On my way to see Clackamas Repertory Theatre’s My Fair Lady on August 8, I wondered if the company would give the classic musical a contemporary spin. I’d read about one New York production that changed the ending so that a defiant Eliza Doolittle walked out on the obnoxious Henry Higgins, making a pointed feminist statement that might have been satisfying to see, as long as it didn’t feel contrived.
Clackamas Rep’s staging, directed by Karlyn Love, forgoes such social commentary. Its aim is to entertain—something it achieves with aplomb and lots of tweed and chiffon.
Featuring lush music by Frederick Loewe and a witty book that Alan Jay Lerner adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady opened on Broadway in 1956. The story is set in 1912 London, where Higgins (Leif Norby), a wealthy phonetics professor, takes in Eliza, a Cockney flower girl (Voni Kengla), and teaches her how to speak with a posh accent so he can pass her off as an upper-class debutante.
Both Kengla and Norby bring polish to the lead parts, but for those of us who have the story memorized, it’s the spirited ensemble—combined with clever costumes and choreography—that make the show feel fresh. Audiences may always be aghast and/or amused at Higgins’ abundant arrogance, but it’s a surprise to hear how sweetly—and wistfully—the Cockney men in this production sound as they sing the first lines of “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” The sight of Higgins’ sleepy servants sprawled on chairs, where they’ve waited all night to hear if Eliza passed muster at the embassy ball, is another delight.
In a play about status and appearances, Sydney Dufka’s costumes complement the different characters, with muted chiffon dresses for the aristocratic ladies and a crisp windowpane plaid suit for Higgins, while the Cockneys are garbed in tweedy browns and grays. At the Ascot Racecourse scene, Eliza’s overblown hat also speaks volumes. With a plethora of long curling feathers, it resembles a cartoon octopus—a sign that she still doesn’t belong with this snooty group. Compounding the comedy, the well-heeled racing fans stiffly wave their white hankies to express enthusiasm and promenade en masse with absurdly tiny bourrée steps.
Supporting characters such as Todd Hermanson as a drunkenly gleeful Alfred Doolittle add spice to the show, too, as does Melissa Standley as Higgins’ proper but put-upon housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce. Watch her face as Higgins sings “Why Can’t a Woman Be More Like a Man?” and you’ll see her expression is the Edwardian equivalent of asking her boss what he’s been smoking. The moony Freddy Eynsford-Hill (Dylan Macabitas) also surprises as he gracefully spins and waltzes his way through Laura Hiszczynskyj’s choreography before dropping to the floor in exaggerated agony over his love for Eliza.
For such moments, Christopher D. Whitten’s set designs provide a basic backdrop. High arched windows and a checkerboard floor in shades of lavender and cream suggest, with minor changes, different locations. Some potted plants and swooping ribbons grace the embassy ballroom, while a wooden cart conjures Covent Garden, where the Cockneys warm their hands over a glowing trash can. A center screen with projected images, such as a street or library, completes the picture for each locale.
Sponsor
As the leads, Kengla and Norby stay pretty close to their counterparts in the 1964 Oscar-winning movie, while adding a few nice touches of their own. Kengla’s agile soprano (accompanied by a live orchestra conducted by Lars Campbell) is impressive, but she’s also an accomplished comedian. With an admirable lack of vanity, she mugs while trying to recite Tennyson with a mouth full of marbles. Later, when challenging the punctilious professor in “Without You,” she embodies Eliza’s growing confidence with muscular gestures that mime someone pulling in the tide and making the earth spin.
Since Rex Harrison starred as Higgins both on Broadway and in the movie, you could argue that his distinctive delivery is the definitive way to portray the professor. It’s been years since I’ve seen the film, but I can still hear the way he warned Eliza that “the aaaaangels will weep for you.”
How to live up to such a performance without relying on mimicry? While his portrayal isn’t as exaggerated as Harrison’s, Norby makes Higgins’ character arc as interesting as Eliza’s. We see this as they romp around the stage with Colonel Pickering (Mike Dederian) to the lively “The Rain in Spain.” Whether Higgins is a misogynist or a full-on misanthrope, he now abandons his left brain and embraces the sheer joy of dancing with his friends.
In the end, Eliza proves her independence, and Higgins seems to be developing a sense of humor about his own flaws, developments that pave the way for them to maintain some sort of relationship–whether it’s platonic or something else–without making a contemporary audience cringe. While Higgins has berated Eliza throughout the play, calling her a “creature” and an “insect,” the warm look on Norby’s face just before the lights dim implies the professor might actually be becoming something close to human himself.
***
My Fair Lady is onstage through August 25 at the Osterman Theatre at Clackamas Community College, 19600 Molalla Avenue, Oregon City. Tickets: 503-594-6047 or online at clackamasrep.org.
Sponsor
