REVIEW : Light Opera’s ‘Me and My Girl’ Is a Delight

The San Gabriel Valley Civic Light Opera, with deadpan accuracy, has revived a mindless British musical written more than 50 years ago. And it’s a delight.

“Me and My Girl,” a lark of a 1930s fairy tale about an untutored Cockney swain who inherits a Mayfair mansion and all the insufferable snobs in it, is the kind of show that’s so dated it looks fresh. If you loved Jeeves or find yourself addicted to the humor in Punch magazine, you’ll get a hoot out of this very “English” comedy (“Where do you live?” “I live in a distant village called London.” “What part?” “All of me.”)

If you feel like groaning at the jokes, you’ll still be transported to a creamy world of tennis, high tea, croquet and, of all things, the Lambeth Walk, a ‘30s dance craze and a showstopper that sends the cast swirling into the aisles and rings down the first act curtain with a jazz-whoop.

Jamie Torcellini hilariously captivates the audience in the star role of the brash Cockney interloper. At one point, the prancing, strutting Torcellini is practicing--in coronet and “vermin”-collared cape--for an appearance before the House of Lords. It’s a beautifully timed comic number, entirely physical, acrobatic and even sublime as the actor finally disappears under a great red cape like the melting witch in “The Wizard of Oz.”

This show, which was spruced up a bit when it was revived in London in 1986, featured another masterful performer, Tim Curry, when it last played at the Pantages in Los Angeles in 1988.

Torcellini, who has performed the role on Broadway, enjoys the same knockabout, British music hall precision as Curry. At the same time, Torcellini brings to it touches of Stan Laurel and that old Broadway hoofer, Bobby Clark.

At times, the clown Torcellini seems to dominate the show too thoroughly. But, and this is the production’s ultimate strength, the mannered, offended characters around him are also sharp and stylish, beginning with the hero’s street urchin, Cockney girlfriend, performed with verve by Leslie Becker.

The luminous Becker, whose character owes a lot to “Pygmalion,” is vocally touching in the solo song number, “Once You Lose Your Heart,” the only moment in the show that’s genuinely emotional. Noel Gay’s score, enlivened by musical director M. Roger Lockie’s lively pit orchestra, is serviceable but not particularly hummable. This is not a show of great vintage standards. But there is that Lambeth Walk.

Other performers who play it deliciously straight (director Bill Shaw wisely eschews any modernizing or campiness) are Joan Colee’s snooty Duchess, Jack Ritschel’s henpecked scion, Marilyn Olsen’s gold digger, Michael Heitzman’s simpering drawing room wimp (an especially crisp turn), and Bart Williams’ plumpish, proper solicitor. Even the stuffy butler (Edward Wright) is textured.

The singing and dancing ensembles are sprightly, and house choreographer Rikki Lugo has honed her 10-member dance troupe to a point of rhythmic vitality and pointed, propulsive focus.

It’s also noteworthy that Lugo applied colorblind casting to the dancers (such as Hector Guerrero, Kin Lam and Leah McKinney). The show’s flavorful sets and costumes are holdover designs from previous touring productions.

“Me and My Girl,” San Gabriel Civic Auditorium, 320 S. Mission Drive, San Gabriel, Thursday-Saturday, 8:15 p.m., Sunday matinees, 2:15 p.m. Ends Feb. 23. $15-$30. (818) 308-2868. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.