Heller Theater's production of "Side Man" which opened Thursday night often doesn't seem so much a play as a funeral for a friend, with a two-hour eulogy.

There's Clifford, son of jazz trumpeter Gene and alcoholic mom Terry, conducting the rites via his role as narrator, all the while setting the stage for this homage to the slow death of the jazz age after rock 'n' roll and other musical styles became prevalent.

Gene is a rare character, a quiet soul who affects so many lives around him while he never changes. Through the more than 30 years examined in Warren Leight's 1999 Tony Award winner for best play, Gene has one singular focus -- the music. What he can do with a trumpet is exceptional. On the other hand, he has no skills to be a husband and father -- a lack that we are shown in excruciating detail.

Clifford (portrayed by Kenneth Smith) starts our play in 1985, talking directly to the audience as he listens to his father's band playing. It has been more than five years since he saw his father, who by this time has separated from Clifford's mother.

This reunion has him in the mood to reminisce, and we go back to 1953 with Clifford, who continues to narrate points in the story although the scene predates his birth by several years.

"Their idea of a big get-together is when they go down to sign their unemployment checks," Clifford says about his father and bandmates Al (Mark Albert, hilarious in a toupee that looks like a whisk broom), Ziggy (Kurt Harris, hilariously maneuvering a lisp) and Jonesy (as hilarious as any drug addict can be).

They're men who live by what Gene (Derek Adams) refers to as "jazzonomics": you keep your nut small, you pay your dues and you get to blow your horn. Gene figures he can "get my 20 weeks in" of gigs each year and that should cover his "nut," essentially a roof over his head.

Into this scene comes Terry (Annette Rosenheck), a young woman new to New York and naive about life, despite already having one divorce behind her. She and Gene meet and fall in love -- well, at least she does -- and begin living together. There are lots of parties, plenty of smooth jazz and it's all a fun arrangement -- until Terry gets pregnant.

Terry has no interest in an abortion, and Gene has no interest in marrying her. But he does marry her, beginning a downward spiral that lasts for decades, driving her to alcoholism and leaving him ever more isolated emotionally.

"From what I understand, everybody was happy before I was born," Clifford tells us.

A telling moment in the downfall comes when Terry is talking with Jonesy while listening to Gene blow that horn. His talent is prodigious, and it seems to Terry that her husband could be playing with the best, recording in studios and making good money.

"Is he going to make it?" Terry asks Jonesy, at one of the endless small club dates the group plays. "Look around you," Jonesy tells Terry. "He's made it."

Leight's play is a solid piece of work. It offers a fond remembrance of a bygone era and an incisive look at the joy this music brought to some, as well as the painful side-effects for families caught up in the late-night, financially uncertain lifestyle.

Lisa Robertson Stefanic capably directs this bittersweet tale and makes it an actor's showcase, which several seize upon. The guys in the band are an ensemble delight with fantastic chemistry. But newcomer Harris is particularly good and gives his Ziggy an easy naturalness.

Adams is first-rate as Gene, underplaying this role to a degree that may surprise those who have witnessed several of his more volcanic portrayals. The character is a calm presence to begin with, but it's remarkable to watch as Terry becomes drunker and louder, and he becomes quieter and more reclusive. Late in the play, much of his pride gone, he speaks most of his lines while looking at his shoes.

A true side man can nail a solo with the best, but in the same set he can blend in, almost unnoticed, improving the whole. Adams does much the same here with his portrayal, and he's never better than the four minutes he spends listening to a Clifford Brown performance on tape. He never speaks during this song, and yet it's clear he's happy and at peace, savoring every perfect note.

Those familiar with Rosenheck's many performances at Heller Theater will appreciate her hag-like scenes here as an extension of the horrible old women she perfected in last year's "Beast of Burden" and "The Beauty Queen of Leenane." But this role offers the opportunity to play multiple ages and the entire gamut of emotions. She perfects those, too.

The technical work here is also solid, with Scott Heberling making the most of the small black box theater and working with effective lighting to split the stage between the club and the apartment. Kudos also go to Tara Noland's exceptional costuming.

Heller Theater's production of "Side Man" continues with 8 p.m. performances Saturday and on Feb. 1, 2, 7-9. A 2 p.m. matinee is set for Feb. 3. All performances are at Heller Theater, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave. Tickets are $5-$7 and may be reserved by calling 746-5065.

Michael Smith, World entertainment writer, can be reached at 581-8344 or via e-mail at michael.smith@tulsaworld.com.