Revival of the Cameron/Mackintosh/National Theatre production; dir. Trevor Nunn, choreography and musical staging by Matthew Bourne, and production design by Anthony Ward.
I saw this last night at the Hancher in IC, and it was a captivating, magical performance. I’m not going to do an NYT-style review, but here are some of the things that stood out:
The sets: The sets were incredible. Truly. Transitions between sets were flawless (and fascinating). Having worked backstage at much smaller performances, I’m sure there was stress and friction and things were going wrong, but frontstage, it was perfect. The study set especially was wonderful. The lighting was also very good and used to good effect, although there were some very minor glitches like spots coming on a second too late or not quite on the right spot. However, these were almost unnoticeable. I especially liked the “rain” effect lights in Covent Garden. All in all, sets and lighting worked to create a lovely setting for the cast. Also, let me not forget, the costumes were excellent.
The ensemble cast: If ever a play was carried by the ensemble, this is it. Keep an eye out for “With a Little Bit of Luck”, which was the best -executed song of the evening. Especially, keep an eye out for the dustbin lid dancers (Harlan Bengel, Kyle DesChamps, John Scaccehetti, and Byron St. Cyr), who topped off the dancing with a highly entertaining piece of – well, dustbin lid dancing.
The main cast: Christopher Cazenove was good as Henry Higgins, though I came off feeling like he was playing Rex Harrison playing HH – there was some room for interpretation. Lisa O’Hare was also very good as Eliza Doolittle. My only quibble is that her voice isn’t very powerful – a bit thin. Nevertheless, she has a beautiful voice, perfect pitch, and is a very good actress.
The star of the show, without any doubt, is Tim Jerome, who plays a delightfully charming Alfred P. Doolittle. Mr. Jerome got the loudest applause at curtains, and well-deserved it was. He has a splendid, powerful voice, dynamic stage presence, and portrayed this character with flourish and aplomb. Mr. Jerome, you made my evening, and you carried this play. Go see this production, if only for him.
Some other good performances, although in cameo: Sally Ann Howes as Mrs. Higgins (Ms. Howes has played Eliza Doolittle on stage in the late 1950s, and I will never forget her as Truly Scrumptious), and Justin Bohon, who has a stellar voice, as Freddy Eyensford-Hill. Walter Charles has good command of comedic timing as Col. Hugh Pickering. The character is somewhat colorless, though, which is not Mr. Charles’ fault.
The music: The orchestra was very good, though it was the source of my main – my only – grouse with the play. It was too loud. the singers had to sing really loud to be heard over it, and the finer nuances of the songs were lost to the music. It was a bit disappointing, really, as I had to strain to hear anything that was sung a little softly. I really had trouble with those parts. My friend who plays clarinet tells me the clarinet needed a new reed. I don’t know much about that, but she does, so I thought I’d put that down too.
It was a lovely evening, the cast and crew got a standing ovation (three bows before they ran away), and everyone should have gone home happy.
