Review: My Fair Lady, at the London Coliseum
My Fair Lady is considered to be Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe's magnum opus, and it is finally back in London 20 years after its last staging.
(The one that's remembered more for the backstage drama, but we won't get into that...)
Despite it's long absence, it remains one of the most-loved musicals out there, whether it be thanks to the original company of Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, or the 1964 film starring Audrey Hepburn, and with Harrison reprising his role of Henry Higgins.
Over it's many productions, it has won 8 Tonys, 5 Oliviers and several others along the way. After the pandemic delayed things, the Bartlett Sher-directed revival from Lincoln City Center has made it's way to London's shores.
As if you aren't aware of the story.. well just in case...
It centres around Cockney flower-girl Eliza Doolittle, who gets caught up in a bet between the Colonel Hugh Pickering and linguist Professor Henry Higgins; whether through elocution lessons, she can be passed off as "a lady" in just 6 months time...!
Now on a personal level, I have seen the film but not for a long time, and I hadn't seen it on stage until now, so there were a lot of gaps I had in my head in terms of what was going on.
Before I mention anything else, let me tell you that the 38-piece orchestra made such a difference.
My Fair Lady is not a show I listen to regularly, so I hadn't really appreciated how rich Loewe's score is. Being held in the Coliseum, home of the ENO, they took advantage of the huge orchestral pit the space allows, and let rip! With Alex Parker at the conductor's baton, this is one Overture you weren't secretly hoping would end already!
The production itself is also incredibly chic, especially in its costumes - no wonder Catherine Zuber won that Tony. It may not be until the races and ball scenes where she truly gets to let loose, and after those scenes, appreciate the simple costumes of Eliza's old life a lot more, before letting loose again in Get Me To The Church On Time.
The backdrops are beautiful, like watercolour paintings you see in a gallery; having said that though the set itself can be a bit hot and cold. It can be empty apart from a staircase in one scene to the very intricate detail of Higgin's house with almost no in-between...
But speaking of Higgins; I would LOATHE him if I met him in real life.
This is of course of no disrespect to Harry Haddon-Paton's performance. In fact, he was fantastic; charming but so almost childishly ignorant of his microaggressions until his mother (played superbly by Heather Jackson (u/s)) or Eliza put him in his place. Higgins is definitely a man of his era, and for a 2022 audience, is a victim of the book. Don't believe me? Well, two of his songs are clear to his prejudice about women, and people who "can't speak English properly".
While he isn't Gaston level due to actually having a heart of some description, his misogynistic attitude, and the things he was saying both about Eliza behind her back AND to her face provided many audible gasps and winces from the audience. Trust me, there is many a line and a theme in this show that after the #MeToo movement, feels very uncomfortable for a modern audience.
And this is why Amara Okereke's performance as Eliza is so important.
Eliza is ambitious, confident, strong, independent and brave. Okereke plays her with all of that, and a backbone of steel. She refuses to take ANY of Higgins' BS, meeting him head on. And it's not just Higgins she buts heads with: also her Father (Stephen K Amos) concerning his drinking habit, and Freddy (Sharif Afifi) asking him to "Show Me" when he ignorantly isn't aware of what exactly she needs.
I've never fully understood why this was such a coveted role for a soprano - now I do, especially compared to the one-note parts many are sadly written or performed as. Eliza in the beginning has a confidence that would make her very good friends with Oliver's Nancy, scenes that involve comic timing worthy of She Loves Me's Amalia (also an incredible soprano part). And then this gorgeous voice that comes out of Okereke during the big number I Could Have Danced All Night like a lark. She was phenomenal.
If you want a classic piece, then My Fair Lady is a good shout. It's not a perfect production, but it's elegant, chic, and I definitely appreciate they've brought in blocking touches and acting decisions to address the problematic elements of the piece for a 2022 audience. Especially near the ending, but of course, no spoilers.
It is in fact a great gateway show: for parents and grandparents: for opera fans; and also for Downton Abbey fans, not just with Haddon-Paton being in it, but with it also being quite a feminist piece set during a similar time. I can dream Eliza finding kinship with ladies Mary, Edith and Sybil can't I?
The run at the London Coliseum is in its final weeks, ending 27th August, before going on tour. So far, only Bradford, Dublin, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Southampton and Birmingham have been announced. I'm assuming more are to come?
Oh and two more things: one where the merchandise shop was for Hairspray, there is now a full-fledged flower shop!
Two, THIS is why the best present you can give a theatre fan is vouchers - because I managed to get the ticket for £2.80! Thanks Mum and Dad! 😉
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