On April 10, "My Fair Lady" debuted after a brilliant revival in London proving musical lovers love a good musical. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s 1956 classic polished Cinderella tale, adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s "Pygmalion", isn’t just one of the most successful shows from the golden age of musicals. It’s a franchise that includes an Oscar, a chart-topping cast album and an international cavalry of successful and lucrative revivals.
With the remarkable history this project has, you might think success would be an easy task. However, several hurdles must be overcome before the production can be the brilliance that it needs to be. But more on that later.
Eliza Doolittle played by Lisa O’Hare is an enchanting woman with a lower-class twist. A very tasty cocktail to be sure. O’Hare is a dazzling young woman gifted with vocal pizzaz and the presence to win over any audience.
Christopher Cazenove’s Henry Higgins has the challenge of massaging his role from brute teacher to organic love interest. Difficult indeed. Walter Charles offers perfect support to Cazenove as "Colonel Pickering". But Eliza’s booze-soaked dad, played with great ease by Tim Jerome steals every scene he’s in. The only supporting player who comes near Jerome is Marni Nixon playing Higgin’s mother. The audience feels her and just instinctively applauds her arrival.
Lights up
From the opening number, O’Hare wins over the audience with her delicate ways and sassy, yet careful demeanor. Cazenove’s introduction seems too easy, but works. On first take, their chemistry as strangers on a city street is what comes off as most believable. Walter Charles’ Col. Pickering is discovered and soon enough the trio retires to Higgin’s home for the evening.
Once the bait is set and Higgins’ work with Doolittle is outlined, he begins brutish behavior that carries on throughout the rest of the evening. Makes it difficult for the audience to enjoy him, and may also send a message to the select over-perceiving males in the audience. This behavior can’t fly.
At the first strums of Eliza’s breakthrough "I could’ve danced all night…" the magic unlocks for her. The audience feels it, but Higgins doesn’t seem to have a clue. Now or later.
When they arrive at the ball, it’s a dazzling sea of visual jewels. Lights, costume and choreography come together for a feast in decadence. Where the classic story brings in romance, however, our leads show little appeal for one another. Higgins seems far more well-matched with Pickering. In many ways, this is good news for the audience as it means we get to fall in love with Eliza without the friction of competition.
Luckily, Jerome interjects glee with an unforgettable rendition of "Get Me To The Church on Time". It wakes the audience up and brings them back to where we need to be for the hopeful ending.
However the flower garden scene, which should make us want Higgins and Doolittle to fall hopelessly in love, instead shows us that some relationships are better left as friends. A sour anti-climax.
Does our "My Fair Lady" need help? Certainly. But several afflictions have sensible cures. The humor is there. The supporting players are drawn and well-acted. What we need is romance from our leads. Send them on a few dates and allow the rough edges to be ironed out.
Behind the curtains
While his work may not answer all of our questions, director Trevor Nunn’s work certainly has visually dazzling moments. He combines light, deftness and movements in ways that bring this production to the viewer in bite-size morsels.
Designer Anthony Ward takes us through a dimensional fog to tour English tenements, pubs and gardens. The seamless moves continue through Higgins’ stiff and dry home and his mother’s garden room.
Choreographer Matthew Bourne brings dynamite to the floors. The "STOMP"-esque explosive handling of "With a Little Bit of Luck", led by Jerome, lends percussive fireworks with thunderous trash-can lids.
The production is fun and exciting. It languishes where other revivals have been more prone to success, but ultimately delivers a romantic night out. As said earlier, musical lovers love a good musical. And in those respects, it succeeds.
