By Anne Hillman
Grand Rapids Civic Theater has begun its production of My Fair Lady, and the production team and cast have brought this well-known story to entertaining life. This production marks the return of many faces who will be familiar to frequent attendees of Civic Theater’s past seasons: Alyssa Bauer as Eliza Doolittle, Michael Dodge as Colonel Pickering, Charles Hutchins as Alfred Doolittle, Kristen Pearson as Mrs. Pearce, and second time Civic alum John Girdlestone as Henry Higgins. Led by director Allyson Paris, joined by a strong ensemble, and supported by a fabulous orchestra, these volunteer actors present a professional level musical to the Grand Rapids community.
Wyoming resident part of Grand Rapids Civic Theatre’s My Fair Lady cast. Click here to read the story.
Accents are central to the story-line as they mark the class distinctions which shape the prejudices and motivations of the main characters, and the choice to bring in dialect coach Spencer Tomlin paid off in the consistency and variety of accents used by the actors. While each actor obviously put in hard work, Alyssa Bauer’s deft transformation from Cockney-speaking flower seller to proper British lady is very impressive. She does an excellent job of keeping the two accents straight and managing to switch between the two during the time that Eliza is still learning her new manner of speaking.
My Fair Lady is a hard story to tell in our current context and yet an important one. Issues of class, power, privilege, and sexism are still relevant today, and this production does a good job of demonstrating the ways in which these forces shape the attitudes and expectations of the various characters. Henry Higgins, played exceptionally well by John Girdlestone, is not a particularly loveable personality. His continued arrogance and lack of empathy could have become frustrating for the audience, but the excellent background acting of the other characters in the scenes did a great job of conveying that the misogynist and classist rhetoric was not to be condoned.
The music is familiar to many veteran musical theater fans, but previous sessions of listening to soundtracks is not necessary to enjoy this production. The attention to diction extends from the work on accents to the clarity of the lyrics in each song. Each rhyme, each joke, each insight into a character’s motivation and personality is easily understood by the audience. And the quality of the singing is excellent. Soaring notes and beautiful harmonies are heard throughout the performance, creating a wonderful night out at the theater. Well done Civic Theater; I will be recommending My Fair Lady to all of my theater loving friends and looking forward to the next production.
My Fair Lady runs through March 18 at Grand Rapids Civic Theater, 30 N. Division Ave. Show times are 7:30 p.m Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m Sunday. Tickets are $18-$37. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit grct.org.
