“Fauntleroy” is Chandler Warren’s re-enactment of the classic fable of Anglo-American class confusion, the story of an ordinary American boy made (then unmade) an English aristocrat.

The production, with original book and lyrics by Warren and music by Robert Miles, opened to a full house at the Natchez Little Theater recently and played for two weeks.

The cast was headed by Layne Taylor as the earl and 8-year-old Colby Passman as Cedric Errol, who becomes the little lord.

The standoff between American brashness and English formality, a recurring theme in drama and comedy (e.g. “The Princess Diaries,” King Ralph), can be traced to “Little Lord Fauntleroy,” the 1885 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, which had a greater impact on fashion than on literature. The little lord’s foppish suit (velvet with lace collar) was forced on an entire generation of American boys by moms obsessed with the English aristocracy. “Fauntleroy” came to connote a pampered twit.

Warren’s play restores the real Fauntleroy, the kid who never loses his American grit and manages to transform his English grandfather from heartless lord into someone nearly as nice as Atticus Finch.

The theater group’s reputation extends well beyond the region. Nevertheless, those guests who came from New York and Los Angeles, as well as those of us from Houston, were taken aback by the extraordinary composition of the production and the energy and talent of the combined company. There were several standout performances.

Colby gives an all-out performance as Cedric.

Layne Taylor evokes the younger Peter O’Toole as the earl.

Ginger Hyland portrays the under side of American opportunism as the hard-edged Minna, who fails to steal the lord’s legacy, but steals the entire stage instead.

The ensemble did a masterful job of scene creation and scene changes — more than a dozen in the first act, a few less in the second.

With action moving from a New York street to an English pub, an earl’s drawing room and a quiet castle garden (with gardener), the group used simple but visually appealing sets that filled the whole stage and allowed a sense of motion and setting without being overly complex — and without taking much time. The transitions were excellent.

The cast had split-second scenes to establish new romances and relationships that were heartfelt and seemed full of chemistry and meaning. Truly affecting were the performances of Giovanna Little as Mary and Ryan McGaughey as Freddy. With the Warren-Miles words and music, Mary and Freddy fall in love in a matter of minutes, soft faces full of love and romance, and it’s very believable.

The play provided a specially affecting use of music in a small theater not blessed with an orchestra pit. Where, then, to put the live music? Another production might put it right up front, at the bottom of the stage. In Fauntleroy, the accomplished pianist and violinists are visible and invisible behind the hazed curtain at the rear of the stage, a symbolic expression of how music comes into our lives. The presence of Donna Schaffer, the music director, is nuanced in every number.

The music makes “Fauntleroy” original, from the opening number “In New York” to “Love’s the Only Thing He Knows,” “I’m Still the Me I Was Before” and the sentimental “You Can Lean on Me,” in which Cedric melts the audience while defrosting his icy grandfather.

These are songs that, should “Fauntleroy” go to Broadway, could become stage musical classics. Imagine what New York choreography could do with the opening number, In New York, or the show-ending, triumphant Fauntleroy, which rescues the character from his pompous historical image.

If this work goes to Broadway, Warren may have created the most powerful child’s role since Annie.

James P. McCollom, long time resident of Manhattan, is a writer living in Texas. He is the author of “The Continental Affair.”