Music: Frederick Loewe
Book and Lyrics: Alan Jay Lerner
Director: James Brining
Opera North and Leeds Playhouse have chosen to collaborate on the Lerner and Loewe classic musical My Fair Lady, and they have made some interesting choices. Hot on the heels of the highly regarded Oliver, expectations were high for this interpretation of the absolute classic musical, with Director James Brining at the helm once more.
The story of Pygmalion is re-imagined as a Victorian tale in which gutter snipe Eliza Doolittle meets Professor of Phonetics Henry Higgins and decides to learn how to speak ‘proper’. In doing so she becomes (on the outside at least) an upper-class lady, able to fool just about everyone. In doing so she realises that she no longer belongs with her working class peers, nor does she belong with the upper classes with their money and their Ascot visits. What will become of her?
The set is clever, set mainly on two levels, with a third level reserved entirely for ‘real’ rain, it all looks incredibly authentic. A traditional tiled Victorian London pub complete with cobbles outside is the centre piece, and the rest of the scenes are represented through props and pieces of furniture that come on and off for the most part. The inside of the pub even successfully transforms into a botanical garden at one point, which is a nice touch. The staircases are used to good effect, with the exception maybe of a somewhat precarious entrance and exit point of a trap door in the stage, revealing an awkward set of stairs that the actors have to navigate quite carefully.
Sound wise, this production is difficult to fault. Every voice is individually excellent, and in harmony they are quite beautiful. Ensemble pieces were particularly impressive vocally, it very much feels that this is the strength and focus of the production and is a joy to listen to throughout.
Another strength is the inclusion of a number of key actors who really make an impact. First and foremost is John Hopkins, playing the clever but petulant and downright stroppy man-child, Professor Henry Higgins. Hopkins is an absolute delight, playing Higgins for laughs in an unusual way, adding wit and perfect timing to lines that suddenly sound quite different than the film or even previous productions. Brining states that this version is squarely Eliza’s story, but this show felt very much like Higgins was the one who was absolutely central – to excellent effect. Hopkins and Dean Robinson (Colonel Pickering) were the perfect pairing and Pickering was the excellent straight man to Higgins’s buffoonery.
Mark Burghagen cleverly wrings every single drop of comedy and character out of his scene stealing part, Professor Zoltan Karpathy. To take your eyes off him at the Embassy Ball is to miss the incredible movements and facial expressions Burghagen has imbued Karpathy with. Meanwhile Ahmed Hamad plays Freddie Eynsford-Hill as less of a handsome but vapid character, and more of a slightly bumbling, lovelorn drip. Think Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel Air. No, really. And it works.
Choices were made in this production regarding both costumes and choreography that were less impressive. A palette of warm biscuit, sepia and brown tones did not translate well, and some of the usual stand out moments were lost due to the lack of impact of costume choices. Neither Eliza’s Embassy Ball dress nor her Ascot attire had the desired ‘wow factor’ and the authenticity of many of the costumes meant that actors were under a number of layers – any interesting footwork therefore was pretty much lost, and the clothing seemed both hot and cumbersome on occasion, particularly for the women. The transformation of Eliza from flower girl to ‘lady’ was so small that it felt like a Clark Kent/Superman moment when she returned to Covent Garden and nobody recognised her. How is it possible that they don’t see who she is? Overall certainly not the ‘feast for the eyes’ costume designer Madeleine Boyd had in mind.
The costumes then impacted the dancing, what little there was of it. The choreography was predictable and obvious and was the area that let the show down. Possibly there was less dancing in favour of keeping the voices strong, but My Fair Lady has clear dance breaks and they weren’t utilised to good effect. There was a lot of walking and posing and it felt like the clearly talented dancers were not being used to their full potential. Big numbers like With a Little Bit of Luck, Get Me to the Church on Time and the Embassy Waltz could have been made much more interesting if there was more choreography and less basic movement.
That being said, there is a lot to like about this production, so for the most part the audience were coming away satisfied, But, just like the slightly odd ending in which it is unclear if Higgins and Eliza are even in the same room, and Eliza is back to wearing her flower girl outfit, it was adequate as opposed to incredible.
Runs until 29th June 2024.
