Tony Sandler as Chevalier in "Maurice and Me"

In the 1940s, no performer defined savoir fare better the French/Belgian singer and actor Maurice Chevalier. And during the ‘60s and ‘70s, the suave, Belgian-born Tony Sandler filled that ooh-la-la bill. That’s why Sandler’s one-man show, “Maurice and Me,” is perhaps the classiest of the Lyric’s class acts this season. You get equal parts Chevalier and Sandler. On one stage. “For me, it’s an excellent vehicle to exploit the rest of my talents,” Sandler says. “He was an entertainer, which I am. I am an entertainer, not only a singer.” Sandler emigrated to the United States in 1963 and began a 20-year professional relationship with American vocalist Ralph Young. Sandler and Young appeared multiple times on Ed Sullivan’s show, and hosted their own summer variety series, played to sell-out audiences and sold millions of records. For Sandler, who speaks (and sings) six languages fluently, it wasn’t enough. “When you’re part of a team, like I was for all those years, you cater to that team which in a sense obscures your own potential and your own talents,” he reflects. “I had a lot more to offer than just being part of Sandler and Young.” Young retired in 1982, but Sandler — 15 years his partner’s junior — was only just beginning. He has continued to perform to huge crowds all over Europe and the United States, and all roads, it seems, led to his Chevalier tribute. “First and for all it’s a tough assignment,” Sandler says. “Second, I met the man many times and admired him. That’s why we call it ‘Maurice and Me,’ because there is quite a bit of lateral interest here, things that happened to our careers. Both successful in the United States, and the ups and the downs with it. “His life story that I’m telling is a long one — of course, he had a 70-year career. And there’s a lot of stuff that’s certainly not known by people in this country.” Chevalier (1888-1972) was a huge film star from 1930 onward, on both sides of the Atlantic. In America, he’s best remembered for the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1958, “Gigi,” in which he sang the immortal “Thank Heavens for Little Girls.” “ ‘Gigi’ was a huge success for him, but ‘Gigi’ was only the tip of the iceberg,” says Sandler. So what was Chevalier really like? “Maurice was unassuming, mostly uncomfortable in a crowd. Like most of us entertainers are. And he was very kind, very gentle, and not at all affected by his enormous success. “Advantageous for me was the fact that French was my language, as well as his, so consequently he felt at lot more at ease talking with me than with anybody else.” Like Chevalier, Sandler knew that being a popular star in Europe was one thing, but repeating that success in America was quite another. “I knew that if I wanted to expand further that I had to come to America,” Sandler explains. “When the opportunity came, in ’63, I jumped on the bandwagon and there I was. The Sandler and Young years were just capping that desire that yes, me as a Belgian-born entertainer, I could make it in the United States.” Sandler, who retains dual citizenship, recently had an audience with the King and Queen of Belgium. “King Albert is about my age, and he is quite a terrific individual,” he says. “Jokingly, I said ‘I’ve met a lot of queens in my life, but I never met a king.’”