director. First and foremost, the work features music of consistent inspiration and sure craft: lilting melodies, haunting modal themes and ravishing orchestrations, like those heard in Vaughan Williams's symphonies, unspooled along with jazzy rhythms, airy waltzes and a robust tango. Completed in 1929 and retooled before and after its 1936 stage premiere, "The Poisoned Kiss" was spun from short stories by Richard Garnett and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The plot involves an elaborate revenge scheme: Dipsacus, a wizard jilted in his youthful romance with the Empress Persicaria, rears his daughter, Tormentilla, on a diet of poisons, meaning to kill the empress's son, the prince Amaryllus, with love's first kiss. This being a comedy, nothing is spoiled in revealing that all ends in blissful concord. Evelyn Sharp's libretto crackles with snappy wordplay, Gilbertian patter and Broadway-worthy couplets. Spoken dialogue - reworked in 1957 by Ursula Vaughan Williams, the composer's wife, and gently amended here by Benjamin Spierman - serves its purpose. Still, the pacing can meander; the first act in particular feels far too long for a purported lark. Saturday's cast, the first of two in rotation, did its best to keep things lively. Michael Blake O'Hearn was a suitably puffed-up Dipsacus; Carolyn Sebron was regal in the small but important role of Persicaria. Rogelio Peñaverde Jr. sang Amaryllus with a sweet, small voice; Julie-Anne Hamula was a perky, appealing Tormentilla. In a seemingly eternal device of English comedy, the richest work fell to the servants. Jason Coffey sang handsomely as Gallanthus, the prince's buttoned-up attendant. And as Angelica, the maid and confidante of Tormentilla, Tynan Davis was a marvel: a stylish singer and a perky actress whose presence lighted up the stage consistently. Subtle video projections designed by Eamonn Farrell and lighting by Jim Elliott abetted Meganne George's modest sets. Meg Zeder dressed the cast in Edwardian finery, raffish kit and Gypsy chic. And Eric Kramer, the conductor, elicited rich, nuanced work from the orchestra. "The Poisoned Kiss" is repeated on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon at the Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College; (800) 838-3006, brownpapertickets.com.