My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe is the musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s classic play Pygmalion. Henry Higgins bets Colonel Pickering that he can transform Eliza Doolittle a Cockney flower girl into a well-spoken lady fit for a society ball.

Directed by Paul De Boer and Laura Coates they made good use of the space, the set was effective, and the stage crew worked very hard with the many scene changes to and from the Professor’s library. There were some sound issues making the audience jump at times, and with this show being so “wordy” sound balance, clarity and getting the diction spot on is vital. A personal preference maybe but I felt the follow spot was perhaps over used. Keeping it to those moments where characters really need to be highlighted may have been more effective.

The Orchestra was ably led by MD Richard Abrams who was sympathetic to the scene changes ensuring the gaps were filled effectively with scene change music.

Costumes were attractive and generally in keeping with the period, perhaps more attention to some of the hairstyles would enhance the authenticity.

All of the cast approached their characters with enthusiasm. Jim Bournes’ interpretation of Higgins was more “bumbling” than I have seen before, but remained suitably heartless of Eliza’s feelings until the end. One thing I’d suggest is don’t be afraid to stand still at times, let the words and the music lead the character and restrain those arms which did feel a bit distracting at times. Deanna Aspell as Eliza, grew into the role as her performance progressed had a lovely quality to her voice, I did miss some of her dialogue due to her microphone position I think being too far back in her hairline. I enjoyed the relish she took in the famous line in the Ascot scene. Alan Fisher as Colonel Pickering demonstrated more sympathy and kindness to Eliza effectively. Other highlights were Mrs Higgins and the humour she extracted from her dialogue, and Mrs Pearce who again demonstrated some great comic timing.

Congratulations to the cast, crew. musicians and production team, the audience clearly enjoyed themselves.

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