My Fair Lady

Sometimes with all the modern musicals that are around these days it is nice to see some of the old classics being performed. Pickering Musical Society did a wonderful job with this production showing that there is always a place for the classics. Under the masterful direction of Luke Arnold, the show came together with excellent pace and artistic flair highlighting the hard work that must have gone in to putting this show together.

The set was very well designed and used with great excellence to maximise the stage and time. This was set as the inside and outside of Higgins house and turned to revel the difference of location. This with the inclusion of props made a very convincing change in the different areas and locals. The stage crew worked so well together to make the show run smoothly and without incident accompanied with the excellent musical interludes provided by the wonderful band led by Clive Wass. The band was so good that they only enhanced the quality of the performance The costumes were very in keeping with the time period of the show and helped show the change of character and helped the actors portray their characters.

The cast were most excellently placed within their roles to bring this story to life, with so many talented members its hard to know where to start. The brilliantly comedic Marcus Burnside portrayed Alfred P Doolittle brilliantly and really demonstrated the comradery of the cast well. The two matriarchal roles within the show of Mrs Higgins (Paula Paylor) and Mrs Eynsford-Hill (Linda Tester) were wonderful and certainly made a presence on stage with their fantastic characterisation. Mrs Pearce portrayed by Rachel Anderson was simply sublime and although hadn’t had a major singing role her voice shined out through the ensemble number. A true talent.  Stephen Temple as Freddy Eynsford-Hill was exceptional and his rendition of ‘On the Street Where You Live’ was truly memorable. Michael O’Brien who portrayed Colonel Pickering was born to play this role with his mannerisms and laid back attitude being perfect for this iconic role. I can hardly leave out the breathtakingly talented Danielle Long portraying Eliza Doolittle. What a talent! This young lady has so much charisma and gravitas in this role that she definitely was cast perfectly. And what can I say about Henry Higgins (Tim Tubbs). Wow! Tim was obviously born to play this role. Every element of his performance was excellent. I believe that this is Tim’s first role with Pickering Musical Society and I sincerely hope he will be back for more.

Yet again Pickering has demonstrated their masterfulness in producing an excellent calibre of Amateur theatre for all the family. With such a talented bunch of actors and crew they are definitely well worth a watch. No element in this show was overlooked and with such a lovely venue it only enhances the overall experience. I do want to take time to mention the wonderful ensemble cast whom I wish I could individually name for each of their excellent attributes and skills that they brought to the show, however I do feel I would be writing a short novel to do this. The production team should be very proud of their hard work and dedication. I can’t wait to see more from them.

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