Luverly

My Fair Lady was a delight! All of the actors were fantastic. They stayed very true to the original script - I hate productions that change things willy-nilly. On that note, they did change a few things that I thought brought a lot to the show. It is originally set in 1912. This production moved it up to 1910. (Huh? What difference does that make?) In 1910 King Edward died, which put the entire Ascot scene in mourning colors. The photo I posted below is from that scene. It was gorgeous in shades of black, charcoal, and smoky purples and mauves. After Eliza storms off singing "Show me!" Freddy follows her down the street, into a subway car and back out into the street where she meets up with a group of suffragettes on a busy street. They are there to provide a backdrop to the scene, but their signs of "Deeds not Words" and "Votes for women" add something bigger than Eliza to the song. It was a nice touch.

Another really fun thing about this production was Henry's mother. In this production, Mrs. Higgins is played my Marni Nixon, who was the singing voice of Audrey Hepburn in the movie version of the musical. She was perfect in the part.

Finally, I think a truly great production of My Fair Lady has to hinge on one song - On the Street Where you Live. It is a miserable song. Sappy, not terribly interesting, and sung by Freddy who is not the most interesting of characters. I lve the song, but it can be a low point in the show. This one was luverly. Freddy's character is a puppy. He's adorable and you can't help but like him immediately and you get the feeling that Eliza feels the same way. The reprise of On the Street finds him sitting by a street lamp after the assembly ball (where he has spent the evening unsuccessfully trying to get Eliza's attention) cradling an empty champagne bottle and tipsily serenading it.

I am so glad we went. We didn't even really know it was playing here - a friend was a member of the pit orchestra and got us great great seats. A great evening for sure.

(I didn't even talk about how good Henry or Alfred P Dolittle were. Little Bit of Luck brought down the house!)

What a smashing, positively dashing spectacle

Can't wait for tonight! We are going to see My Fair Lady. It's a touring company and we know someone in the pit orchestra who helped us get what are supposed to be great seats.