My Fair Lady

This 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical classic based on Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion is still a guaranteed banker as much today as it was seventy years ago. So, no surprise Sharnbrook had sold out the entire run several weeks in advance of the opening night. It is not an easy or cheap show to put on, with its elaborate costumes and sets; it takes a society with deep resources to fully do it justice, and Sharnbrook had certainly dug deep into theirs to come up with this memorable production by Director and Choreographer, Charlotte Pask and her assistant Louise Devonshire-Mander.

It is, of course, the story of Professor Higgins who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering he can take a ‘vulgar’ flower girl from Covent Garden Flower Market, Eliza Doolittle; turn her into a lady and pass her off in high society as one of their own.

The set design by Cleo Carter and built by Rod Arkle, Kevin Beirne, Tim Murden, Roger Osborne, Paul Robbins and Gerry Stanford was extremely clever. To stage right was a grey brick wall with an entrance to the middle rear to give us Covent Garden market and to stage left was an elaborate staircase leading to a door on the upper balcony. Also to stage right was a very huge display of flowers that would rival any flower shop. The arch above the stage was also decorated in a very well-designed array of flowers. But the really clever bit was the scene changing.  The Mill theatre has no wings, and everything has to come out either from the Green room situated to the centre rear of the stage, which itself has steps down to it, or neatly hidden behind the fixed flats. The transformation from Covent Garden to the inside of Professor Higgins’ apartment was incredibly slick and accomplished and organised like a military operation. Under the direction of Stage Manager Emily Thomas and using the acting chorus, parts of the set were reversed, flats slid out from behind others, furniture, including a chaise longue and marvellous period desk and horned gramophone, cleared or brought on and the actors were into the next scene in what seemed like the blink of a eye. I could say “In the decade I have been reviewing Sharnbrook shows I don’t think I have ever seen it done slicker or better.” However, I don’t think I have seen it done slicker or better anywhere in my 55 years of theatre activity both as an actor, critique or in the audience – Bravo!

The costume department, otherwise known as “The Pinup Girls”, Virginia Pope, Gill Ridley and Kim Hawkins, coordinated by Virginia Pope and assisted by Nicki Swindell Phil Wise and Deanne Tucker had really gone to town in the use of SMTT’s extensive wardrobe, with colourful period costumes for the ladies, where even the underskirts had been well coordinated. The gentlemen were equally well matched from period three-piece suits and top hats for Ascot to eveningwear and a great period wedding outfit for Alfred P Doolittle. The scene at Ascot races was particularly memorable where the ladies of the cast were all in different dress designs with various patterned shades of black and white. And the elaborate white dress for Eliza herself was quite simply stunning. Add in the vast array of props from Emily Thomas, Charlotte Pask, Cleo Carter and team and it was a feast for the eyes.

The Band, situated on the balcony above the stage was under the Direction of the very experienced Kaye Tompkins, who has MD’d many a show I have reviewed, were as per usual in top form and  were made up of Kaye Tomkins (Keys) Andy Stewart, Barbara Taylor and Michelle Reading (Keys 1,2 and 3), Charlie Manning (Trumpet), Liz Schofield (Trombone), Liz Guest, Jeni Melia (Violin 1 and 2), Matthew Sweet (Cello), Lee Wong (Bass) and Brendan Raynor (Drums). 

The cast had a lot to live up to the efforts of the backstage preparations and certainly didn’t disappoint. Sarah Purser was a standout Eliza Doolittle with a fiery performance standing up to the Professor and with a voice that can certainly hit the high notes. Having not seen this show for a very long time I’d forgotten what a self-centred, angry man with a sense of entitlement, but very much a man of his time, Henry Higgins was. Tim Jackson-Waite nailed that very well indeed, but somehow managing to keep the audience in sympathy with the character with the sparing between him and Eliza giving great comic moments, especially every time she got the better of him. 

Rod Arkle as Colonel Pickering provided the foil and calming influence on Higgins. Great rendition of ‘You Did It,’ and the three of them with ‘The Rain In Spain’ was a particular standout. David Pibworth as Eliza’s father Alfred turned drunkenness into a comic artform and brought a smile to your face whenever he appeared; his ‘Get Me to The Church On Time’ had the audience in raptures.

Paul Wildman extracted sympathy as the lovesick Freddy Eynsford-Hill demonstrating his vocal talent extremely well with ‘On The Street Where You Live,’ his performance probably best summed up by my wife who said, ‘I do wish she had ended up with Freddy.’

Newcomer to Sharnbrook, Cate Lawson took on Higgins housekeeper, Mrs Pearce and certainly held her own well in this high-class company. With ‘I Could Have Danced All Night.’

Tim Dawes is always good fun to watch and his sparing with Higgins as his rival Zoltan Karpathy at the Embassy Ball really was a comic delight. And not to forget a great cockney pairing with him as Harry and Robin McAllister as Jamie.

Kim Vaughn as the upper-class Mrs Higgins and Jenny Tymon-Robins as Feddy’s mother Mrs Eynsfor-Hill both gave very credible performances.

And well done also to the incredible well drilled Ensemble of twenty-four who really made this production the outstanding show it was.

Sharnbrook with all their resources set standards that other societies can often only hope to emulate, but what was particularly good about this production was the attention to detail, the slickness of the scene changes, which gave the pace a breath-taking boost. The choreography was delightfully old fashioned and thankfully resisted the temptation to modernise. The hard work and the effort put in by all concerned was a cut above and an absolutely superb evening’s entertainment. So well done to Charlotte Pask, her cast and crew and I think you can be somewhat proud of this one. Or as I’d like to forlornly say. ‘OK, you’ve done the out-of-town run, when does the West End one start?

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