“All Puccini, all the time.”

So a radio announces early in Theater Latte Da’s “Johnny Skeeky,” an offbeat and extremely enjoyable adaptation of that composer’s one-act comic opera, “Gianni Schicchi.” And if you’re a fan of that late-romantic-era Italian, then the Twin Cities is a good place to be this spring and summer.

First, Minnesota Opera closed its season with the composer’s most popular work, “La Boheme,” and later this month the small but ambitious Out of the Box Opera will present “Suor Angelica” — part of a trilogy of one-acts that also includes “Gianni Schicchi” — at the Basilica of St. Mary.

But between them lies laughter. While “Gianni Schicchi” might be the funniest thing Puccini ever wrote — admittedly, tragedy was his metier — it’s quite a dark comedy, as a wealthy patriarch dies at the opening curtain and his greedy descendants scheme about usurping his fortune.

Yet Bradley Greenwald and Steven Epp’s adaptation for Theater Latte Da is a considerably sweeter confection. The miserly magnate doesn’t die at the downbeat: He’s repeatedly brought back to life by his hospice nurse and physician grandson via chest blows and defibrillator shocks. And rather than a con man who collaborates with the old man’s avaricious family, Johnny Skeeky is an old friend whose memory haunts the patriarch, a free spirit who eschewed the path of material gain.

It’s a delightful show that employs music from Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” but also borrows from other of his operas and tosses in a bit of the “Requiem” he wrote in memory of fellow composer Giuseppe Verdi, all offered in a reduction to five instruments created by Robert Elhai and led backstage by Sonja Thompson.

While the beautiful soprano aria, “O mio babbino caro,” might be stuck in your head on your way out of the theater, it’s this version’s comedic craftiness that makes the strongest impression. Epp and Greenwald not only wrote the script but also direct this bright and breezy summer offering, keeping the comic timing tight throughout.

Epp has been showing off his skills in that department since he emerged with Theatre de la Jeune Lune back in the 1980s. (It was one of that company’s many imaginative operatic adaptations that first brought Epp and Greenwald together.) As Bobo, the tycoon at death’s door, Epp offers us a layered comic figure with a barbed wit, one who professes to embrace greed but is unable to keep a kind heart hidden. His affection is directed toward his hospice nurse, Laurie, and his grandson, Ricky, who have fallen in love while caring for the old man. Anna Hashizume and Felix Aguilar Tomlinson not only get much of the best music but convey the warm optimism of these characters convincingly.

Conversely, everyone else on this yacht docked outside Miami is an over-the-top, self-absorbed caricature, the standout among them Norah Long’s glamorous dragon lady of a daughter. Kudos to costume designer Sonya Berlovitz for decking out this on-deck ensemble in often hilariously eye-popping yacht wear, and to the wigs, hair and makeup of Emma Gustafson, Benjamin Olsen’s set and Karin Olson’s lighting.

While “Johnny Skeeky” is unfailingly fun, it’s also a loving paean to friendship and a challenge to examine your own life choices and see if your compass is pointed toward happiness.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

Theater Latte Da’s “Johnny Skeeky”

When: Through July 7

Where: Ritz Theater, 345 13th Ave. NE, Mpls.

Tickets: $75-$15, available at 612-339-3003 or latteda.org

Capsule: A bright and bubbly operatic adaptation, ideal for a summer night.

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