Sometimes an actor becomes so associated with a certain role that it's difficult to see another take his place: Yul Brynner in "The King and I," for instance, or Rex Harrison's Henry Higgins. A joyous revival of "Me and My Girl" currently inhabiting the Moonlight Amphitheatre is reason enough to add to that distinguished list the sprightly Jamie Torcellini, in his portrayal of cheeky Cockney Bill Snibson.

"Bill who?" you ask.

Bill Snibson may never be quite as well-known a Cockney as, say, that bloomin' flowergirl Eliza Doolittle, but there was once a time when all England was atwitter with this 1937 gem of a musical. With a catchy score by Noel Gay and book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose, its showstopping song became such a popular hit in those heady days as the world headed for war that an October 1938 headline in The Times famously read, "While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances - to The Lambeth Walk." The following year, it had the distinction of being the first musical comedy to be televised from the theatre in its entirety.

Jamie Torcellini and Tracy Lore

Copyright©2007 Ken Jacques

It took a smash West End revival starring Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson for "Me and My Girl" to make it to this side of the pond, but make it it did, picking up a couple of 1987 Tony Awards for Mr. Lindsay and Maryann Plunkett, Ms. Thompson's surer-voiced stateside replacement (interestingly, Lindsay's performance was evidently such that he nabbed the Leading Actor award from his counterparts playing the leading duo in a brand new little show down the street called "Les Misérables").

Nowadays, anyone wanting a glimpse of that celebrated performance need only do a "Me and My Girl" search on YouTube to find Mr. Lindsay and company doing the Lambeth Walk on the Tony Awards telecast from the Mark Hellinger Theatre. Lindsay has the starry audience wrapped around his little finger. Look more closely and there, right before Lindsay starts the refrain, you'll see young Mr. Torcellini's admiring puckish grin over Lindsay's shoulder, doing his own Lambeth thing as a member of the show's ensemble. It's a telling moment, for though there have been other successors to the role (notably Jim Dale and Tim Curry), one would be hard-pressed to find an actor today who has made as indelible a stamp on the role -- and filled Lindsay's shoes as ably -- as Torcellini.

Playing Bill Snibson, the rough-hewn Cockney who discovers he is the long-lost Earl of Hareford, in 15 different productions of "Me and My Girl," Torcellini last played the role in 1997 at American Musical Theatre of San Jose (a performance that this reviewer, as a wee high schooler, was lucky enough to see). Lest anyone think his performance has grown musty with age, his Bill is as fresh as ever. Watching him chew the scenery (a nifty revolving country estate facade and some brightly painted drops, provided by Musical Theatre West) is to be transported magically back to the days of James Cagney, Bert Lahr, and the great clowns of yesteryear, though the brilliant Torcellini is not so much an imitator as he is an inheritor of the tradition. Whether its wrestling with regal robes and tiger rugs, or pilfering pocket watches from unsuspecting gents, his rubbery physicality and comic timing are enough to make us laugh with, and not at, most of the show's many hoary jokes ("Do you know my daughter, May?" "No, but thanks for the tip."). That Torcellini is equally adept at selling a gorgeous song-and-dance routine like "Leaning on a Lamp Post" is almost a given in a musical, but it's his acting that catches one off guard the most. Notice how he elicits laugh after laugh ambling about the stage in a hilarious post-riding bowlegged position, then reprises it for just a moment as he settles onto the couch and segues into a more romantic scene with his paramour; a lesser actor might easily have chucked this small physical detail that links the musical's subtle heart to its abundant clowning. Indeed, Torcellini's moments of heartfelt honesty are some of the most unexpected in an evening of such unrelenting comedy.

Jamie Torcellini and Jennifer Bishop

Copyright©2007 Ken Jacques

For all its fun, though, directors Don and Bonnie Ward's "Me and My Girl" is still about a half hour too long for a frothy between-the-wars musical comedy. The others among the handful from the era that are still consistently revived from time to time -- "No, No, Nanette," "Anything Goes," "Babes in Arms" -- have been rewritten and tinkered with several times since their initial premieres, and even with the 1984 revisions and contributions by Stephen Fry and Mike Ockrent, "Me and My Girl" still feels as though it could use another visit by the little red pen. Despite a tuneful orchestra under the baton of conductor and musical director Terry O'Donnell, the score remains weighed down by several uneventful choral numbers. The Wards' choreography is lively and, for the most part, of its period, though a few anachronisms like some almost-hip-hop funkiness in "The Family Solicitor" and a hand-jive in "Love Makes the World Go Round" seem to indicate a running out of ideas. And speaking of anachronisms, references to 1956's "My Fair Lady," not to mention a certain Inland Empire bedroom community, have the unfortunate effect of repeatedly taking us out of the oh-what-a-lovely pre-war Britain setting.

The supporting players are numerous and well-cast for the most part. Tracy Lore shines as the saucy seductress, and Richard Bermudez's fine tenor is underused as the family's resident loafer (he, like most of the production, is impeccably dressed, though a pair of two-toned oxfords to complement his argyle sweater would best complete B Modern's costume design).

The talented David McBean is nicely restrained as the family solicitor, and as parched as an aged scotch. Would that Cathy Gene Hampton's duchess were as dry; she seems to be going more for exasperation mixed with constant good-natured befuddlement. As the put-upon would-be patriarch, Michael Hill is appropriately subdued, and Bruce Blackwell, though a bit young, is memorable in the one-joke role of the family's most hard-of-hearing member.

Perhaps the evening's biggest surprise, though, is Jennifer Bishop, last seen in these parts in the ensemble of Starlight's "Hot Mikado" last summer. As Bill's brusque Lambeth girlfriend Sally Smith, Ms. Bishop has the unenviable task of going toe-to-toe with Torcellini in a role that is inherently unequal. To say Ms. Bishop does not rise to the level of Torcellini's much-practiced Bill is to simply admit the impossible. Hers, however, is as poignant and sincere a performance as one could possibly stand. Listening to her impassioned delivery of Mr. Gay's plaintive ballad, "Once You Lose Your Heart," it is painfully clear why Bill, like his former king, Edward VIII, would go to such lengths to hold on to the not-so-highly-born woman he loves.

And why "Me and My Girl" -- a sometimes-dated musical with just enough heart to counterbalance its abundance of lowbrow comedy -- is revived every now and then.

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