The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined Cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, who learns that he is the 14th heir to the Earl of Hareford.
The musical had a successful original run in the West End in 1937, and was turned into a film in 1939, titled The Lambeth Walk, named after one of the show's songs.
After returning to the West End briefly in 1952, the musical's book received a revision by Stephen Fry with Mike Ockrent in the 1980s.
Me and My Girl originally opened on the West End at the Victoria Palace Theatre on 16 December 1937 and starred Lupino Lane.
[citation needed] At first attracting little notice, the production gained success after a matinee performance was broadcast live on BBC radio following the cancellation of a sporting event.
It starred Robert Lindsay as Bill Snibson, Emma Thompson as Sally Smith, and Frank Thornton as Sir John.
[3][4] Cast changes included Gary Wilmot, Les Dennis, Enn Reitel and Karl Howman as Bill, and Bonnie Langford, Su Pollard, Louise English, Jessica Martin and Lorraine Chase as Sally.
Directed by Ockrent with choreography by Gillian Gregory, the cast starred Robert Lindsay and Maryann Plunkett, with George S. Irving and Jane Connell.
Lady Jacqueline Carstone was originated by Jane Summerhays, with subsequent performances in the role by Dee Hoty and Janet Aldrich, among others.
[9][10] The Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, staged a production directed by Ashlie Corcoran and featuring Michael Therriault as Bill and Kristi Frank as Sally, which ran from April through October 2017.
[12] The musical was revived at Chichester Festival Theatre from July to August 2018, directed by Daniel Evans and starring Matt Lucas as Bill and Caroline Quentin as the Duchess of Deane.
At the party, Bill puts on airs and tries to please his new-found upper-class lawyers, family and servants, but his everyman roots quickly begin to show.
Sally leaves, telling him to marry someone with good blood, and, in a scene inspired by Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, the portraits of Bill's ancestors awaken to remind him of his noblesse oblige.