My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story is based on the 1938 film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion and concerns Eliza Doolittle, a cockney flower girl, who takes speech lessons from Professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. Despite the cynical nature and difficulty in understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her.

The magnificent Theatre at Chatsworth House has quite an intimate auditorium with a small stage however, for this production they did use a stage extension. The set consisted of full length drapes with maps of London printed on them and across the bottom were outlines of London landmarks. Different scene settings were depicted by the use of excellent props which were discreetly moved on and off, when required, by the cast. I must just add that the ‘machine’ to detect Eliza’s correct use of her ‘aitches’ was just incredible. 

It was a very small cast and apart from the main characters, there was a great deal of doubling-up and in some cases tripling-up of the various roles from flower girls, to servants, to drunken mates of Doolittle and to the Ladies and Gentlemen of the aristocracy. 

This is a show that, amongst other things, is very reliant of having two really strong main characters and that was definitely the case here. Petra Nolan was absolutely outstanding as Eliza Doolittle. As the cockney flower girl her accent was spot-on and she portrayed the brashness, the determination, the feistiness and vulnerability of the character so superbly and the transformation to a charming, sophisticated lady was just so enchantingly achieved. Her acting skills were without question top-notch and were equalled by her fabulous singing voice as was so much in evidence in the many and varied types of songs she sings from ‘Wouldn’t it be Loverly’, ‘I Could Have Danced All Night, to ‘Just You Wait’, all delivered with such emotion and passion. It was a truly awesome and charismatic performance. Another outstanding portrayal came from Chris Rooke as Professor Higgins. He was so convincing and so brilliantly commanded the stage delivering a wonderful balance of characteristic traits ranging from arrogance, patronising snobbery and sarcastic humerous repartee, to an eventual realisation that - ‘I’ve grown Accustomed To Her Face’ which was so meaningfully and so heartwarmingly expressed. Melvyn Osborne was superb as Colonel Pickering. He has great stage presence and was so endearingly debonair. His facial expressions and gestures were sublime and his forbearance of Higgins and his kindness towards Eliza were splendidly displayed. Loved ‘You Did It’ with Higgins. A first-rate performance came from Barrie Goodwin as Doolittle. He was bursting with enthusiastic energy as he sang ‘With a Little Bit of Luck’ and later when dressed in all his finery, ‘Get Me To The Church’, was just terrific. He was a real hoot. Sally Shaw was perfect as Mrs Pearce, quite calm and collected but certainly could ‘handle’ Higgins conveying her thoughts admirably. Rachel Wilson, as Miss Mary Higgins, was the epitome of an opinionated society lady but did eventually warm towards Eliza. Tom Sparks was impeccable as Freddy Eynsford Hill and his singing of ‘On the Street Where You Live’ was just exquisite. Excellent support came from Fred Rolland as Jamie and Lord Boxington, from Jim Gillespie as Harry and Charles the Chauffeur, from Nicola Wright as Lady Boxington, the Pub Landlady and a Maid, from Helen Rogers as Mrs Eynsford Hill and a Maid, from Grace Day (Understudy to Eliza) and from Tess Edmonds who were Maids and along with the aforeamentioned other cast members, all acted as the ‘ensemble’. A special mention must go to Sean Day who was not only a member of the ensemble but also beautifully played a violin solo in ‘Wouldn’t it be Loverly’. All of the musical numbers were superb and although the accompanying dance routines were simple, they were all well executed. The costumes were just stunning especially the sumptuous, fabulous evening wear worn by both the men and the ladies and those in the splendid Ascot scene which were just glorious. Congratulations to the Costume Designers, Jane Dent and Alicia Bloundele. Good lighting and sound added the extra touch to what was a most enjoyable and exceptional production which was totally enhanced by the wonderful piano playing by Andrew Marples and Chris Flint.

Many congratulations to Director Chris Heery, to Musical Director Andrew Marples, to Choreographer Rachel Wilson, to the extremely talented cast and to everyone else involved - you most certainly ‘Did It’!  Also many thanks for the warm welcome that I received.

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© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.