This year's show wasn't just about the usual exhaustive and meticulous preparations; cast and crew this time round have also had to get used to a whole new acting environment at the Townhead joint campus.

And from what we glimpsed of the rehearsals, it was clear that that environment presented plenty of challenges. But from what we saw on the opening night on Monday, those challenges were met in the best possible way - head on and with bucketloads of enthusiasm and plenty of talent, making for a fantastic night out.

On one hand, Me And My Girl is a simple love story. On another, it's a satire on that favourite British comedy subject of war between the social classes. On yet another it's home to some of the best known and best loved songs ever to hit the West End stage. Perhaps that's what made it the most successful of Noel Gay's seven musicals; it's certainly a combination which was a winning one as far as the show's Rothesay audiences this week were concerned.

Basic plot summary: Bill Snibson, cheeky chirpy Lambeth barrow-boy type, discovers he is also the illegitimate son, and only remaining heir, of the vast, rambling estates and considerable fortune of the late Lord Hareford. Torn between his Lambeth roots, and his Lambeth gal Sally, on the one hand and his new family's persistent attempts to gentrify him on the other, Bill tries to plant a foot in both camps but naturally enough runs the risk of pleasing no-one in the process.

Bill, in the Academy's production, was played by Stewart Bicker, who perfectly captured the spirit of the put-upon Bill who nonetheless manages to retain enough of his general lovability to keep the audience on his side. The part of Bill is a huge one for anyone to get their head around, but Stewart managed it all with aplomb and remarkable energy and richly deserved his applause when the curtain fell.

Around him, though, were an outstanding cast and chorus who made the show sparkle from start to finish. Megan Harwood as Sally delivered a beautiful, note-perfect performance, with her solo rendition of Once You Lose Your Heart a stand-out moment; Megan Alexander as Bill's aunt Maria got her portrayal of the well-meaning but battleaxe-ish Duchess of Dene absolutely spot-on, with an accent you could use to cut crystal glassware; and Clara Thomson as Lady Jacqueline Carstone was an eerily believable femme fatale, with eyes only for the new Earl's bulging wallet.

Ryan McKellar led the supporting male cast as the Hon. Gerald Bolingbroke, down on his luck and yet relentlessly cheerful - and remarkably athletic - in the face of all the evidence, but the real eye-catchers among the boys were three stage debutants: Steven Mercer as Sir John Tremayne, the only toff on the stage with a heart of gold, Lachlan Lewis-Smith as Parchester, The Family Solicitor, and Ruairaidh Fowler as the butler Charles. All three took to their roles like ducks to water, Parchester in particular portrayed in a way that suggested an actor who was anything but wet-behind-the-ears.

Add to them a cast of minor characters and a chorus who turned each of the big songs from mere set-pieces into riotous celebrations, a band who delivered another polished performance under Tony Spencer and a backstage crew who coped better than anyone with the challenges presented by their new working environment, and you have all the ingredients for a night which served as a fitting sign-off for producer/director Jim Bicker.

Jim retires at the end of this week, and could therefore be excused the indulgence of giving himself a small cameo as a Cockney Pearly King in a show which deserves to go down as one of the best in the 20 years of Academy school shows.