Tracy Lore and Justin Robertson When “Stop the World—I Want to Get Off” made its debut at the Queen’s Theatre in London in 1961 it was an instant hit. Producer David Merrick jumped at the chance to finance a show with one bare-bones set, no props and minimal costumes. He took it to Broadway, where it had 555 performances and made its playwright and composer, Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, instantly famous.

Since then, however, “Stop the World” has rarely been performed, so it’s a treat that Musical Theatre Guild revived it in a recent staged reading at the Civic Arts Plaza’s Scherr Forum.

There’s nothing extraordinary about the story, a morality play about Littlechap, a British everyman on the prowl for worldly success. He marries Evie, the boss’s daughter, and rapidly rises through his company’s ranks, not unlike J. Pierrepont Finch in the concurrent hit “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” While clawing his way to the top, Littlechap romances women in Russia, Germany and New York, but it isn’t until he’s old and feeble that he realizes Evie was his greatest love all along.

Littlechap, a role immortalized by the kinetic Newley himself, is played by Justin Robertson. His characterization is like a restrained Nathan Lane—he’s not likable enough to be sympathetic and he’s not despicable enough to loathe, but his interpretation is effective, especially when he performs patter songs like “Typically English.”

Given the fact that the cast had only three afternoons to learn the show, Robertson does a fabulous job in defining this deceptively superficial character.

“He’s a butthead,” Robertson said frankly in a postperformance talk-back session, “but it’s a challenge to make you care about him.” The only flaw in Robertson’s otherwise exemplary performance is a lessthanconvincing British accent, which he certainly could have perfected were he given more time.

By having one actress play the roles of all of the women in Littlechap’s life, Newley and Bricusse make the point that, to Littlechap, they were all Evie, from the authoritarian Russian Anya and the neo-Nazi Ilse to the giddy New York showgirl Ginnie. Tracy Lore is nothing short of fabulous in each of these roles. By changing only what she wears on her head, Lore becomes four entirely different women, and she’s spoton perfect in defining the personalities of each. One can easily see how Lore has played the many juicy Broadway roles listed in her bio, both locally and with national tours.

The sumptuous score (purportedly written in only eight days) is easily one of the most undeservedly obscure in Broadway history. Only one song (“What Kind of Fool Am I?”) is known to the general public, but just about every other number is also a gem. Newley’s melodies are as elegantly simple as anything written by Irving Berlin, while Bricusse’s lyrics range from the biting satire of “Mumbo Jumbo” to the heartfelt sentimentality of “Someone Nice Like You.”

The two leads, Robertson and Lore, are backed up beautifully by a talented septet. Juggling a variety of roles, this excellent group of actors and singers were always on the mark, despite having only 15 hours of blocking and staging behind them.

With this show, Musical Theatre Guild continues its invaluable work in presenting rarely seen classics. In November, they will stage “Fade Out-Fade In,” with a marvelous score by Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green.