Grand musical makes more room for feelings

DIRECTOR Joseph Pitcher first brought My Fair Lady to the Mill at Sonning eight years ago, and with this latest production, he is getting up close and personal.

Joseph, who has also directed High Society, Guys and Dolls, The Whistling and the award-winning Gypsy at the riverside theatre, says: “We’re telling the story in a slightly different way.

“A lot of it is inspired by what we did before, because I was really proud of that production, but I think we’re just trying to create an evolution of what we did before and see if we can take some of the ideas further.

“My Fair Lady is obviously traditionally done on a more spectacular scale. Obviously the film was very grand, I think at the time it was one of the most expensive movies ever made.

“Doing a piece like this in a far more intimate setting is actually really exciting.

“At its core, it’s based on Pygmalion, this amazingly progressive play by George Bernard Shaw.

“My Fair Lady is pretty true to Pygmalion in lots of ways and so I think doing it on an intimate scale allows us to understand that it’s actually about real people and real lives. Yes, it has amazing music, beautiful costumes and great design and it’s Lerner and Loewe’s finest score, but I think it’s so lovely to see these characters kind of close up and really dig into what makes them tick.

“Particularly, the relationship between Eliza and Higgins I think is really interesting.”

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s musical came to Broadway in 1956, starring Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, coming to the West End two years later. It was followed by a film version in 1964, starring Audrey Hepburn and Harrison.

In the story, Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle becomes the guinea pig of professor Henry Higgins, who coaches her with elocution lessons in order to pass her as a “lady” in high society.

The music score features songs such as Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?, On the Street Where You Live and I Could Have Danced All Night.

Simbi Akande plays Eliza Doolittle, with Nadim Naaman playing Henry Higgins.

Alfie Blackwell is Freddy Eynsford-Hill (with Will Foggin as cover), Sophie-Louise Dann is Mrs Higgins/Mrs Hopkins and Francesca Ellis is Mrs Pearce/Mrs Eynsford-Hill.

Conor McFarlane is Jamie, Mark Moraghan is Alfred P Doolittle, Christopher Parkinson is Zoltan Karpathy, Jo Servi is Colonel Pickering and James William-Pattison is Harry.

The ensemble comprises Zaynah Ahmed (on-stage swing), Imogen Bailey (dance captain), Emma Fraser and Nadia Kramer.

Joseph is co-choreographer along with Alex Christian. Set design is by Diego Pitarch, costumes by Natalie Titchener, sound by Chris Whybrow and lighting by Jamie Platt.

Music direction is by Nick Tudor, with supervision and arrangements by Charlie Ingles. Matthew Jeans is assistant director, with Jane Deitch as casting director. Joseph is focusing on the key characters, Eliza and Higgins, and how their relationship develops.

“Obviously the piece is what the piece is,” he says, “you work with what’s on the page and the music that’s there.

“George Bernard Shaw, who wrote Pygmalion, was adamant that there was no romantic relationship between Eliza and Higgins, in fact he wrote a whole epilogue to the play which claimed that Eliza married Freddie, who is the kind of secondary love interest and that Higgins carried on as before.

“My Fair Lady is a different piece and it can stand on its own two feet. Re-investigating it I was really keen to cast actors who were closer in age, because it feels like there definitely is a spark and something that grows.

“Higgins goes on as much of a journey as Eliza in many ways. He starts out the play completely emotionally inept and learns from Eliza how to engage with human relationships on a more emotional level. That’s been really interesting to explore with Simbi and Nadim.”

The cast and creatives are making the most of the intimate space at the Mill, says Joseph.

“We’re very lucky to have this theatre on our doorstep. It just astounds me the skill that’s just in this little building.

“This is a brilliant place to come and see really quality theatre.”

l My Fair Lady is at the Mill at Sonning until Saturday, January 17. For more information, call 0118 969 8000 or visit millatsonning.com