Anyone seeking cutting-edge musical theater had best keep looking. However, if your tastes run more toward sweet and squeaky-clean shows charmingly performed, then “Sally” may be right up your alley.

The Ann Arbor-based Comic Opera Guild production opened Thursday at the Village Theater in Canton. The comic operetta was written in 1920 by Jerome Kern, who would later rise to fame with his work on “Showboat.” The Comic Opera Guild specializes in polishing off forgotten theater gems, and this 1 — despite a few rough spots — is a winner.

In “Sally,” an orphan dishwasher with dreams of making it big meets a rich fellow her 1st day on the job, winds up impersonating famous Russian dancer Madame Nookerova at a society ball, falls in love and ultimately stars in a Ziegfeld ballet. What? You say it could never happen? Hey, this is musical theater, buddy, and old school at that. Anything goes.

Julia Roth stars as Sally, with Robby Griswold as Blair, her amorous suitor. There are some familiar faces in the production, chief among them Matt Grace and Don Devine, often seen in University of Michigan Gilbert & Sullivan Society shows, as is Griswold.

The score includes some wonderful Kern songs, including “You Can’t Keep a Good Girl Down,” “The Church around the Corner,” and “Look for the Silver Lining.” These tunes are treasures, and the cast’s performance of them really brings the melodies to life.

Roth is a senior majoring in voice performance at Eastern Michigan University. If her singing Thursday night is any indication, she deserves to graduate with honors. Her duets with Griswold in “Look for the Silver Lining” and “Whip-poor-will” were among the show’s highlights, with the couple displaying real chemistry together. Roth was also laugh-out-loud funny during her impersonation of the Russian dancer’s act, a mishmash of styles from Egyptian to belly to ballet, proving she has comedy skills as well.

Grace’s Constantine, the exiled Duke of Czechogovinia forced to masquerade as a waiter, gets some of the show’s funniest 1-liners, and he delivers them with perfect timing. I also enjoyed his singing in “(On the Banks of) The Schnitza Kamiski.” Devine, as the ambitious, flamingly red-haired talent agent Otis, may have been a tad over the top, but his vaudeville-style song-and-dance routines were impeccable.

Musical accompaniment was provided by pianists Margaret Counihan and Patrick Johnson, with Music Director Dana Sadava. Director and company co-founder Tom Petiet also showed up, in the role of restaurateur “Pops” Shendorf.

Now for the rough spots. The show sometimes requires attentive listening, as it is unamplified. Some of the ensemble members aren’t always able to project over the music and lines are lost. Their singing is at times ragged, especially in the chorus that opens the 2nd act. But none of this detracts from a Cinderella story that features so many great tunes that are probably way more famous than the show from which they came.

If you live in Ann Arbor, why not do what I did — head over to Canton early, do a little shopping at that huge store with all the Swedish furniture, grab a bite of dinner, and then take in the show. The production continues tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Roger LeLievre is a free-lance writer who covers music and theater for AnnArbor.com.