Excellently acted `My Fair Lady' enlivens British humor
Sid Richardson College's production of My Fair Lady , directed by John Salisbury, is filled with excellent singing, convincing acting and lots of good humor. With outrageous Cockney accents and exaggerated British stuffiness, the cast captures the spirit of this very British comedy.
It has been said it doesn't matter what you do in France as long as you get the accent right. And getting the accent right -- or getting the "right" accent -- is the subject of this musical, in which the learned Professor Henry Higgins proposes to make a flower girl fit for high society by teaching her proper English.
Though the plot upholds Higgins' snobbish notion to some degree, it also portrays the strength, intelligence and vitality of the lower class he scorns, as represented by Eliza Doolittle and her father Alfred.
Adrienne Starr steals the show as Eliza. She is completely captivating in every mood from outrage to petulance to rapture, and her marvelous singing voice slips easily from lyrical to brash and back again. Starr's dynamic facial expressions rivet the audience to Eliza even during her non-speaking parts.
Paired with Eliza is the inimitable Henry Higgins (Paul Cummings). Conceited, complacent, didactic and self-absorbed, Professor Higgins is at a loss to understand his temperamental, strong-willed student. Cummings slightly underacts Higgins' arrogance, and his conflict with Eliza is consequently less powerful than it could be. However, he is at his best as the indignant, bemused, would-be lover of Eliza in Act II, and his transition from stuffy, supercilious bachelor to a more complex role is skillfully done.
Alex Penn gives a thoroughly compelling performance as Alfred Doolittle. Blustery and good-natured, particularly when among the Cockneys, Doolittle is a powerful character, and Penn's singing and dancing animate the whole stage.
Kelley Tyner captures the austere but good-hearted character of Higgins' mother, while Matthew Huddleston is convincing as the doe-eyed, hopelessly infatuated Freddy Eynsfofd-Hill.
Heather Hawley (as Mrs. Pearce, the housekeeper) and George Zener (as Higgins' bachelor friend, Colonel Pickering) show comic artistry, and Zener's dry, ironic reserve effectively counterbalances Higgins' lofty meddling character.
The forward motion of the production is interrupted only by a few chorus scenes in which uneven singing and predictable blocking compound the (built-in) lack of dramatic interest. The overall high quality of the acting also allows underacting and occasional lapses of character to really stand out.
Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion , with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, My Fair Lady includes such familiar favorites as "With a Little Bit of Luck," "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," "I Could Have Danced All Night" and "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face." The music, directed by Stephanie Gruver, is appealingly simple, and both cast and orchestra bring the ideas across well.
Want to have a good time seeing an egotistical, complacent professor collide with a headstrong student? Then go to class -- you know which one. Want to see the above with good singing, colorful costumes and keen British humor? Go see My Fair Lady -- and skip the bleedin' class.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 15, 1996 issue.
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