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My Fair Lady

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

15 -31 May
State Theatre, Melbourne

My Fair Lady, Lerner and Loewe's musical adaptation of the Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, took Broadway by storm in the '50s, where it kept good company with other 'golden age' musicals like Guys and Dolls (now playing in Melbourne) and West Side Story.

It's a story that we're oh-so familiar with - and not simply because Pygmalion has done the rounds on school syllabuses for years: it seems we all love a classic rags-to-riches tale. Sitting in the audience on the opening night of Opera Australia's 2008 stunning take on My Fair Lady, I was struck by how much this rang true.

Eliza Doolittle (Taryn Fiebig) is transformed from common Cockney flower girl into an English lady, thanks to Henry Higgins' gruelling (one could say misogynist) training in the art of phonetics (a role superbly played by Reg Livermore). Eliza doesn't look like she's having much fun - but never mind - she is eventually passed off as a Duchess and that's all that matters. When she cracked the code of how to pronounce the rain in Spain with perfection, the audience cheered. At the Embassy Ball she emerged radiant in her gorgeously shimmering dress and the lady (or woman) in front of me nearly jumped out of her seat with joy; I've never seen anyone look so happy for a complete stranger. Hurrah! A princess has risen from the ashes.

But I'm no wannabe princess and for me, the heart of My Fair Lady on Friday night lay in the music. It was pure joy to hear Taryn Fiebig sing a showstopper like Wouldn't it Be Loverly - and her rendition of I Could Have Danced all Night, set against a haunting moon back-drop, is forever etched in my mind. I was also struck by the vocal purity of Matthew Robinson (Freddy) in his Opera Australia debut. With some help from the orchestral harmonies of the ensemble singers, Robert Grubb's (Alfred P Doolitle's) Get Me to the Church on Time brought the house down with laughter.

Set designer Richard Roberts and costume designer Roger Kirk have meticulously recreated the look of the era with elegance and style. The enormous colour-themed hats that teeter delightfully in the beautifully choreographed race scene are quite exquisite.

And despite the show's origins, there's not the slightest whiff of that American accent we associate with the Broadway musical. In a noughties culture super-saturated with all things American, I found that particularly refreshing.

Judith Hatton, Arts Editor, Citysearch