With a linguistically and lyrically lilting and ever-so-uplifting Lerner and Loewe extravaganza of a score that includes songs like Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, I Could Have Danced All Night, Get Me to the Church on Time, On the Street Where You Live and The Rain in Spain, you know you’re in for a treat going to see My Fair Lady on stage.
Then add a cleverly revolving set, superbly sumptuous and colourful costumes, spine-tingling singing and energetic faultless comedic and emotion-filled acting, and you’ve got something really special.
Directed by Bartlett Sher, this production warms the cockles from start to finish.
As well as immaculate performances from the leads (who you may not have seen before unless you’re a regular West End or Broadway attendee) the cast boasts famous faces taking a turn from tv to stage.
Adam Woodyatt (Ian Beale, Eastenders) surprises with a robust, energetic and excellently hammed up performance as Eliza’s estranged father Alfred P. Doolittle. And John Middleton (Emmerdale) is perfect as the kind and calming understated Colonel Pickering – a perfect foil to his over-excitable friend Higgins.
World-famous soprano Lesley Garrett plays Mrs Pearce – if only there were more songs in this musical she could lend her voice to, as she’s spectacularly under-used here!
Charlotte Kennedy is a delight as Eliza Doolittle. Hitting the right note between comedy and brashness at the start, to sensitivity and reflection at the finish – and her voice is angelic, too.
Absolutely storming the stage in his role as linguistics professor Henry Higgins is Michael D. Xavier. He strikes all the right chords as the blunt scholar lacking in any empathy for Eliza and with no time for the hypocrisy of the social hierarchy of the time.
Racing up and down the sweeping staircase of his study, barking out orders and calling Eliza insulting names, his transformation into a man who can’t do without the face he’s grown used to having around is a real treat to see.
The stage set is fantastic – revolving as it does from the grandeur of the professor’s study to bathroom, hallway and front door; from the drab and dirty streets of London to the pristine, clean perfection of the upper classes at the races and the raucousness of public houses.
Costumes are a delight to the eye – from the drab and tatty dresses and dirty leathers of the Victorian working class, to the genteel smoking jackets of the educated rich; the deep red taffetas of the bawdy dancing girls to the pale blue, pink and white silks and feathers of the super-rich at the races, it’s not difficult to see why My Fair Lady won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design.
Catch the performance until November 26 at the Wales Millennium Centre