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It’s a trend that may actually have started as early as Adam and Eve.

A happy couple is lucky enough to find love. They revel in their togetherness and compatibility so thoroughly that, eventually, they decide that if their partnership works so well in the home, it might work just as beautifully in the workplace.

It was a good formula for Ma and Pa Kettle (and Ma and Pa Walton, and Ma and Pa Wilder, for that matter); Bill and Hillary (Billary or, as history may decide, Pillory), the Captain and Tennille, and Siegfried and Roy.

Other duos have met with more uneven success: Nick and Jessica, Tom and Nicole, Pamela and Tommy (though perhaps it’s not quite accurate to term the latters’ famous screen collaboration “work”).

The latest addition to the marital/workplace roll call, at least locally, are newlyweds Michael and Mary Jo O’Regan, who’ve been married a scant year, and seven weeks ago brought their musical duo act to the Marco Polo.

Here’s how their whole collaboration started: Michael O’Regan came over to America from County Kerry in Ireland and made his way to Marco Island, where he became part owner of a couple of local businesses: Irish Brogue Moving Company on Marco, and Paddy Murphy’s Restaurant on Fifth Avenue in Naples.

Mary Jo came over from her hometown in Galway to work at Paddy Murphy’s, where her path crossed with Michael’s. Two years later they married, and they celebrated their one-year anniversary at their new joint work venture last Saturday night at Marco Polo.

Michael picked up a guitar as an adolescent and, except for the odd lesson or two, is self-taught. He played a few bars in New York, where he first landed when he came to the States, but other than that his musical pursuits were strictly avocational.

Mary Jo, too, was more of a hobbyist singer than a professional vocalist, singing at weddings in her Roundstone County hometown and placing in the top five in a talent contest Michael describes as the Irish version of American Idol.

The couple, who have always been regular customers at Marco Polo, liked to sing in as guest performers at the lounge, and they were well received by the crowds, says manager and partner Tom Naifeh. When Naifeh decided to change up his entertainment schedule, he offered the gig to the O’Regans.

They took a month to work up a few sets, with a play list that ranges from Motown to classic rock to easy listening to show tunes to standards. The result is an uneven performance that’s clearly in its growing phase, but shows promise.

Mary Jo has a lovely tone to her voice, sweet yet solid, with a vibrato to rival Cher’s (or Alvin of the Chipmunks). Michael accompanies a bit on guitar — simple stuff, mostly chords, but with a nice enough sound. The rest is filled in with heavy-handed tracks that fade off at the end of songs, leaving Mary Jo on cleanup duty behind their trailing notes.

What works quite well in their sets is the energy between the two of them, their personalities, and their rapport with patrons. The two are clearly audience favorites, happy to take requests (if they know them — their play list isn’t yet extensive, but it’s growing) and actively trying to delight the crowd and get them on their feet.

Mary Jo’s voice, while enjoyable over the restaurant’s PA, really shines up close, when you can hear her true tone. Her sound is strong and clear, and especially well suited to songs like Somewhere Over the Rainbow and When I Fall in Love and It’s in His Kiss.

Michael’s vocals are weaker, the range of many of his solo tunes exceeding his abilities. But he sounds good in his lower register, where his voice takes on a nice grittiness and he isn’t reaching for the high notes.

The O’Regans, so far, aren’t setting the musical world on fire. Their set right now in its fledgling days is more for having a great time and feeling like you are part of the show — you won’t find many more loyal audiences than theirs.

But I’d be interested in seeing how they grow as they spend more time together as an act. As in a marriage, sometimes the best, richest parts come with time.

Check out the duo every Friday and Saturday at Marco Polo from seven “till we turn them loose,” jokes Naifeh.

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And check me out, figuratively speaking, at tiffanythescribe@msn.com!