‘My Fair Lady’ Looks and Sounds Gorgeous, but Prickly Story is a Bit Difficult to Swallow

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Photo by Jeremy Daniel

My Fair Lady Lincoln Center Production

Jonathan Grunert as Professor Henry Higgins, Madeline Powell as Eliza Doolittle and John Adkison as Colonel Pickering in 'My Fair Lady'

Broadway can’t seem to keep its hands off of My Fair Lady. Ever since the popular 1913 play by George Bernard Shaw was turned into a hit Broadway musical in 1956 (starring Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews), it has been fair game for numerous revivals.

In 2018, an award-winning production was launched by New York’s Lincoln Center Theater. A follow-up tour is now sweeping the country, and it has landed in Milwaukee. My Fair Lady continues through Sunday at the Marcus Performing Arts Center.

Few musicals can boast of the pedigree that surrounds My Fair Lady. The Learner and Lowe musical debuted to rave reviews and continued to dominate Broadway as the longest-running musical of its time. The original production won six Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical.

A Hollywood film was made a few years later, with Rex Harrison reprising his stage role, opposite film star Audrey Hepburn. At the time, film producers thought Julie Andrews to be too much of a risk, as she had never appeared in a film. However, later that year, Andrews dispersed any doubts by starring in the hit film, Mary Poppins.

In 1965, Julie Andrews took home the Academy Award for Best Actress in Mary Poppins. Audrey Hepburn wasn’t even nominated.

A ‘Loverly’ Show for All Ages

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Photo by Jeremy Danel

'My Fair Lady' Lincoln Center Production

Madeline Powell as Eliza Doolittle in 'My Fair Lady'.

The spectacle that unfolds for Marcus Center audiences is, in most ways, a triumph. The show contains such memorable tunes as “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me to the Church on Time” and “On the Street Where You Live.” Opening night audiences could hardly be contained from singing along with these favorites. The show is G-rated family fare.

My Fair Lady’s talented tour cast brings these wonderful songs to life, infusing them with youthful enthusiasm and some terrific choreography (by Christopher Gattelli). As Eliza Doolittle, the dusty flower girl who blooms into a lady under the tutelage of language Professor Henry Higgins, Madeline Powell may be a rising musical star. Just out of college, she tackles her centerpiece role with confidence and a fine singing voice. She is lilting perfection in “I Could Have Danced All Night.” Powell also brings gusto to the grittier song, “Just You Wait,” in which a frazzled Eliza imagines all the ways to torture the tyrannical professor. On a bet, Higgins has forced Eliza to toil night and day to transform her lower-class Cockney accent into one more acceptable to upper-crust society.

The entire production glows with gasp-inducing sets, lighting and costumes, which transport the audience to 1912 London. The professor’s wood-paneled study, where most of the action takes place, is visually spectacular (by Michael Yeargan). A spiraling metal staircase bisects the set’s two levels.

Once Eliza sheds her dirty, flower-girl outfit in favor of something more suitable for her new station in life, the gorgeous outfits keep coming—and coming (costumes by Catherine Zuber). The famous Ascot horseracing scene embraces the opulence of the original production, in which wealthy, elegantly dressed observers stiffly promenade along the walkways like idiotic peacocks.

The costumes reach a climax in one of the final scenes, in which Higgins successfully passes off Eliza at a grand party. Eliza is stunning in her golden-hued gown.

My Fair Lady was just the beginning of the successful partnership between Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics) and Frederick Lowe (music). They went on to create Camelot, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon and Gigi.

At a running time of almost three hours, the show is almost too much of a good thing. And those expecting a Cinderella-like happy ending may not be satisfied by the finale, in which it’s not clear what happens to Eliza in the end.

Is Henry Higgins Too Young to Be Believable?

A slightly problematic casting choice is seen in Professor Henry Higgins. Actor Jonathan Grunert seems barely older than Eliza, so his self-described character as a “determined old bachelor” seems out of place. His friendship with an older peer, Colonel Pickering (charmingly played by John Adkison), is somewhat head-scratching, as well.

Overall, Grunert gets points for sounding as much like Rex Harrison as possible, especially in the Act II favorite, “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” Still, it’s clear that Grunert has the chops to deliver his songs more pleasantly than Harrison ever could (although anyone could outdo Harrison in the singing department, even Roseanne Barr).

Grunert is not only young; he is also tall, handsome and dashing, which makes it easier to see why Eliza falls so hard for him.

That’s a good thing, as Higgins comes across as a man no less hard-hearted than Scrooge. He criticizes Eliza at every turn, calling her a “guttersnipe,” “baggage,” and sometimes referring to her as a “creature.” Even when she wins his bet with Pickering, proving that he can turn a flower girl into someone resembling a duchess, he treats Eliza as little more than a prop. He is so full of self-congratulations that he basically forgets she is even in the same room. It is difficult for the audience to summon much affection for this boorish snob.

Poor Eliza Wrestles with Her Future

Even Eliza seems to give up on him, as she inquires, “what is to become of me?” He shows complete indifference to her dilemma. Higgins replies, “why, you can be anything you wish.” Like many wealthy men of that era, he views women as little more than property. The heartbroken Eliza realizes that she has few opportunities for making a better life for herself.

It would have been very simple for director Bartlett Sher to soften Higgins’ character a bit, making him more palatable to modern audiences. After everything they have been through together, one could imagine a bit more camaraderie between Eliza and Higgins. Even the show’s ending is open-ended. It is up to the audience to decide whether Eliza decides to stay with Higgins, or not.

Many of the supporting roles leave a positive impression. In the minor character of Freddy, Eliza’s well-bred suitor, actor Nathan Haltiwanger has little to do except sing a tender love song, “On the Street Where You Live.” Happily, Haltiwanger does an excellent job of putting this number across.

One final shout-out goes to Michael Hegarty in the choice role of Eliza’s father, Alfred P. Doolittle. Not unlike Higgins, Doolittle only views Eliza as a means to an end. However, one cannot be completely critical of a man who has some of the show’s best songs, including “With a Little Bit of Luck.” His 11 o’clock number, “Get Me to the Church on Time,” knocks it out of the park with its inventive staging and choreography. The entire ensemble, singing and dancing their hearts out, assist Doolittle on his way to the chapel.

There’s no doubt that My Fair Lady takes one back to a world of colorful characters and, of course, one of the best scores in musical theater history. Broadway will no doubt plan a future reincarnation of My Fair Lady for eager audiences. But for the most part, this show’s far more “loverly” than ever.

My Fair Lady continues through Sunday at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, 929 N. Water Street. Masks are optional. For ticket information, call 414-273-7121, or visit marcuscenter.org.