It’s not a surprise that Florida Studio Theatre would choose Joe DiPietro’s The Last Romance for its mainstage theater summer season closer. Focusing on characters in their 70s or thereabouts, it’s dead on for the area’s demographics, so much so that FST actually produced it first about 15 years ago.

Now it’s back, and current audiences will probably eat it up, even if some of the play’s situations and dialogues feel a little overly familiar or thin, nearly 20 years after it was written. The fact that other shows have since tackled the subject of senior citizens hoping for a last chance at love doesn’t mean this one doesn’t still have a special story to tell, though.

We first meet 80-year-old widower Ralph Bellini (John Guerrasio) in a lovely park setting amid colorful autumn leaves (scenic design by Isabel A. and Moriah Curley-Clay), where he’s eagerly awaiting something, or someone. That someone turns out be Carol Reynolds (Laura Gardner), bringing her adopted pet chihuahua mix to play with other canines there.

Ralph himself doesn’t have a dog, although he pretends to, in order to bond with Carol. He does have, however, an overly protective sister, Rose (Bonnie Black), who spends her days cooking, cleaning and fussing about her brother.

Ralph is anything but shy, and although it may take a while for him to break through Carol’s reserve, you know it’s going to happen, especially when he regales her with stories from his past, like his audition for the Metropolitan Opera decades earlier. (Jason Sekili pops up as “The Young Man” to represent younger Ralph and to deliver some brief opera excerpts.) Although initially the couple would seem to have little in common—she’s never seen an opera and is better off financially than Ralph—loneliness and longing draw them closer.

Rose has her own reasons for not wanting them to get so close, though, and there may be more to Carol’s story than meets the eye. Will the pair sail off into the sunset together, or find too many obstacles in their way?

DiPietro’s script offers both humor and sorrow, as no one can reach his characters’ time in life without some of the latter. Gerrasio’s likeable as the somewhat roguish Ralph, and Gardner, whose character is harder to read at first, slowly reveals her vulnerability in a way we can relate to. Black as sister Rose unfolds gradually, too, so that we can forgive her hectoring ways as we discover her motivations. Sekili doesn’t have quite the large operatic voice you might expect, but he’s a charming presence in his limited scenes.

Under sensitive direction by Kate Alexander, The Last Romance reminds us that whether we stumble across lasting love in later years or not, it’s important to stay active and present in our own lives. A break from the routine, trying something new, meeting someone new—these things are vital at any age.

The Last Romance continues through Aug. 16 in the Gompertz Theatre. For tickets, call (941) 366-9000 or visit floridastudiotheatre.org.