Me & My Girl"Me & My Girl" is a typical musical , following the typical musical plot, which is as many know:1)Boy gets girl 2)Boy loses girl 3)Boy sings song about losing girl 4)Girl sings song about being lost 5)Boy sings song to girl 6)Boy gets girl back 7)There's a wedding, which makes everyone live happily ever after. All that being said , the story does have a little more to it than that, which is why most audiences are able to sit through it without falling asleep. , ~~The Story~~ ACT ONE The time is the late 1930's and our story begins with a giddy throng of young Mayfair swells journeying by motorcar from London to Hampshire. As they ride they anticipate the delights of A WEEKEND AT HAREFORD especially because of the expected appearance of the long lost heir to the Earldom of Hareford. No one at Hareford Hall however is as excited about the heir's arrival as Lady Jacqueline Carstone who, though engaged to the simpering Gerald Bolingbrook, has made no secret of her desire to snag the heir and his money for herself (THINKING NOTHING OF NO ONE BUT ME) At a conference of the Hareford clan , family solicitor Herbert Parchester relates the unfortunate tale of the 13th Earl who had secretly wed , and soon parted from, a woman beneath his class. With both of them now deceased, the title and estate pass on to the Earl's son whom Parchester has located and is waiting outside. The only hitch: the two executors of his will, Maria Duchess of Dene and Sir John Tremayne, must declare the heir a fit and proper person. The young man is summoned and he turns out to be Bill Snibson, a pugnacious cockney ne'er do well from Lambeth, complete with bobbing brown bowler, loud checkered suit and flaming red scarf. This however, does not faze the determined Duchess who, much to the constration of Sir John and the others, is certain that she canmake Bill into a gentleman. But there is another hitch, Bill has brought along his girlfriend Sally Smith, also from Lambeth, this is too much even for the Duchess. With Bill off to fetch Sally, the Hareford relatives listen to Parchester's bouncy advice to bring their troubles to THE FAMILY SOLICITOR, then follow him as he skips merrily about the room. After they have adjourned to the library, Sally enters with Bill. Dazzled by her surroundings she feels out of place but Bill quickly reassures her that nothing is going to part ME AND MY GIRL. Predictably the servants are appalled that Bill isn't AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN and they are uncomfortable when he visits them in the kitchen. Bill however is even more uncomfortable when Lady Jaquie, in a revealing negligee, tries to seduce him on a drawing room sofa reminding him that YOU WOULD IF YOU COULD, where they are caught in an embarrassing position by both Gerald and Sally. This really convince Sally that Bill would be better off without her, until they share their emotions in the tender ballad HOLD MY HAND-only to be interrupted by the dancing weekenders in tennis garb who in turn are interrupted by the Duchess's command "If you are going to play, play outside." Nothing daunted , the Duchess presses on with her plans for Bill as she gives him lessons on the way to speak and behave at a party she is holding in his honour. Sally, of course, will not be invited. At the Hareford arms pub, Sir John attempts to persuade the unhappy girl that both she andBill should go back to Lambeth but he realises is how deeply Sally feels when she sings ONCE YOU LOSE YOUR HEART. Just before the formal party is due to begin on the terrace of Hareford Hall, the Duchess, Sir John, Lady Jaquie, Gerald and the others await Bill's arrival. Bill arrives in formal attire, regally waving his hand, putting on extravagant airs, and speaking in an unnatural clipped Oxian accent as he greets the guests. Suddenly Sally shows up in an outrageous busker outfit and introduces her Lambeth mates to the startled toffs. She announces that she is going back to where she belongs, Bill agrees that he will go too and the two of them introduce THE LAMBETH WALK. By the end of the party even the Duchess has had a go at it. ACT II In the Hareford garden the following afternoon, Lady Jaquie, Gerald, and the other pleasure seekers are playing croquet, celebrating the fact that THE SUN HAS GOT HIS HAT ON. Despite their previous intentions to leave Bill and Sally have remained at Hareford. Sir John, who is now firmly on their side, wants them to marry, and Sally responds with a perfect piece of philosophy TAKE IT ON THE CHIN. Because he must soon make his maiden speech in the House of Lords ,Bill in cornet and ermine (or "vermin" as he calls it) is in the library rehearsing. Sally tells him to marry someone with good blood ("what are you anaemic?"), and, alone , just before leaving for London, she reprises ONCE YOU LOSE YOUR HEART. Returning with Bill, the Duchess explains the meaning of noblesse oblige and the importance of being a Hareford as she regales him with the SONG OF HAREFORD and sentiment in which she is joined by Bill and the marching shades of his ancestors who descend from picture frames. While they are alone together, Bill and Sir John, unhappy that the Duchess is so unyielding about Sally, get properly soused and express the fact that LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND. Back in Lambeth , Sally receives a telegram from Bill saying that he is chucking everything to be with her. She also receives a visit from Sir John who offers his help at beating the Duchess at her own game. How can Sally do it? Simply by staying at the home of a speech professor on upper Wimple Street. Sally leaves before Bill appears -in white tie and tails -to explain to a policeman that he is LEANING ON A LAMPPOST not because he is loitering but because he is hoping that a certain little lady comes by. Sure enough, Sally does come by, but only in Bill's imagination as they twirl through the misty street. Hareford Hall is the scene of another spiffy party. Now despairing of Bill because all he does is moan over his lost Lambeth love. The Duchess finally comes to realise how much Sally means to Bill. In her new mellow mood she accepts Sir John's proposal of marriage and even Gerald gets Jaquie to accept his offer! Bill enters in his Lambeth duds, informs one and all that he is finally returning to Lambeth, and runs upstairs to pack. To everyone's amazement Sally arrives, elegantly attired in tiara and white shimmering gown and speaking the King's english! After Bill comes downstairs, Sally speaks to him from behind her fan. When she finally reveals her identity all Bill can do is exclaim :"Where the bleedin' 'ell have you been?". So, the story ends with a three way wedding. Text Menu (no Java) Or MAIN MUSICALS PAGE
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