My Fair Lady
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, Music by Frederick Loewe
Directed by Bartlett Sher
Choreographed by Christopher Gattelli
The Fox Theatre
March 22, 2022
Shereen Ahmed (center) and cast of My Fair Lady
Photo by Joan Marcus
My Fair Lady National Tour
I love Bartlett Sher’s revivals. The celebrated Broadway director has a remarkable gift for taking a classic musical, and with little or no change to the actual script, bringing out the meaning and emotion of the piece in a way that’s especially accessible to today’s audiences. They’re not reinventions or “revisals”, really, but they manage to bring out the meaning of the shows in a new and fresh way, all the while retaining the “classic” spirit of the productions. I’ve seen Sher’s South Pacific (filmed for PBS), as well as The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof on tour, and I have loved how each production brought an “old” show to life. Now Sher’s latest revival effort, My Fair Lady, has come to the Fox Theatre in a glorious, sumptuously staged production that emphasizes the best of this show that’s often regarded as one of the true classics of musical theatre, but has elements that have become dated over time. Here, though, the show seems about as current as a period piece could be, in highlighting the foibles of its characters in addition to their strengths, and putting the focus even more on the perspective of its leading lady.
Eliza Doolittle has been regarded as one of the great leading roles in musical theatre, although it is a challenging one, in that it calls for a deep emotional range, comic ability, and a first-rate soprano singing voice. All those elements are here in this production in the person of the remarkably talented Shereen Ahmed, who brings a willful determination as well as a sense of optimism, energy, and true love of learning to Eliza, who is the first character the audience sees on stage, before anyone else enters. The focus is on her from the start, and as the strict and increasingly exasperated and exasperating taskmaster Professor Henry Higgins (Laird Mackintosh) puts her through his rigorous course of phonetic exercises, it’s Eliza we are meant to sympathize, and empathize, with. Eliza has always been a sympathetic character, but here we get to see her determination showcased especially well, through means of Sher’s focused direction and Ahmed’s excellent stage presence, versatility, and remarkable vocals. The chemistry between her and Mackintosh’s proud, increasingly harried Higgins is also palpable, but this isn’t a sentimental love story, as emphasized by the directorial choices here that cast Eliza’s interest more as an infatuation, and the slightly altered ending that, in my mind, is more in the spirit of Eliza’s journey and lends more power in hindsight to what I have often considered the show’s best scene–the confrontation near the end at the home of Higgins’s mother (Leslie Alexander). The way the show plays out on Michael Yeargan’s impressively detailed set also highlights the immediate situation of Eliza’s journey, particularly in the use of turntable and impeccably appointed set of Higgins’s house.
The settings help tell the story here especially well, as do the lavish costumes by Catherine Zuber and the wondrously dazzling lighting by Donald Holder. Hues of blue, green, purple, and pink are evident in the depiction of London at the turn of the 20th Century, in the depictions of life from the point of view of various classes, from lower to middle, to upper. The classic music is presented well, as conducted by music director John Bell, and the energetic choreography by Christopher Gatelli serves the story well, as performed by a strong ensemble.
As for the leading performers, in addition to the superb Ahmed and Mackintosh, there’s also excellent work from Kevin Pariseau as the enthusiastic and gentlemanly Colonel Pickering, as well as Martin Fisher, who gives a fun comic performance and is in excellent voice as Eliza’s father, Alfred P. Doolittle. Sam Simahk is also strong as a particularly slouchy, simpering but golden-voiced version of Eliza’s upper-class suitor, Freddy Eynsford-Hill, and there are also strong performances from Alexander as Mrs. Higgins and Gayton Scott as Higgins’s stern but caring housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce. The whole ensemble here is enthusiastic, conveying the spirit of numbers like the comically stuffy “Ascot Gavotte” and the boisterous “A Little Bit of Luck” and “Get Me to the Church on Time” with style and charm. There isn’t a weak link here, and the staging is well-paced and on point, even as the production encountered a technical issue in the midst of the Ascot scene on opening night, but handled it with utmost professionalism and resumed the show in a timely manner.
My Fair Lady is one of those shows that has been done so much it could easily become stale, and Higgins’s sexist pronouncements aren’t exactly pleasant, although here we get to see his character confronted in a more satisfying way than I’ve seen before. Also, Eliza gets the focus in ways that I hadn’t seen emphasized as much before in previous productions. That’s the beauty of Sher’s revivals–the script is there, the characters are there, but we get to see them from a slightly new angle even while the overall spirit of the show isn’t drastically different. There is a new twist on the conclusion, which has been somewhat controversial, although for me it makes a lot more sense than the way it’s been handled before. I’m not sure what notorious curmudgeon G. B. Shaw (author of the musical’s source play, Pygmalion) would think, but for me, it works. In fact, this whole show works especially well, being true to the “classic” tone while also being fresh and new in its own way. In Eliza’s words, it’s “loverly”.
Kevin Pariseau, Laird Mackintosh, Shereen Ahmed
Photo by Joan Marcus
My Fair Lady National Tour
The National Tour of My Fair Lady is playing at the Fox Theatre until April 3, 2022
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