Jolly Good Show British Musical ‘Me And My Girl’ Brings Fresh New Talent To The Forefront
“Me and My Girl”
through Oct. 28, at the Spokane Civic Theatre; call 325-2507 for tickets
“Cheery” is a good British adjective, which makes it the perfect word to describe “Me and My Girl.”
This 1937 British musical is lighthearted, clever, tuneful, and, yes, cheery. Don’t expect to be blown out of your seats with flamboyant showmanship - this show is understated by today’s overblown (Lloyd Webber) standards. But do expect to enjoy a pleasant, tuneful and comfortable evening, with the added pleasure of enjoying some fine young talent.
“Cheeky,” meaning brash or saucy, is another good British adjective, and it’s the perfect word to describe the performance of young Nick Bailey in the lead role of Bill Snibson. The entire show is built around this character, a low-class Cockney bit of riff-raff who suddenly finds himself elevated to Lord Hareford. Even though Bailey is only 17 and a senior at Mead High School, he carries this show with effortless poise.
The professional touring production, which came through Spokane a few years ago, had a thirtysomething Bill Snibson. Yet there’s something fitting about having a younger Bill Snibson, since he is full of youthful sauciness and mischief. For instance, when the predatory Lady Jaqueline asks him, in a breathy voice, whether he likes Kipling, he replies, “I don’t know. I’ve never kippled.”
And when he is asked to “help the Old Ladies Home,” he replies, “I didn’t know they were still out.”
Bailey has a fresh and winning way with these lines. With his long legs and lanky frame, he is also an excellent dancer, a good Laurel-like physical comedian. He knows how to deliver a song well, too, especially in “Leaning on a Lamppost.”
Director Jean Hardie has done an excellent job of finding new talent for this show. Civic productions sometimes cast the same people over and over again, at the expense of variety. Not this one. At least 13 of the people in this cast are new to the Civic, with many others getting their first featured roles.
I was knocked out by Thara Leigh Cooper, who was deliciously grasping and seductive as Lady Jaqueline. Cooper delivered every line with a cutting edge, and she is a talented dancer and singer. She and Bailey are terrific in the double-entendre-filled “You Would If You Could.”
Leslie Houck had the female lead role of Sally Smith, and she had the proper spunk for the part. However, she needs to work on her Cockney accent (a problem for several cast members) and she also had to struggle at times to land on the proper pitch during her songs.
Good supporting performances come from Jerry Cantrall as Lord Frederick, Wendy Jordan as Lady Clara, Peggy L. Stanley as Maria the Duchess, Kent Kimball as Sir John Tremayne, Griff Stokes as Hethersett the Butler, and Hollis Higgins, as Parchester, who brought down the house with his rendering of the Gilbert-and-Sullivan-like “The Family Solicitor.”
Hardie’s choreography is enjoyable throughout, especially in the big firstact closer, “The Lambeth Walk.” Here, the Cockney toughs show the upper-class toffs how to do their Charleston-like dance, while shouting the catch-phrase “Oy! Oy!”
This number works so well, and Noel Gay’s song is so catchy, that I sometimes think the whole show was constructed as simply a showcase for this number.
Special mention goes to designer Peter Hardie’s ingenious “living portraits” (real people inside picture frames) and Gary Laing’s exemplary musical direction.
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