'My Fair Lady' familiar yet refreshing
By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Advertiser Drama critic
Higgins sings!
That's the primary information you need for this production of "My Fair Lady," now at Richardson Theatre at Fort Shafter.
Dennis Proulx takes the part that will be forever identified by Rex Harrison's spoken lyrics and re-creates the original melodies written by Lerner and Loewe. Consequently, we get to hear the familiar material in a different light. It's still familiar, but — because it doesn't fit expected patterns — we tend to pay more attention to it.
You should also know that Proulx does excellent work in re-creating the stuffy old speech professor. His performance is expansive, crystal clear and filled with character quirks. He sings pretty well, too.
Producer Vanita Rae Smith has cast somebody new to local theater as Eliza Doolittle. Valerie Vedder is a newly minted graduate of the University of Minnesota and seems to take naturally to the part. She's the right blend of cockney toughness and porcelain elegance with a dazzling Katharine Hepburn smile. Vedder also has a lovely voice that carries all of her songs and a sharp sense of comedy that enlivens her two-act feud with Higgins.
But, regrettably, the third point about this production is that the devil is in the microphones. This doesn't hurt the first act too much, although Eliza seems a bit underamplified and Sylvia Hormann-Alper sounds like she's playing the part of Higgins' mother from the bottom of a deep well. All the imps break loose in the sound system for Act 2, though, and create minor distractions through the rest of the performance.
This doesn't keep us from us from delighting in John Hunt's performance as Pickering and sopping up Tom Giza's substantial sets and Kathy Kohl's fabulous costumes.
Glenn Cannon's direction is understated and John Starr Alexander gets a big sound from the orchestra and chorus. Choreography by Grace Bell Humerickhouse sticks close to regal waltzes and country jigging.
This old classic musical still offers plenty to enjoy.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly described Vanita Rae Smith's title.
