A Fair Fair Lady
Just back from a late preview of My Fair Lady at the Coliseum.
This is a transfer of the acclaimed Lincoln Centre Theatre’s production, and it is very much an homage to the first London and Broadway productions and the film, with beautiful sets and heightened imagination period clothes.
Amara Okereke’s Eliza (we last saw her in The Boyfriend at the Menier) sings well, and gives real oomph to some numbers, but perhaps at times sings slightly too well – her voice seeming too trained). Harry Hadden-Paton enthusiastically reprises his Tony nominated Henry Higgins and Venessa Redgrave plays his mother, gamely waving her elegant hospital crutch (a necessity, not part of her costume) at the curtain call.
Stephen K Amos plays Alfred Doolittle – his acting and comic timing I’m afraid far surpassing his singing voice. Malcolm Sinclair as Colonel Pickering delivers everything you might hope for.
This is very much a ‘straight’ production (give or take some unlikely drag queens during Doolittle’s stag night number) – but the set dancing is good and the staging excellent, with very realistic indoor sets (all on a revolve) and finely hinted at exteriors.
Other than setting it on Mars, acted by polar bears in fright wigs and with only kazoos for accompaniment it would be quite difficult to ruin this musical, and this production takes few risks in that direction, although moving ‘I could have danced all night..’ back to the first act does change the whole take on that number, not necessarily in a bad way.
The curtain call got a standing ovation, it is true, but I’m not sure this version of this production is quite there yet.