The classic musical was adapted from George Bernard Shaw\u2019s 1912 play and Gabriel Pascal\u2019s 1938 motion picture, \u201cPygmalion.\u201d Shaw (1856-1950) hated the idea of turning the work into a musical, and during his lifetime refused to allow it.<\/p>\n Director Sean Murray, who is artistic director of Cygnet Theatre, cast himself as Professor Henry Higgins, as he did when Cygnet was in Rolando. The role suits him to a tee and he plays it with great ease and understanding, singing much more than Rex Harrison, the original musical\u2019s Henry.<\/p>\n Murray sets his production in 1936. One supposes fashions in 1936 take up much less room than those of an earlier era. Additionally, the show makes do with only 10 performers plus six exceptional instrumentalists (strings, keyboard, woodwinds, and percussion) including music director\/conductor Patrick Marion.<\/p>\n Higgins encounters Eliza Doolittle (Allison Spratt Pearce, a soprano who loves singing) at Covent Garden, where she is a flower seller. The same evening he also encounters Colonel Pickering (Tom Stephenson), a fellow language expert. When Eliza\u2019s cockney grows too much to bear, Higgins bets Pickering he could pass her off as a duchess if given six months to teach her proper speech. A m\u00e9nage a trois ensues, with the two middle-aged men who have nothing but language in mind and a young woman intent on the promise of self improvement and independence (\u201cI Could Have Danced All Night\u201d).<\/p>\n Murray\u2019s directorial secret involves excellence and depth of the company, something for which he\u2019s strived but never before achieved to this degree. As one would expect, Ron Choularton delivers nicely in his reprise of Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza\u2019s canny father, who against his will rises to the top as a homely philosopher (\u201cGet Me to the Church on Time\u201d). Also, Stephenson delivers quality in his reprise of the kindly Pickering.<\/p>\n Others in the company \u2014 experienced musical theater stalwarts all \u2014 are Bryan Banville, Katie Whalley Banville, Charles Evans, Jr. (as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, who sings \u201cOn the Street Where You Live\u201d), Ralph Johnson, Linda Libby (as Henry\u2019s appalled mother) and Debra Wanger. All double, whether as Eliza\u2019s Covent Garden friends, Doolittle\u2019s drinking buddies or Ascot races aficionados. It\u2019s an amazing array of talent splendidly utilized.<\/p>\n Adding to the enjoyment are scenic design by Andrew Hull, costume design by Jeanne Reith, lighting design by Chris Rynne, sound by Matt Lescault-Wood, wigs and make up by Peter Herman, and choreography by David Brannen. Syd Stevens is responsible for props. The hat Eliza wears for her initial arrival at Higgins\u2019 is memorable \u2014 and so is it all.<\/p>\n \u2014 Charlene Baldridge ha estado escribiendo sobre las artes desde 1979. Puedes seguir su blog en charlenebaldridge.com<\/a> o llegar a ella en charb81@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Charlene Baldridge\u00a0|\u00a0Theater Review<\/p>","protected":false},"author":731,"featured_media":237622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"The fairest lady of them all","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11600,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-sdnews","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/731"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"MFL_Ron_Gang_1webtop\"](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/MFL_Ron_Gang_1webtop.jpg\")
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<\/a>When it\u2019s time for Eliza to have her own life, Higgins ruefully admits, \u201cI\u2019ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.\u201d Whether Eliza, now a consort battleship, remains depends upon one\u2019s interpretation of the amorphous, romantic ending. We know what Shaw would have said.<\/p>\n