Jack Worthing and Algie Moncrief on this side of the pond? In the ’50s? Well, why not? Satire, deception, the importance of appearance and a well-chosen word are commodities not limited to 19th century London.

Director Abby Lacey sets OnStage Playhouse’s production of Oscar Wilde’s classic The Importance of Being Earnest in 1952 New York City and the Hamptons, changing characters’ names and spellings along the way. Cecily Cardew (Jenna Dawsey) is now a wide-eyed American bobby-soxer, Miss Prism (Paola Hornbuckle) a Latina, butler McLean a plaid-wearing Scot, and the plot plays out to the musical stylings of Dean Martin and Frankie Laine.

The satire of the monied class remains, as do cucumber sandwiches and the essential silliness of the plot. Lady Bracknell has been democratized to Mrs. Bracknell (Kelly Lapczynski), but she remains a snobbish battleaxe interviewing prospective suitors for her daughter’s hand. Family is important and she is not about to allow Jack Worthing (Dustin Kisler), who was an infant left in a handbag in Grand Central Station, to marry Gwendolyn (Layla Stuckey). “To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune,” she says. “To lose both looks like carelessness.”

Earnest is stuffed with great characters like Algie, a.k.a. Algernon (Enoch Wu), the charming idler who invented “bunburying” to get himself out of unpleasant or dull social obligations. And don’t forget proper but passionate Miss Prism and her charming budding romance with the shy Rev. Chausible (Bob Christiansen).

The OnStage production proves that Earnest is a winner, regardless of its setting and time period. Among the actors, my favorites are Lapczynski’s wonderfully annoying Mrs. Bracknell and Bob Christiansen’s dual roles as McLean and Rev. Chausible. Other favorites are dewy-eyed Cecily and Stuckey’s proper-but-aching-to-escape-mom’s-clutches Gwendolyn.

Kisler’s American Jack is well drawn. Wu has the demeanor of Algie, but has a tendency to recite rather than interpret his lines. Hornbuckle tends to mug rather than act, and her accent seems wrong for the time and place.

However, it is impossible not to enjoy the antics of Jack, Algie and the others. If you’re looking for a few hours of fun, take in this updated production of Wilde’s classic.

The Importance of Being Earnest plays through Feb. 20 at OnStage Playhouse in Chula Vista. Shows Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m.; Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For tickets, call (619) 422-7787 or visit http://onstageplayhouse.org.

A pilot sets a troubled boy on the right path in Ace, a new musical playing through Feb. 18 at the Old Globe Theatre, directed by Stafford Arima. Book and lyrics are by Robert Taylor and Richard Oberacker; Oberacker also wrote the music.

When depressed single mother Elizabeth (Lisa Datz) attempts suicide and winds up in a mental hospital, 10-year-old Billy (Noah Galvin) does what you’d expect a kid in that situation to do – he acts out.

“He doesn’t speak/His manners are frightful/and what is worse/he’s angry and spiteful,” sing the adults as they pass the problem off to reluctant foster parents Edward (Duke Lafoon) and Louise (Betsy Wolfe). Edward and Louise, who really wanted to adopt a baby, don’t know what to make of this lad who scowls all the time and refuses to speak.

The situation at school is no better. Picked on by the school bully (Ian Brininstool) and his obnoxious little buddies, Billy is befriended by another outsider, Nancy Drew fan Emily (Gabrielle Boyadjian).

“You must be the new kid,” Emily opens.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you’re staying by yourself, moping pathetically.”

Emily is determined that they be friends.

Things improve at snail speed. Billy’s life changes forever when Edward brings home a model airplane. With the plane by his bed, Billy is visited by flyboys from the world wars – first John Robert (Michael Arden) and later Ace (Darren Ritchie) – who rhapsodize about flying (“Just to fly like the birds I see/I am free”) and take him on wartime flying adventures.

Ace takes place mostly in St. Louis, on a set with a soaring construct suggestive of an airplane. Floor sections move back and forth or revolve to allow scene changes.

Bridging the gap between the golden age of the American musical when story and melody were king (Oklahoma!, West Side Story) and today’s musicals with their increasing emphasis upon spectacle (Cats, The Lion King), Ace boasts two aerial dogfights (done largely with sound) and music that sounds like Sondheim, but with better melodies. Ace could even be called opera; there is little spoken dialogue.

The big news in this charming coming-of-age story is young Galvin, who practically single-handedly carries the show. He can act and, more importantly, he can sing. Remember his name, for he is destined for great things.

Boyadjian’s Emily is a terrific foil in the Harry Potter’s Hermione Granger sense, demonstrating fine stage presence and the ability to get lines and music across.

Ace has its drawbacks. Length is one, as the play runs a bit over two and a half hours. It wouldn’t be difficult to cut a few things. The extended romance scene between John Robert and Ruth (who later becomes his wife) is questionable, especially given that Billy is watching. Maybe one dogfight is sufficient. Though Louise’s cookie-baking song “Make It From Scratch” is a hoot, it’s of debatable relevance. The predictability of the plot doesn’t help.

However, Ace does enough right to overcome the drawbacks. The songs are well-written, especially Elizabeth’s poignant “That’s What It Should Say.” The set’s pretty cool, the cast fine. And there’s Noah Galvin.

Ace plays through Feb. 18 at the Old Globe Theatre. Shows Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m.; matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For tickets, call (619) 23-GLOBE or visit www.theoldglobe.org.