Adapted numerous times for the stage and screen, My Fair Lady has arrived bringing knockout performances to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady follows Covent Garden poor cockney flower seller Eliza Doolittle (Shereen Ahmed) as she is taken in by pompous professor and phonetician Henry Higgins (Laird Mackintosh) to be transformed into a proper London lady as a result of a bet between Higgins and his friend Colonel Pickering (Kevin Pariseau).
It’s a classic and timeless story with one major change for this production. Egyptian-American actress Ahmed is wonderful as Doolittle and is the first woman of color to be cast in Eliza’s shoes. Other than that, the production remains true to the Broadway classic and a bit awkward sometimes for the #MeToo generation which views female status a bit differently than when My Fair Lady debuted in 1956.
Still, the musical numbers including “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Wouldn’t It Be Lovely,” and “The Rain in Spain” had the audience singing and swooning along. Eliza’s suitor Freddy (Sam Simahk) provides a memorable “On the Street Where You Live,” and her father Alfred (Adam Grupper) shines with a comedic showstopper of “Get Me to the Church on Time.”
The stylish sets by Michael Yeargan, including Higgin’s rotating two-story home are beautiful and Catherine Zuber provides gorgeous costumes, especially for the derby and ball scenes.
I would strongly recommend to arrive extra early, as we, along with about a quarter of the audience, arrived early but due to long lines and the check in process had to find our seats in the dark after the performance started.
At the Dolby Theatre, 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, through October 31. Tuesday – Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm, Sunday at 1pm and 6:30pm. Tickets at https://www.dolbytheatre.com, $30 to $150.
