Broadway at the Marcus Center presents: MY FAIR LADY

By Mary Boyle
 
The 1950's was a great decade for Broadway.  The Music Man, West Side Story, The King & I, The Sound of Music, and Guys & Dolls all came from this era, a group of musicals often staged and well-loved by audiences everywhere, and all of which I have seen and loved.  Included in this list are three musicals by the dynamic duo of lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe: Brigadoon (technically 1949), Paint Your Wagon, and My Fair Lady.  These Lerner and Loewe musicals have long been on my list of classic musicals to see and, thanks to Broadway at the Marcus Center, I finally got my chance to see the Lincoln Center Tour of MY FAIR LADY.  Unfortunately, I cannot count this one under the list of musicals I love, or even like.

My Fair Lady is based on the 1913 play Pygmalion, written by the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, which is inspired by the mythological Greek character of the same name who carves a statue of a woman, then falls in love with her and then, Pinocchio-like, the statue comes to life.  The musical follows the play quite closely, just with the addition of music, and tells the story of a Cockney flower seller in London by the name of Eliza Doolittle (Madeline Powell) who, while plying her trade in London’s Covent Garden, chances to encounter the renowned linguist, Professor Henry Higgins (Jonathan Grunert), who is secretly making notes on Eliza’s speech. The Professor has a chance encounter of his own when he realizes the man Eliza is trying to sell her flowers to is none other than Colonel Pickering (John Adkison), another linguistics fan who he’d been hoping to meet.  The Professor makes the claim that it is language, alone, that sets the classes apart and brags to the Colonel that with just 6 months of training he could have Eliza speaking so well that he could pass her off in high society. He invites the Colonel to stay with him so they can discuss phonetics further. 

While the Professor wasn’t being serious, his claim intrigued Eliza and, with the many coins the Colonel had generously dropped into her flower basket, she heads to Professor Higgins’ home to ask him to give her language lessons so that she might be able to be hired as an assistant in a flower shop instead of selling them on the streets.  The Colonel recalls the Professor’s claim and challenges him to attempt it, offering to pay for Eliza’s lessons and all that she needs.  Word gets back to Eliza’s drunken, abusive leach of a father, Alfred (Michael Hegarty), that Eliza has moved in with the Professor and, seeing an opportunity, he pays a visit to demand payment for his daughter.  Alfred’s philosophy and his insistence on desiring to remain one of the “undeserved poor” amuses the Professor who, as a joke, recommends Alfred to a wealthy American looking to found morality societies in England who had been bothering him for support.  Mrs. Higgins (Becky Saunders), the Professor’s wealthy mother, is shocked by the Professor and Colonel’s plan and worried for Eliza, but comes to like her quite well.  In fact, everyone comes to like Eliza quite well, including Freddy Eynsford-Hill (Nathan Haltiwanger), a gentleman of no means who haunts Professor Higgins’ front door in the hope that he might get an audience with the young lady who charmed him.

Seemingly good fortune becomes misfortune for both Eliza and Alfred.  During the ball, Eliza is allowed to dance with Professor Zoltan Karpathy (Daniel James Canaday), an obnoxious colleague of Professor Higgins’ who loves nothing better than discovering frauds.  Eliza passes the test when Karpathy guesses that she must be, in fact, a Hungarian princess.  Thus, Professor Higgins wins his bet – but what will become of Eliza?  She no longer fits in her old world yet cannot truly belong to the new one.  Meanwhile, the rich American moralist decides that Alfred is brilliant and, when he unexpectedly dies, leaves enough money to Alfred to put him solidly in the respectable middle class, to Alfred’s horror.  Worst of all, his social climb requires him to give up his evil ways and get married to the woman he’s been living with.  His perfect life is ruined.

For those of you who have no prior knowledge of Pygmalion or My Fair Lady, I know what you’re thinking: you’re thinking that this is a Cinderella, rags-to-riches story in which The Professor realizes he’s in love with Eliza, marries her and takes her away from her old life and her horrible father and they live happily ever after.  Given the popularity of this musical which, in its day, held the record for the longest-running musical on Broadway and won 6 Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical, one might presume it had a very straightforward, somewhat predictable formula.  My Fair Lady is the musical that made Julie Andrews famous; it was so popular that a film version starring Audrey Hepburn was made in 1964 which went on to win 8 Oscars, including one for Best Picture.   Lerner and Loewe’s music from this production is so much a part of our culture that most people will recognize the titles even if they’ve never seen the musical: “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Get Me to the Church on Time.”

