Review - My Fair Lady

Sorry again for the radio silence.  For some reason, it's getting harder and harder to find time to put my thoughts on (virtual) paper.  I don't know if I'm just too tired, too busy at work, or if my blog lifespan is winding down.  I have a few shows to report on, so I'm a bit behind.  We'll see if I can get reports on them all out into cyberspace - then I will need to find time for some serious reflection...

Anyway, I am grateful I got to spend some time with my family a couple of weekends ago - my sweetheart of a nephew graduated from high school and we had a good time celebrating.  We also had a birthday party/picnic for my aunts and nearly the entire extended family came, plus I spent some quality time with my sweetheart.  We watched movies together on tv (I've seen more superhero movies than I ever need to) and struck a bargain: if I went to see Deadpool 2 with him, he'll go see The Incredibles 2 with me when I'm home next for his graduation party.  It seemed a fair deal to me.  I didn't love Deadpool 2 - it's a little too gory and a little too snarky for my tastes, but I laughed now and then, some of it was clever, and I get a kick out of my sweetheart's love of laughing at my reactions.  So it was win-win.  I'll keep you posted on whether he keeps his end of the bargain.  I'll put a few pictures from my fun trip at the bottom of the post.

When I got back into the office last Wednesday, one of my very terrific Tony voter bosses asked if I'd like to see the matinee of My Fair Lady.  Well, even though I was really tired, I happily accepted!  I was supposed to see the show with someone else, but our schedules got all tangled up and we ended up not going together.  This kind invitation was sort of kismet, don't you think?

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

I've actually never seen My Fair Lady on stage.  At least I don't think I have.  But I was supposed to be in a production a million years ago.  I still remember the director telling me I was the best actress who auditioned, but my singing...left something to be desired.  So I was cast as Mrs. Higgins.  Whatever.  It would've been fun to do the show, but the production was scrapped and I've been hoping to see it every since.  I've seen the film countless times, naturally, but I was eager to see another big revival produced by Lincoln Center and directed by Bartlett Sher.  I enjoyed his productions of South Pacific and The King and I, so I was hopeful for My Fair Lady.

I did enjoy myself, quite a bit.  There's so much to appreciate, not the least of which are those delicious song lyrics.  And the performances, for the most part, are excellent.  But I didn't have quite the rapturous experience that most critics seemed to have and it didn't enchant me the way Sher's other productions did.  I can't quite put my finger on why, though.  Maybe I was just too tired to completely love anything I saw, but after it was over, I was left wanting.  I even felt a bit pandered to, as if I were being appeased or something (the suffragettes just made me mad instead of empowering me).  Maybe it was merely a slow, tired matinee performance.  I just don't know.

The opening of the production seemed a bit leaden, with no air and sparkle anywhere.  It was terrifically sung and nicely paced, but I don't know.  It was just earthbound.  Things did pick up around the last third of the first act, so that was good.  There are fewer songs in the second act, and surprisingly, I had some trouble with the scenework.  After all the discussion made of how this was a production for the #metoo era, I thought that the acting would be tip top and would open my eyes to new aspects of the piece.  No, not so much.  There were some acting quirks that kept me from fully engaging with a lot of character development and, because they seemed to be hammering the acting so hard, I suddenly found some holes in the plot (or at least some questions I had never considered before).

photo credit: Joan Marcus

I was taken aback, however, by the glorious singing by Lauren Ambrose.  Her voice was effortless and lovely and it's hard to believe this is her first Broadway musical.  I enjoy her work, so I was surprised I found a lot of her acting to be overly mannered and strained.  Though her last scene was quite good.  I enjoyed Harry Hadden-Paton very much - he's a younger, more physically vigorous Higgins and I thought he had a nice chemistry with Ambrose.  Allan Corduner is a longtime favorite of mine and he was lovely as Colonel Pickering.  Jordan Donica was wonderful as Freddy, very dreamy and sweet, and Diana Rigg was luxury casting as Mrs. Higgins - just tart and delightful.  I normally love Norbert Leo Butz but I felt him trying too hard here (as Alfred P Doolittle).  

I'm in the minority with my quibbles, though.  The audience went into raptures and the reviews are equally giddy.  There was one particular review that made me think, "gee, I wish I had seen what she saw!"  Ultimately, though, I'm glad I saw this production of My Fair Lady - it's of course handsomely presented and the orchestra sounded grand.  And I have to mention Alan Jay Lerner's exquisite lyrics again - just grand.  I figure we won't get another revival for at least twenty years, so...this one will have to do.  I just wish I could put my finger on why I didn't find it as loverly has everyone else seemed to.  Hm.