There are times when people recommend a show by saying, "The songs are mostly forgettable, but the show is fun in a really silly sort of way." Or they say, "The show is silly, but the songs are a whole lot of fun."

 Rarely, however, do you get it both ways — but that is this guy's reaction to "Song of Singapore," which opened last weekend at St. Paul's downtown Lowry Theater.

 First the context: This is a cabaret show, though an Asian buffet is included. Note to bartender: Lay in a supply of those little paper umbrellas and pineappleskewering plastic swords.

 It may be slushy outside, but the Lowry has been transformed into a seedy nightclub in Singapore on the eve of the Japanese invasion of World War II. Not to worry, because everyone will scatter before the war drops in.

 Before that, the show goes on, overseen by Freddie S. Lime (S-Lime, get it?), a Limey who wears a fez and a white suit and looks vaguely like Sydney Greenstreet in "Casablanca." His lead chanteuse is Rose of Rangoon, a comely amnesiac who has lost her memory (and most of her marbles), but never forgets a lyric. She's aided by two clumsy Yanks and backed by a swell five-piece band whose members know their stuff but are not to be trifled with.

 When a dead body turns up — "No shoes, no pulse, no service!" Freddie barks — the club is invaded by a corrupt cop and by a mysterious Chinese woman in a clingy dress who is seeking a jeweled fish. Pandemonium results — or, rather, increases.

 That's enough plot. This is a show that seldom stops singing and never resists a groaner pun. When, for example, the inspector asks the amnesiac chanteuse for her passport, she replies, "I lost my past, sport."

 The songs run the gamut, from ballads to close-harmony ensemble tunes, to semi-patter comic songs. Some favorites in the latter category include "The Cuttlefish is a Subtle Fish," sung by the inspector — part of a wonderfully rubbery performance by Eric Webster — and "Never Pay Musicians What They're Worth," performed with stiff-lipped music-hall charm by E.J. Subkoviak as Freddy.

 The bulk of the singing falls to Rose of Rangoon, and Megan Kelly in that role is clearly up to the task. She's a terrific singer and a bubbly actress — and her gams ain't bad, either, as the saying goes in that era. Her two energetic male sidekicks are performed with fierce likeability by Paul Reyburn and Alan Wales. And Sara Ochs is a saucy Chah Li, the mysterious Chinese woman who ultimately outsmarts everyone in what is clearly a small achievement.

 The show, by the way, was written by a five-member team from Back East. It's being presented by Actors Theater of Minnesota, which is the resident troupe at the Lowry. Two experienced hands — director Jon Cranney and music director Anita Ruth — have set the show on its feet and sent it zinging. You leave knowing you've had a Singapore sling.