David W. Keeley as Prince Nicky

While Stratford's big-stage musicals have little or no appealed to me so far because they are usually too saccharine and plastic, that feeling does not apply to My One and Only. Here the Festival has a hit because it captures the right spirit of the show, which is just right for the Avon Theatre stage.

The show, originally intended as a revival of the Gershwins' Funny Face, ended up completely rewritten by Stone and Mayer to celebrate the incomparable hoofer, Tommy Tune. What turned out to be a great success on Broadway in 1983 (the show ran for 767 performances), is now turned into a delicious piece of musical theater at the Avon in which the Gershwin tunes are the main characters.

There is, of course, a story to this dance and music extravaganza, but we do not have to look at it too seriously. What counts here is the set, which captures the spirit of 1927 in which Art Deco dominated decor and fashion. We have to give the thumbs up here to set designer Douglas Paraschuk and costume designer David Boechler for being able to recreate this period for us in which women and men still knew how to dress and composers still knew how to write a great tune to silly, but oh so wonderful lyrics.

Michael Lichtefeld, the director of the show also happens to be its choreographer. He brought together a great cast that he united with fine staging and excellent choreography. He exploited the rich and complex musical rhythms Gershwin created, which to this day make him one of America's greatest composers.

Cynthia Dale plays Edythe Herbert, an English 'aquacade' star, i.e. a swimmer. She is brought to New York by Prince Nicola Erraclyovitch Tchatchavadze, better known as Prince Nicky (David W. Keeley), as the star of his aquatic production. There she meets flying ace, Cpt. Billy Buck Chandler (Laird Mackintosh) and the two fall instantly in love, much to Prince Nicky's displeasure.

Chandler is supposed to attempt a solo flight across the Atlantic, assisted by his plucky female mechanic Micky (Dayna Tekatch). Since Chandler is a bit of a hayseed, he gets some assistance in the field of deportment and wooing from Mr. Magix (Mark Cassius), the Rev. J.D. Montgomery (Marcus Nance), and The New Rhythm Boys (Kyle Blair, Ray Hogg, Julius Sermonia).

Mackintosh here reminds one a bit of Hugh Laurie's Bertie Wooster for his portrayal of Chandler. While the two come from different worlds altogether, it is kind of charming to see oneself thinking of Wodehouse while watching Gershwin, so to speak. Dale, of course, has no difficulty playing Edythe, a bubble head, who could just as easily have been one of Wooster's countless fiancées, even if Edythe comes from a different strata of society. Both performers sing and dance their way into our hearts with style, grace, and musical acumen.

Mark Cassius gives us a tour de force of great tap dancing. This former member of the a cappella group, The Nylons, knows how to tap dance in the great hoofer tradition associated with the Roaring 20s, which for a while Tommy Tune perpetuated in the '70s and '80s.

As mentioned earlier, there is a storyline to all this singing and dancing, but just where it is heading is not so important. It is, however, not telling anything out of school by mentioning that Chandler never manages the Atlantic crossing and in consequence is beaten by the aviator, Charles Lindbergh.

What is much more important in this production is the simple fact that the cast appears to have a highly spirited time on stage that transmits itself down to the audience. The Gershwin tunes are infectious, and at the end of it all one leaves the theater with a smile, humming various tunes.

My One and Only is great musical entertainment, supported by satisfying visual elements. It is not only a show worth the trip to Stratford, but it is one that might give a younger generation some food for thought and some musical education while wrapping it in candy floss.