I tried quite hard to temper my expectations of the Sydney run of Opera Australia‘s My Fair Lady for two reasons. First, My Fair Lady is my favourite musical; it has an impeccable book (Lerner pays homage to G.B. Shaw’s Pygmalion), it provides for bravura performances from its two leads (Professor Henry Higgins as the phonetician who bets he can turn Eliza Doolittle from gutter snipe to flower lady), and it has some shoulder-shimmying, interval-humming showtunes (penned by Loewe). Secondly, and not insignificantly, I adore Richard E. Grant who has taken on the role of Higgins in Sydney.
Given these factors, my greatest fear was that I would be disappointed. After all, the very capable Reg Livermore throughout the year has scuffed the comfortable moccasins Rex Harrison donned from West End stage to 1964 film, upon the stages of one Australian city to another. Other notable performers to play Higgins include Anthony Warlow (the greatest gift to musical theatre since some wondrous soul thought to set story to song) in the late nineties and Jeremy Irons in a 1987 LSO recording opposite Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
If Grant was concerned about following such comparable acts, he (and I) needn’t have been, for his first musical outing was an assured debut.
It helps of course that the production is largely the same since it began touring in early 2008. The ensemble is resoundingly good; their collective accomplishments could cushion a lesser performance, as is the case with John Wood in the role of Eliza’s father, Alfred P. Doolittle. Grant, ever so slightly unsteady in his first number “Why Can’t the English?” is buffeted by the chorus, but finds his strength, and his voice, in each subsequent scene.
There is a visceral vitality to Grant’s Higgins that I could scarcely imagine contributing to Livermore. Grant paces across the stage, bounds up the stairs, leaps upon the furniture, and leans (and I really cannot stress just how mesmerising it is to watch Grant lean without vanity, without any undertone of indolence) into the set pieces with unbridled energy. How extraordinary it then is, in the final scene, when Henry is lost without Eliza that Grant’s movements slow, the character is broken and Grant folds in upon himself – all that remains is stillness and silence. Just heart breaking.
Enough gushing about Grant, he is but one half of the story. Taryn Fiebig as Eliza Doolittle is simply remarkable. A scant number of years ago she was part of Opera Australia’s Young Artist Program and she has proven herself with this production to be worthy of every piece of praise that is attributed to her. Fiebig has a host of formidable predecessors in the role of Eliza: Julie Andrews, Audrey Hepburn, and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, to name but three. Like Grant, Fiebig need not avoid comparison, for she was an ideal Eliza – strong of spirit and song, she was joyous to watch.
There are (arguably) two distinct schools of My Fair Lady audience: you either view Henry and Eliza as an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force, whose momentum stalls at platonic, pedagogical symbiosis, or, you view the friction between the two as necessary foreplay that facilitates their union. As an incurable romantic I am firmly in the latter camp reading every veiled glance, barest inflection and merest of movement as evidence of growing affection between Eliza and Henry. To this end, this production delivers many such moments making the show all the more engaging.
The set and costumes skilfully reference the well-loved 1964 film while creating a look all of its own. The supporting actors, particularly Nancy Hayes as Henry’s mother, Mrs Higgins, and Matthew Robinson as Eliza’s thwarted suitor, Freddy Eynsford-Hill, are delightful to behold.
My Fair Lady is a charming addition to the Opera Australia season. I expect detractors will bemoan musical theatre impinging upon purists’ opportunity to see “real” opera. To them I say this popular production has not compromised the quality of the company and will easily finance whatever obscure operas may take the artistic director’s fancy in years to come. The producers may not only have a success on their hands, they may well have introduced a new and receptive audience to the beauty of stage musicals and not before time.
PM: 8.5/10
My Fair Lady, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe, d. Stuart Maunder (Opera Australia 2008 Season)
Post-show with Richard E Grant (and Michael Caton
Richard is apparently having a ball doing the show as well. I haven’t yet seen it myself, but I’ve heard good things about it.
By the way, why link to IMDB when Richard has his own site at http://www.richard-e-grant.com? It’s a shame his site is beat out by IMDB all the time (currently number 2 in Google).
I saw My Fair Lady yesterday afternoon with my wife and two sons.
Richard E Grant was quite simply superb. The rest, however, I found to be utterly flat. I am from London and have seen many many musicals over the years, including the West End version of this wonderful musical. However, whether it was the Taryn Fiebig’s apalling “accents” (both the cockney one and the posh one), or an utter lack of choreography or an overall lack of energy throughout the entire show I am uncertain – either way, I am filled with disappointment.
It should be renamed the “Murder of My Fair Lady”.
Miss M, I must from the outset say that I have not seen this particular production of My Fair Lady. I too must confess I have an immense appreciation for both the film and Richard E Grant.
I think you are right when you say that what would make this so rich and unique is seeing Grant bring his own brilliance into a different genre. Tackling a play that has so much history could be daunting. I look forward to seeing this given your wonderfully penned review.
It’s coool