That Perfect Moment takes place in 2004, in a small dumpy house in the San Fernando Valley, home of Mark Van Owen (played by Tait Ruppert), former guitarist and lead singer of “The Weeds,” a one-hit wonder from the ‘60s. The living room (and presumably Mark’s life) centers around the memory of the group – embodied by a 35-year-old concert poster – and those happier, more relevant, younger times.

As the play opens, Mark is in the process of being left by his wife, sent over the edge by her husband’s latest example of irresponsibility and unwillingness to leave those times behind. In other words, his divorce from reality is leading to her divorce from him. Although this development would normally monopolize his attention, today that attention is being diverted by the possibility of his dream coming true: the old gang is getting together to discuss getting back together.

After Mark makes his inevitable choice, and his wife makes hers, the rest of the play is predominated by the group’s ensuing night together, during which they catch up, reminisce about the glory days, open old wounds and lay bare some new ones. They remind themselves why they broke up but, more importantly, why they got together to begin with. In short, they bring closure to the growing pains that were the ’60s.

Although I’m usually a sucker for plays in “real time,” dialogue dominated and character-driven, without entrances, exits and extraneous events to clutter the purity of the moment, this one just missed for me (and apparently for much of the rest of the audience, which seemed to grow restless as the play went along).

One could make the argument that the characters are stock: Mark is the rocker who refuses to grow up, still maintaining his long curls from the 60’s, although grey has long since replaced the blond of his youth. On the other hand, Skip (Bruce Katzman) has gone establishment, wears business suits, drives a nice car, speaks of the importance of portfolio diversification, sends out holiday family newsletters and votes (”Oh, the humanity!”) Republican. Albert (John Bigham) has stayed true to his 60’s roots, becoming a new age chiropractor, plying his craft under a tree in the public park. And Gabriel (Guerin Barry) is the fastidious, gay member (every group apparently needs one). Okay, a little stereotypical, but I didn’t mind that so much. After all, the characters were not overly one-dimensional and could easily be viewed as archetypes or as character traits inherent in each of us, the struggles between themselves seen as our own internal struggles.

No, what spoiled total enjoyment for me was, first of all, the unnecessary cutaways to the wife and record executive (both played by Kelly Lester), which, although well done technically, added little to the main focus of the story. Secondly, the dialogue, like a nervous guy on a first date, seemed to be trying too hard to impress. It crossed the line from clever to what I call “a tad too clever.” For example, no one would say, as Mark does, that “they were ignoring the giant pachyderm in the room.” Finally, the conversation did not flow naturally but rather shifted abruptly in a transparent attempt to give each character his little moment of revelation and crisis. (As a drinking game, audience members can try to guess whose catharsis is coming next.)

Which brings me back to the title of the play. On one level, it clearly refers to The Weeds’ “one day only” concert in 1969, at the height of the 60’s movement, at a time when everything seemed right and everything seemed relevant. The crowd was adulatory, the music seemed to play itself and their feet never seemed to touch the floor. To the members of the band, it was indeed “That Perfect Moment.” But scratching our itch to look a little deeper, we can see a more positive message hinted in that title. Sure, we always look back to our youths, imbuing our memories with a certain magical quality that they may or may not have had. But we seldom look at the less transformative, but equally defining moments in our day-to-day lives as they are occurring. Sitting around talking with old friends on a Friday evening in the San Fernando Valley, for example.

It kind of takes the fun out of the title interpretation game when the answers are revealed right in the program, but it’s nice to know when you’ve gotten it right: “All this might tell us something about the title. We’re not sure, but maybe That Perfect Moment is and always has been now. As Bob Dylan himself once wrote, ‘Why wait any longer for you world to begin?’”

That Perfect Moment is an original play by Charles Bartlett and Jack Cooper. Director Rick Sparks brings their script to life. Adam Flemming’s set is remarkably realistic, from the 20% off Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon hanging from a magnet on the refrigerator, down to the off-color section of wall where the poster used to hang. All the actors physically fit their roles and remarkably resemble their 60’s counterparts as seen in the poster and publicity shots. Kudos to Michael Donovan on his casting. Sharell Martin designed the costumes and Jeremy Pivnick, the lighting.

That Perfect Moment is enjoying its second run at the Victory Theatre in Burbank. It is performed Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 pm through January 17, 2009, on Victory Theatre’s small stage.

The theater is located at 3326 W. Victory Blvd., 1 block east of Hollywood Way in Burbank

Ticket prices: $25 (Seniors $20 with promo code SENIOR)

Reservations online at www.plays411.com/perfect or by phone at (323) 960-7745