Theatre Guild of Hampden, Wilbraham, MA
through June 22, 2019
by Michael J. Moran
With its enthralling new production, Theatre Guild of
Hampden (TGH) has created a “My Fair Lady” for the 21st century. By judicious
use of supporting cast members, director Paula Cortis spotlights how the women
in her cast routinely outwit the men who have all the advantages in the sexist
class system of 1912 London. When the curtain comes down on this battle of the
sexes between Professor Henry Higgins and flower girl Eliza Doolittle, whom he
trains as a “lady” in six months, there’s no doubt who has the upper hand.
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| Giza and Westbrook |
In a triumphant return to acting after a 30-year hiatus,
Mark Giza, best known to local audiences as TGH’s artistic director, is a
pompous and persnickety Higgins, his “dream role” to play since he was 18 years
old. As his student, nemesis, and potential love interest, Jeannine Westbrook
is a revelatory Eliza. Her comic and dramatic acting chops match Giza’s, and
her glorious soprano voice reflects her musical training at the Hartt School in
Hartford. Paul DiProto is a hyperactive hoot as Eliza’s ne’er-do-well father
and “moral philosopher” Alfred Doolittle.
Brian Rucci is remarkably convincing both as the gentlemanly
Colonel Pickering, Higgins’s fellow linguist, and as Jamie, Alfred’s
loose-limbed drinking companion. David Webber’s magnetic stage presence and
ringing tenor voice make Eliza’s lovelorn suitor, Freddy Eynsford-Hill, into
more than a fatuous cipher. And Tracey Hebert brings a welcome touch of ditsy
humor to the wisdom of Mrs. Higgins, Henry’s exasperated mother.
Musical highlights include: a jubilant “With a Little Bit of
Luck” featuring DiProto; an exhilarating “The Rain in Spain” highlighting
Westbrook; and a rapturous “On the Street Where You Live” from Webber, in which
the presence of four women (but not Eliza) on stage suggests that he’d be
nothing without them. Cortis’ similar staging of “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her
Face” has an equally bracing power. Her stiff-upper-lip “Ascot Gavotte” is
hilariously presented on the theatre floor in front of the stage at Minnechaug
Regional High School in Wilbraham, almost literally in the audience’s face.
Elegant period costumes by Rob Williamson, imaginative
choreography (including several exuberant tap dance sequences) by Melissa
Dupont, and lively musical direction by Karen Ducharme and her seven-piece
band, along with the timeless lyrics and music of Lerner and Loewe, also make this
a must-see show.
