ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich.–Burt Bacharach’s music, including that which he collaborated with on with Hal David, feels like the easy listening soundtrack for the late 1960s and 70s. Hey, that’s not a bad thing. And this music is presented in story form as the soundtrack of a young man’s life in Burt & Me, playing at The Meadow Brook Theatre through June 24^th.

This show, authored by Larry McKenna, centers on Joe (Tim Dolan), a teenager who discovers Bacharach’s music through the influence of his new piano teacher who is weaning him off Mozart and Steven Foster in favor of pop music. Joe has a single father (Richard Marlatt) and a best friend Jerry (Jason Williams), a love interest, Lacey (Darilyn Castilo). The ensemble is filled out by Sally, Lacey’s best friend and the object of Jerry’s awkward affection and Brendan Lindberg and Sara Kmiec who play multiple roles.

The story is pretty thin, as we follow Joe and Lacey through high school, college and into early adulthood, but serves as a framework for us to hear Bacharach classics like “Do You Know The Way To San Jose,” “I Say A Little Prayer For You,” “The Look of Love,” “Wishin’ and Hopin’,’” as well as a few less successful tunes (in this critic’s opinion) of Bacharach’s and David’s from Broadway hit Promises Promises like “Turkey Lurkey Time.”

Burt & Me is following a tradition of juke box musicals built around the music of a particular band, songwriting team or artist. Rather than offering something up that is biographical, as with “Jersey Boys,” the story of The Four Seasons or a true story such as with “Always Patsy Cline,” Mr. McKenna has spun a pretty sanitized yarn worthy of the Hallmark Channel that at times drifts into sketch work that reminds this critic of song and dance numbers from The Carol Burnett Show–again, not necessarily a bad thing for those who delight in the Bacharach-David songbook and want to let it wash over them.

Mr. McKenna does give Joe an amusing obsession with actress Angie Dickinson, who, of course, became Mrs. Bacharach.

Mr. Dolan is sunny and geeky, the way you’d want a Bacharach-obsessed adolescent to be. His vocals are friendly and enthusiastic if not always clarion. Ms. Castilo easily makes us believe Joe could fixate on her. Lovely and with robust vocals, she carries her tunes with believability and sweetness; though at times her and Mr. Dolan’s vocals don’t blend 100% in their duets. Mr. Williams is funny and goofy and well cast as the awkward pal of Joe’s, and his vocals are consistent throughout. Mr. Marlatt is delightful in multiple roles as Joe’s father, his piano teacher (played in drag as Mrs. Bernstein) and Father DeJoseph, Joe’s parish priest.

The music ensemble playing behind the actors, in full view, is led by Eric Rausch on keyboard, and features Ryan Crum on bass, Christopher Napier on trumpet and Nick Matthews on percussion. Travis W. Walter directs the troupe, and Christopher George Patterson choreographs.

Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s catalog is impressive, with artists including Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, The Drifters, The Shirelles and others, making them Top-40 hits. Bacharach at times has been a brilliant writer, but some of his songs have been murdered over the decades by Muzak treatments, though hopefully some of those awful tracks at least made the songwriter lots of money as the trade off.

Burt and Me takes those who are 55 and over back to a time when landing in the moon was a huge deal, the crook in the White House was Nixon, the New York Mets spun a miracle, Aretha Franklin was Top-40 and Paul Newman rode a bicycle to the tunes of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” as Butch Cassidy. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a lovely trip and an enjoyable evening at The Meadow Brook.

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