[rating=3]In 1913, a play, written by George Bernard Shaw, opened in Vienna. The play was called “Pygmalion” and was based on a Greek mythological God, called Pygmalion. He was a sculptor and fell in love with one of his creations ( a statue). As a play, his creation was not a statue, but in fact, a peasant who was transformed into a “lady”. In 1938 a film was made and several years later, Lerner and Lowe took it to a more modern version with their music and the new title “My Fair Lady”. The year 1956/ and in 1964 the film version of the musical version hit the screens. There are many who call this a love story. The ending, as penned by Shaw, left that open to interpretation. In “My Fair Lady” we are led into almost the same spider web as the emancipated Eliza does return to Higgins, and he does yell out a command, and then the play ends!
The Lincoln Center Theater’s production of “My Fair Lady” was nominated for ten Tony Awards and is now “on the road”. Chicago is always a stop for their productions as they know how our Chicago audiences adore quality productions. The story is fairly simple. Eliza Doolittle is the daughter of a chimney sweep, Alfred Doolittle. She sells flowers on the street to survive and dreams of one day having a position in an actual flower shop instead of walking on the streets of London. On one of these nights, she meets Professor Henry Higgins ( who is a speech specialist) who thinks, or in fact , in his mind knows that he can make her a “lady” fitting to work in a nice shop. An old friend, Colonel Pickering, who is staying with Higgins, challenges him to do so, and the story goes full speed ahead.
My Fair Lady
I have seen countless productions of this classic ( one of my favorites) over the years and back in my community theater days had the good fortune to play Alfred Doolittle. In this production that role is deftly handled by Martin Fisher ( I interviewed him for aroundthetown on wcpt 820 and you can hear Sunday, 1/3/ at 2 :15 p.m.). He did a great job and was quit impressive with his “Get Me To The Church On Time”. well choreographed for sure. While this production is smoothly directed by Bartlett Shore with wonderful choreography by Christopher Gattelli, it is not a “must see” production. It is an enjoyable night at the theater and if you love the music of Lerner and Lowe and the story itself, you will have a wonderful experience.
My Fair Lady
Shereen Ahmed ( the first Arabic Eliza Doolittle) has a powerful voice and is worth the price of a ticket to watch and hear. I was entranced by her from start to finish and loved her final scene. Henry Higgins ( Laird Mackintosh) is not as strong as one is used to ( having seen many different actors in this role) but Kevin Pariseau is a dynamite Colonel Pickering. Freddie Eyensford-Hill (Sam Simahk) is the young man who falls in love with Eliza following her like a lost puppy ( his song is “On The Street Where You Live”) and while his voice is good, he seemed out of place in character. Other standouts in the production were Gayton Scott as Mrs. Pearce and Leslie Alexander as Mrs. Higgins. I will say the ensemble works hard changing costumes and characters constantly.
My Fair Lady
Musical numbers that we all love are “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly”, “The Rain In Spain”, “With A Little Bit Of Luck” and of course ,”I Could Have Danced All Night”.
The set (Michale Yeargan)is amazing ( for a truck and bus tour) with Higgins house being multi level on a turntable and the costumes (Catherine Zuber) beautiful. Pay close attention to the ending as it might not be what you expected, or wanted. Remember, the original story involves a statue and an artist who created and loved it. But could he end up with his statue? Think about that as the curtain falls and you will get it!
“My Fair Lady” continues at the Cadillac Palace Theatre thru July 10th with performances as follows:
[rating=3]In 1913, a play, written by George Bernard Shaw, opened in Vienna. The play was called “Pygmalion” and was based on a Greek mythological God, called Pygmalion. He was a sculptor and fell in love with one of his creations ( a statue). As a play, his creation was not a statue, but in fact, a peasant who was transformed into a “lady”. In 1938 a film was made and several years later, Lerner and Lowe took it to a more modern version with their music and the new title “My Fair Lady”. The year 1956/ and in 1964 the film version of the musical version hit the screens. There are many who call this a love story. The ending, as penned by Shaw, left that open to interpretation. In “My Fair Lady” we are led into almost the same spider web as the emancipated Eliza does return to Higgins, and he does yell out a command, and then the play ends!
Wed, Jun 29:7:30pm
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