My Fair Lady

‘My Fair Lady’ was first produced in New York in 1956. Dubbed ‘the greatest musical of the twentieth century’ it is still extremely popular, especially with amateur societies. TWODS presented this timeless piece of theatre as a colourful, well sung and acted production. Certainly on Friday night there was a large appreciative audience to enjoy the excellent costumes, the black and white Ascot scene was quite stunning. The large Assembly Hall Theatre stage needs large scenery and this needs to be manipulated by a competent back stage crew, they carried out their task swiftly and competently. There were inevitable blackouts during scene changes but covering these moments we were able to listen to the lovely orchestra led by Robin Hare reprising some of the music. The lighting plot enhanced all the scenes. I was not sure a ‘glitter ball’ that they used in the ballroom scene was around in the Edwardian era but have since been told that it was one of the first lighting effects, dating back to 1904. You live and learn! 

Allya Khammari as Eliza Doolittle gave a stunning performance throughout, managing the transition from cockney to ‘proper’ English, she has a lovely singing voice but tends to go into vibrato on her top range. Michael Jamieson-Smith gave an impeccable performance as Henry Higgins with exceptional clarity of voice. In the programme Mike Knell, who played Colonel Pickering, mentioned his first directing role of ‘My Fair Lady’. Well, that was 10 years ago and I was in that production, so yes, happy memories. Mike, as the Colonel, did not try to be funny but allowed the comedy to come from his characterisation, which was spot on and, although his hair, beard and eyebrows had been ‘greyed’, to me he still looked a little too young. Kevin Randall as the roguish Alfred P. Doolittle was entertaining and energetic throughout. Andrew Banks was perfect as Freddy Eynsford-Hill with a fine singing voice. Lindsay Martin as Mrs. Pearce was ideal. I must make special mention of Lynn White as Mrs. Higgins, Kate Organ as Mrs. Hopkins and Elliott Emanuel as Zoltan Karpathy, who all made the most of their cameo roles.

The success of this production came not only from its leading performers but the collective discipline of the entire chorus who delivered excellent singing, dancing and staging. Director Alexandra Leigh and her team should be proud of what they have achieved. I can safely say that TWOD’s audiences wouldn’t have enjoyed a better evening’s entertainment in quite a while. 

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