Opera House Players at Broad Brook, Broad Brook, CT
through November 27, 2016
by Michael J. Moran
In the program book’s “Director’s Notes,” Anna Giza observes
that “My Fair Lady” is “often referred to as the most popular musical of all
time,” winning six Tony Awards for the original Broadway production in 1957 and
eight Academy Awards for the movie in 1964. After seeing the Opera House
Players’ exhilarating take on this classic show, it’s easy to understand why.
The musical is based on the play “Pygmalion” in which a
Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, is transformed into a lady through speech
lessons from Professor Henry Higgins. Shaw’s edgy satire of the British class
system in 1912 London is softened by Lerner and Loewe’s stronger focus on the
budding romance between student and teacher.
This production benefits enormously from a star-making
performance by 17-year-old Caelie Flanagan as Eliza. Her strident protests
against Professor Higgins’ discourtesies in the opening scene are just as
grating on the audience’s ears as on his. But when she starts getting the right
pronunciation in “The Rain in Spain,” her now limpid tone is equally caressing
to the ear. With acting chops to match her lovely singing voice, Flanagan has a
bright future on the stage.
While there’s not a weak link in the 21-member cast, other
standouts include: Gene Choquette, irascible yet sympathetic as Higgins; Robert
Lunde, a hoot as his dotty comical sidekick and fellow linguist, Col.
Pickering; Dennis J. Scott, hilarious as Eliza’s ne’er-do-well father, Alfred
P. Doolittle; and, in a brilliant stroke of luxury casting, the radiant Erica
Romeo investing every word from Mrs. Higgins (the professor’s caring,
exasperated mother) with dramatic weight.
Musical highlights include: Choquette’s vulnerable “I’ve
Grown Accustomed to Her Face;” Scott’s rollicking “With a Little Bit of Luck;”
and a touching “On the Street Where You Live” from Michael Graham Morales as
Eliza’s hapless suitor Freddie Eynsford-Hill.
Inventive choreography by director Giza, sensitive lighting
by Diane St. Amand, period-perfect costumes by Moonyean Field, resourceful set
design by Francisco Aguas, and expansive support from musical director Kelly
Sharp’s four-person band further enhance this gem of a production.
