Me and My Girl

"The estimable Christian Borle clowns his way through the evening with the style and panache of his predecessors...Matching him, slug for slug, is Harriet Harris...Director/choreographer Warren Carlyle outdoes himself in number after number...As a piece of stage material, let’s just say that 'Me and My Girl' is a worthy-enough affair buoyed by 'The Lambeth Walk' as well as a few other irrepressible numbers." Full Review

“A spiffy production with a winsome cast...Yes, the book may be corny, a characteristic of so many good musicals, but the acting, the songs, the lyrics, the choreography, the staging and the ever-enticing performance by the large Encores! Orchestra are a revelation and reflect the changes made along the way since the original...Directed with taste and insight by Warren Carlyle, who also provides dazzling choreography...Well-deserved and attractive revival.” Full Review

“The cast led by the indescribably wonderful Borle, bring this 1937 British class-warfare comedy to vivid life...Takes its cues from music hall and farce timing and silliness, with people popping on and off stage, pratfalls, physical humor with props, groaner jokes. All kinds of fun...And the score...Tuneful does not begin to describe...Carlyle’s lively choreography adds yet more pizzazz and his direction feels as natural as such an absurd story can stand...Sweet, charming, beautifully perfor... Full Review

“The top-shelf company of musical comedy masters sure doesn't disappoint...One of the great pleasures of this mounting is that the stage is never lacking for talented performers who know how to delight an audience...Borle incorporates an acerbic Groucho-like delivery that bats every joke out of the park...Berman conducts the 27-member orchestra, with Walker’s orchestrations emphasizing the glorious period sound that's heavy on the strings and muted brass.” Full Review

"The show demonstrates Encores' amazing ability to put together polished productions, featuring elaborate musical numbers, in just a few weeks...As usual, the music sounds glorious as performed by the Encores Orchestra under the musical direction of Rob Berman...Effectively streamlined by adapter John Weidman to two and a quarter hours, this 'Me and My Girl' is careful not to wear out its welcome...A delight from start to finish." Full Review

"Theater at its silliest. And that's what Encores! does best...A delight from start to finish. Even when the book scenes teetered, Carlyle's staging smartly played to his actors' strengths...The 'Lambeth Walk' is the highlight of the show, the best production number of the season in New York City, and a perfect way for Encores! to conclude its first quarter-century. You won't be able to get it out of your head, but you won't want to, either." Full Review

"It is nice to attend a feel-good show that leaves you at intermission with a smile on your face, a catchy tune in your head and a dance in your step...Director-choreographer Warren Carlyle misses no opportunity for showmanship, making production numbers as splashy as possible. He also deserves credit for the superb casting and getting the actors cast to gamely walk the fine line of being silly but sincere and not campy." Full Review

"Instrumental to its success is Warren Carlyle’s euphorically inventive direction and choreography performed by a fabulous ensemble...Composer Noel Gay’s zippy music and Mr. Rose and Mr. Furber’s neat lyrics make for a pleasant score with touches of Gilbert and Sullivan and Noël Coward...This high caliber New York City Center Encores!’ production of 'Me and My Girl' is a welcome opportunity to experience such historic fluffy entertainment." Full Review

“Spritely and highly entertaining...An on-stage orchestra of 27 doing the honors under music director Berman's consistently dependable baton...As close to a full-scale treatment as you are likely to see this side of Broadway...Carlyle, who directs and choreographs, fills every song with crowd-pleasing dancing and clever staging, so that there is never a dull moment...A feast for the eye and ear, filled with top-notch performances.” Full Review

“Luckily for City Center Encores, director-choreographer Warren Carlyle proves to be the perfect pastry chef....The best reason to go is to witness the superb choreography, especially the tap numbers, which is executed expertly by the entire cast. For example, watching Borle, a magnificent physical comedian, and the spirited and canary-voiced Kelly dance on a tabletop during the title number is almost as fine as a sight as you'll see currently on a New York stage.” Full Review

"What a perfect property this is to have been unearthed by the resourceful folks running Encores!...We were able to put Presidents and Prime Ministers and half the world’s leaders out to pasture for a few hours while we remembered there is joy in the world as well...It has been such a pleasure to watch Mr. Borle grow into a major star step by step, show by show...They and their considerable company of gifted artists sent us out into the rain without a care in the world." Full Review

"Delightful new staging...Scrumptious, tuneful trifle of a musical...I doubt that anyone who saw it would be disappointed with the star turns in this concert staging, or with the wit and whimsy director/choreographer Warren Carlyle has brought to it. Borle is one of those rare performers who can inhabit a character while suggesting a certain ironic detachment, where less comedically skilled or likable actors would stumble in this effort." Full Review

"A two-and-a-half hour blast of pure twinkling Champagne...The musical numbers aren’t classics, but they’re hummable and daffy...The combination of 1930s-style gags and Fry’s varsity wit keeps the show relentlessly effervescent, a dizzy dream for any anglophile. To adapt its hero’s favorite toffee-nosed swear word, 'Me and My Girl' is a bally good time. May it return soon to Broadway, and never depart." Full Review

"A great score...and enough wise-cracking one-liners to keep you laughing for weeks...Borle literally seems born to the manor his character...His adroit comic timing and dancing are impeccable...Carlyle’s has created a stunning sequence, a tribute to the style of Gene Kelly, that showcases Borle’s debonair side in 'Leaning on a Lampost'...This Encores!, with the cast off book, is so polished it feels like a true Broadway production." Full Review

"As fizzy, frothy, and funny as they come...This concert offers a shining example of what this annual program does best...A charming if largely forgettable score...The story is oh so fancifully simple, offering the dizzyingly lighthearted escapism of 1930s musical comedy...Borle, a compelling jester, smoothly slides into the role of Snibson with a Graucho Marx-inspired performance...This is one early musical you sit back and enjoy, for thinking too hard about it will just sour the experience." Full Review

"It’s a jovial and lighthearted affair, full of puns and guffaws, surrounded by some charming little songs and a great deal of showy dance numbers. The plot is light and slightly ridiculous, but such fun...The piece shows some awkward construction and that thin plot, but as a whole, it rises to the occasion in terms of enjoyment levels giving the stellar crew a great deal to chew and tap upon...The cast is large and having a great time." Full Review

“The plot was not the reason behind the popularity of ‘Me & My Girl’...Takes some inconsequential turns to reach its resolution...The characters do not sufficiently carry the show throughout; even Borle, with his nonstop zingers and warm, effervescent charm was burdened by playing one of the less impressively written roles of his career...The score is largely unremarkable save for a few standouts...Not a consistent level of entertainment throughout.” Full Review

"The dialogue is full of silly puns, the characters stereotypes, the plot predictable and unoriginal...'Me and My Girl' contains some lovely songs...The performers, always terrific, often stars, give full off-book performances...Good production values, great casts, same dopey fare: 'Me and My Girl' is a Broadway show offered at Broadway prices. The main difference is that its run is only for a week." Full Review

"Its basic stupidity should have required a content advisory: Pay no attention to the story...Amid the Gilbert and Sullivan pastiches and dance band ditties, all serviceable but unremarkable, a few stand out...If nothing else, it’s fascinating to hear an ’80s interpretation of a ’30s musical idiom in Chris Walker’s orchestrations...Those orchestrations are played to the usual Encores! standard. The performances are perhaps a notch down...Mr. Carlyle’s staging is generally charming." Full Review