Show: My Fair Lady
Society: Players Theatre Company, The
Venue: Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
Credits: Lerner and Loewe
Type: Sardines
Performance Date: 19/06/2019
My Fair Lady
Jess Pether | 21 Jun 2019 17:10pm
I have been reviewing shows for over two and a half years now and this is the first time I’ve written a repeat review. I saw a production of My Fair Lady only a few months ago, so with it fresh in my mind, it was interesting to see another society’s take on it.
It’s a well-known story to most, so I won’t dwell on the details. But the basics are as follows: Girl meets boy (in this case, a poor Cockney flower girl meets a well-to-do and rich professor), boy invites girl to live with him (so he can teach her to speak proper English), girl finally succeeds (after much wailing and crying), then boy takes girl to an Embassy Ball and passes her off as a real lady. There is, of course, much more depth to the story than this and Players do well to explore this.
As always, their costumes (which are pretty much always made by the group themselves) are superb. I think they are some of the best Ascot Gavotte dresses I’ve ever seen, mainly because lots of them have a bit of extra sparkle (and I’m a huge fan of glitter!). I always think it’s a shame that the chorus aren’t involved more in this show. This isn’t the fault of any group that performs the musical but there just aren’t that many opportunities to use the chorus. The numbers in which they mainly appear are the very famous Wouldn’t it be Loverly, the equally well-known Get Me to the Church on Time, the catchy With a Little Bit of Luck and the aforementioned Ascot Gavotte. In between these numbers, there isn’t much chance for them to shine. But the chorus here are good, and some of them, especially some of the dancers, really stand out. I’m always watching out for people on stage whose faces don’t seem to know they’re having a good time and I didn’t see anyone in that category last night.
The main set is impressive. Professor Higgins’ study is vast and looks very much like an expensive mansion, with lots of detail included. Most other scenes are set in front of different cloth backdrops, which is necessary as the study set must stay on stage for the entire show because so many scenes are set there. Scene changes are smooth and don’t take too long. I also like the lighting which is cleverly used in places. My favourite number in terms of choreography is Get Me to the Church… which includes a can-can section. I particularly enjoyed the girls laying on the floor kicking their legs with the boys sitting over them making it look like they are the ones doing the kicking… a clever move that always looks great on stage and brings some humour to the number.
Playing Eliza Doolittle is Charlotte Cavedasca. In her early 20s, this is a hugely demanding role for Charlotte but quite frankly, I feel like it was made for her. She develops the character extremely well throughout the show and you can tell she has really worked on this. Charlotte’s Eliza is passionate and well-rounded and has a beautiful voice to complete the package. Colonel Pickering, a contemporary of Higgins’ who comes to live with him and pay for Eliza’s lessons, is played by Dick Davies and he brings a lovely bit of humour to the role that I haven’t always seen before. As I said in my last My Fair Lady review, Pickering’s role is often just to sit and observe in the background, so he does well to get some good laughs.
I really enjoyed Zoë Berry’s interpretation of Higgins’ housekeeper Mrs Pearce. She gives her a lilting Scottish accent which is a nice touch and has great facial expressions. There are a few other principal roles that don’t quite hit the mark for me, which is a shame. Ross Howard is clearly putting his all into the role of Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a slightly soppy gent who falls in love with Eliza, but he struggles quite a bit with his song On the Street Where You Live. There are some high notes in the piece, so it’s a difficult one, and perhaps it was nerves as well, but he wasn’t quite a Freddy for me on the night. Similarly, Craig Phoenix is giving everything to the role of Eliza’s father, Alfred Doolittle, and I think is probably having a brilliant time in the process! But he doesn’t quite get the essence of the character right and I think struggles a little to convince the audience.
The show pretty much belongs to one person, and that is Luke Hunt-Coldham who plays Professor Henry Higgins. Usually in this show, the scenes in Higgins’ study can become tedious quite quickly. There are a lot of them, and they don’t always move at a very fast pace. But last night, all I wanted to see was the study appear and for Luke to stroll onto the stage. I (and I think the entire audience) just couldn’t get enough. He is mesmerising, both in his voice and mannerisms. At 29, he is extremely young to play this part and I must admit, I was unsure about how it would work. But at no point is the Professor’s age mentioned and quite frankly, it really doesn’t matter. Luke has this part down to a T. He IS Henry Higgins. He brings a new depth to the role that I haven’t seen before, especially at the very end of the show when Eliza has proclaimed he will never see her again. He goes home and listens to Eliza’s voice on his gramophone, and I have never seen as much emotion from a Higgins before. Head in hands, he is quite visibly upset, and it doesn’t take away from the character at all but added another layer to the complex Professor. Congratulations, Luke, on an extraordinary performance.
The show is a long one, with the first half running to around 90 minutes, so it can sometimes feel a bit like a marathon. But last night’s performance flew by due to the professional quality of the cast members and the energy coming from the stage. Well done to the whole cast and the creative team of Julie Robertson (director), David Street (choreographer) and Sue Edwards (musical director).
- : admin
- : 19/06/2019