MY FAIR LADY

Newry MS has been a Noda member for many years but this was my first opportunity to attend and review their show. Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe brought My Fair Lady to Broadway in 1956 where it ran for 5 1/2 years. A US tour followed in 1957 and the show crossed the Atlantic to London’s West End in 1958. It has hit the West End again in 1979, 2001 – 2003 and toured the UK in 1978 and 2005 – 2006. As soon as it was released to amateur theatre it became a firm favourite but in recent years has been overlooked as many good new titles became available. I am delighted that it is making a comeback this year and I have the chance to see it three times before spring is over!  Newry Town Hall provided an opulent venue for Newry MS and the multi purpose society designed and built Set worked well with staircases on either side and changing centre pieces backed by cloths from Proscenium. These were of varying suitability – a lovely Wimpole Street (fronted by an unsuitable white box front porch) and strange ‘inside to outside’ view at Ascot. I also felt that turquoise coloured stairs and pillars were unsuitable for the era, especially in Higgins’ study where everything would have been ‘brown, brown, brown’! Props were mostly good – I loved the explosion of flower colours at Covent Garden. Sound was generally alright but Lighting rather variable – the opening scene was much too bright (they must have been at a matinee of the Opera!) and the follow spot did not always hit its target. Costumes were not always authentic – eg. maids’ night attire should be white cotton nightdresses or woollen dressing gowns – but Ascot’s black & white was lovely.

The large cast of principals were well supported by the chorus and dancers. A nice little tap routine featured in the opening scene and choreography throughout was simple and effective. Ensemble singing was lively and tuneful. Servants and minor principals – Jack McManus (bartender), John Cookson & Judith Downey (Lord & Lady Boxington), Helena Hughes (Mrs Eynsford-Hill), Anne-Marie Campbell (Mrs Hopkins), Jack McGowan (Professor Zoltan Karpathy) – all gave good support where needed. Paddy Heaney and Sean Mullin made a good threesome as Harry and Jamie with Damien Lavery as Doolittle, with energetic singing and dancing. Damien is obviously at home in a comedy role although his slight frame might struggle with a full bag of coal! Maille Connolly was comfortable and comforting in the role of Mrs Pearse while the (Cameo) role of Mrs Higgins was expertly taken by Veronica Barr. I was sorry I did not have binoculars as I felt sure I missed some wonderful facial expressions! Ronan Sharkey sang “On the Street where you Live” beautifully and caught the character of Freddie, the rather spineless posh-boy who is comically bowled over by Eliza’s small talk! Martin Morgan gave an excellent performance as Colonel Pickering – a considerate and perfect gentleman as a foil to his boorish host Higgins – and entirely believable.

Fergal White was an unconventional Professor Higgins – impatient and devoid of social graces as per usual, but tackling the role from a real tenor’s point of view which was most interesting. He and Martin made an intriguing pair while coaching Fiona Flynn as the flower girl Eliza Doolittle. Fiona had a beautiful singing voice and made an engaging Eliza. Dialogue when she became a ‘lady’ seemed more confident than her cockney accent. Overall a heart-warming performance.

The Director’s interpretation of this iconic piece was mostly well conceived – sometimes needing a little fine tuning. Some scene changes slowed the pace and the full Embassy Ball added to that. My Fair Lady is a long show and I am of the opinion that the whole Ball can be successfully cut without any loss of plot and saving 15 minutes and a complete set of costumes – the next scene in Higgins’ study re-tells all that happened there!
 
MD Danny O’Neill was assisted by Fiona Flynn (as if she hadn’t enough to do playing Eliza!) The speed in many of the musical numbers were taken faster or slower than the norm. I wonder if these were on request of the singer involved? I found it sometimes a little irritating.  Donna’s choreography was energetic and well-rehearsed, especially in Covent Garden “Wouldn’t it be Loverly” and “Get Me to the Church on Time”.

All in all I enjoyed Newry’s production of My Fair Lady very much and thank the Chairman, Secretary and everyone involved for their welcome.

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