American Ballet Theatre’s “Coppelia” makes for an easy, amusing night at the ballet.The sweet story clips along at a brisk pace. And on Monday night the mime was engagingly clear.

The evening’s performance was a tribute to the man who staged and directed the ballet: Frederic Franklin. A former dancer for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Mr. Franklin recently celebrated his 90th birthday. ABT honored his contributions to the field by giving him a balloon-strewn bow. Mr. Franklin walked briskly on stage, giving the dancers and the audience a series of ballet “hellos” – beautiful waves of the arm that say, “Well, there you are. How nice that you’ve come to my party!”

After watching his bows, it’s clear why this “Coppelia” is as good as it is. Mr. Franklin, who set this ballet on ABT in 1997, handed down a tradition of mime and drama that is key to the art. Dancers who learned this ballet from him surely benefited enormously.

In the leads on Monday were Ashley Tuttle and Angel Corella, who made an energetic pair. Ms.Tuttle portrayed Swanilda as a lively, but trouble-making young girl, but perhaps a little younger than she is in the story. For all the pouting and heels-together harrumphs, it’s surprising she’s old enough to get married in the end. But that’s ballet.

Ms. Tuttle’s mime and general stage presentation was commanding despite its playfulness. In her dancing she was vibrant but lacked an even keel. She had some trouble finishing things off cleanly, and her supported arabesques seemed dangerously weak.

Mr. Corella, by contrast, was entirely on. He landed huge, clean jumps and modulated his turns a la seconde with deliberate flair. Throughout this ballet, Mr. Corella was a joy to watch; he was clearly having a blast. He used his natural sense of timing to create full, varied gestures. With such an expressive face, he comes by his acting with ease.

Victor Barbee, as Dr. Coppelius, delivered an excellent performance. His was a confused but crafty town elder, who would deserve pity if not for his drugging of Franz. The sequence in which he whiffs a smell of a bottle of alcohol before offering it to Franz had a natural comic flair. In fact, I was a bit surprised at how many laughs this ballet got out of me.Things like Mr. Corella running on stage and off, then on again with a 12-foot ladder, in order to sneak into Dr. Coppelius’s studio, had an extra-goofy edge to them.

After all the Swanilda-led hijinks – sneaking into the good doctor’s shop, starting up all his dolls, and tricking him – there is festival and a wedding to wrap it all up. For some reason – which I will put down to Mr. Franklin – the mazurka and czardas dancers had a little more bounce and verve than usual, in both Act I and III. Karin Ellis-Wentz, in Act I, led the group with spirit. Erica Cornejo and Jesus Pastor (a prime candidate for a haircut) were a joyful pair.

The two solos at the end of the ballet, Dawn and Prayer, cap off everything on a balanced note of the natural and spiritual world. In the Dawn solo, Michele Wiles danced with a bright, cheery air. She presented her arms and delicate hands in such a distinct, beautiful way that the Homeric phrase “rose-fingered dawn” seemed very right. The dancing of Veronika Part, who lent a luminous quality to Prayer, is almost confounding in its contradiction: Her long legs look sturdy and heavy, but she can breezily whisk a leg up in a high grand battement.

Something in the seamless flow of this production makes it feel like a good Broadway show. There is love, laughter, and a big finale. This “Coppelia” is the kind of ballet that you leave thinking: Ain’t life grand?