Comic Opera Guild’s latest, a production of Jacques Offenbach’s “The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein,” has a lot going for it. But it also has some rough edges.

The show opened Thursday evening in Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, where it plays through Saturday before moving over to Canton’s Village Theater for performances next weekend.

The comic operetta, set in 1914, tells the story of a lovesick duchess (Barbara Scanlon) who falls for lazy but handsome foot soldier Fritz (David Troiano). Hoping to marry him, she grants him high military rank, which does no good when it comes time to actually fight a battle (he’s so incompetent he doesn’t even know who the enemy is). It also doesn’t help the duchess that Fritz is smitten with the lovely Wanda (Katherine Kujala), who also happens to be a spy, or that her own suitor, the foppish Prince Paul (Mitch Gillett) is intent on pressing his marriage agenda.

“Duchess,” translated and directed by Tom Petiet, marks the first fully-staged production for the Comic Opera Guild since 2004’s “Die Fledermaus.”

Scanlon, a veteran of touring productions of “Phantom of the Opera” and “Evita,” ruled the stage. Haughty as a grand duchess ought to be, her powerful soprano was more than a match for an orchestra that often overwhelmed the singers. Either the rest of the cast needs to crank up its vocal voltage, or the orchestra needs to dial its power down a little. Not everyone can project as well as Scanlon.

Scanlon also got some of the show’s best costumes, in particular the yellow dress with the devilishly red gloves worn in the first act. Fabulous! Vocally, she’s a pro, and it showed Thursday night, especially in the first act’s “Song of the Sword,” and the her duet in the second act with Fritz, which showed Troiano’s lovely tenor off to full advantage, something that didn't always come across on opening night (see previous reference to the orchestra).

Bass-baritone Chris Grapentine (the wonderfully-named General Boum), meanwhile, was Scanlon’s vocal equal, and with his imposing stature he was perfect in the role as Gerolstein’s hapless military leader, a position held until the duchess whimsically demoted him (it’s the plot to restore him to his rightful rank and depose Fritz from his elevated post that supplies much of the action in Act II). It was great fun to watch Grapentine and the other male characters bluster about on stage, in and out of a secret passageway to the royal bedchamber.

Gillett’s voice was lovely, but the same issue with orchestra dogged his performance. He needed more vocal power or less competition; the same for Matt Peckham’s Prime Minister Dietz.

Finally, chorus members were frequently out of vocal synch, and their movements seemed uninspired. Although sung in English, I wish the COG would have provided projected titles so I could have made sense of some of the chorus’ mush. Diction here was frequently an issue.

All in all, I wish I could say that “Duchess” was grand, but I will have to settle for saying it’s just pretty good. Call it a success in spite of its shortcomings.

"The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein" continues tonight-Saturday at 8 p.m. in Lydia Mendelssohn Theater, 911 N. University Ave. It also plays at 2 and 8 p.m. April 2, and 2 p.m. April 3 at the Village Theater, 50400 Cherry Hill Road, in Canton. For the Mendelssohn performances, visit the Michigan Union Ticket Office or call 734-763-8587; for the Village Theater performances, call 734-394-5460 or visit www.canton-mi.org/villagetheater.