Happily ever after is not how this musical ends, dear readers; however, that is the least of what bothers me about it.  My Fair Lady has plenty of issues, some of which stem from the fact that it hasn’t aged well.  What was once considered romantic is often, to today’s women, insulting.  Some of the issues relate to the story, itself, which is lacking in character development and has too much ambiguity. Even back in 1913 with Shaw’s Pygmalion, audiences were a bit put off by the play’s “unconventional ending,” but Shaw insisted that marriage between Eliza and Professor Higgins was never meant to be.  On this point, I agree, but the choices directors make to bend the production to whatever their vision of the play is causes issues as well and, in the case of this Tour, which is based on the 2018 Lincoln Center Theater Revival directed by Bartlett Sherr with choreography by Christopher Gattelli, there are simply too many bad decisions.

The actors are talented; the costumes are phenomenal; the set design is great.  I thought Jonathan Grunert did an excellent job as Professor Higgins and Michael Hegarty was a stitch as Alfred P. Doolittle.  Little fault can be found in Lerner & Loewe’s music: “Why Can’t the English,” “I’m an Ordinary Man,” “With a Little Bit of Luck, “On the Street Where You Live,” and “Show Me” are clever, witty, and catchy.  I thought the highlight of the play was “Ascot Gavotte.”  “Get Me to the Church on Time” is probably the most memorable of the showtunes and, unfortunately, this is a large part of where this production went wrong.  For some reason, they thought it would be good to have male, cross-dressing can-can dancers performing lewd dances during this number and all I can say is, no matter how much the musical pokes at morality, it was a very poor decision.

My Fair Lady, like Pygmalion before it, is an unsatisfying story because it seems as though a great deal of trouble is gone through to set up a moral arc, but then it doesn’t go anywhere.  What’s compelling about it is that it could, with the right direction.  This production, unfortunately, really didn’t seem to know what story it was telling.  Does Eliza conquer both the controlling, abusive men in her life and go on to live for herself?  Do we prove that it is the environment of our childhood and not any inherent flaw in our design as human beings that dictate our class, thus demonstrating that social classes are wrong?  Does Professor Higgins come to realize that all people need to be treated with empathy and love?  For those who think these questions are too weighty for a Broadway musical, I have two word for you: Les Misérables.  The thing is, this story is not the predictable rags-to-riches formula and these are just some of the questions that this show envokes.  Alas, audiences, you will leave without any answers.  Should you choose to see it anyway, out of curiosity, hit me up for a discussion.
 
MY FAIR LADY runs through January 8, 2023 at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, located at 929 North Water Street in downtown Milwaukee, as part of the 2022/2023 Johnson Financial Group Broadway at the Marcus Center Season.  Tickets may be purchased at www.MarcusCenter.org, by calling (414) 273-7026, or by visiting the Marcus Center Box Office. Six-show subscriptions are still on sale for the 2022/2023 Johnson Financial Group Broadway at the Marcus Center Season. Groups of 10 or more can secure their seats by calling (414) 273-7207. 
 
About Marcus Performing Arts Center
The Marcus Performing Arts Center (MPAC) serves as a performing arts community gathering space in Southeastern Wisconsin, bringing high-quality arts and cultural programming to the region for over 50 years. As a mission-based non-profit organization located in downtown Milwaukee, MPAC strives to act as an energizing force that connects the community to the world through collaboration, innovation, social engagement, and the transformative power of performing arts. Through multiple performance series and community events, MPAC brings a diverse range of performing arts to the region. Presented series include Johnson Financial Group Broadway at the Marcus Center, MPAC Presents, Dance, Jazz, National Geographic LIVE, Rainbow Summer, and additional special performances from internationally renowned artists. MPAC's education, community engagement, and inclusion initiatives provide free experiences that annually engage students and life-long learners in Milwaukee.  MPAC is proud to be part of the Milwaukee Theater District as well as a dedicated War Memorial facility, honoring those who bravely served our country.  For more information, visit www.marcuscenter.org.

Johnson Financial Group, with offices in Wisconsin and Minnesota, is a privately owned financial services company offering banking, wealth and insurance solutions through its subsidiaries, Johnson Bank, Johnson Wealth, and Johnson Insurance Services.  For more information visit johnsonfinancialgroup.com.

Broadway Across America (BAA) is part of the John Gore Organization family of companies, which includes Broadway.com, The Broadway Channel, BroadwayBox.com, Group Sales Box Office and Broadway Brands. Led by 18-time Tony-winning theater producer John Gore (Owner & CEO), BAA is the foremost presenter of first-class touring productions in North America, operating in 48 markets with over 400,000 subscribers. Presentations include Disney’s The Lion King, Wicked, The Book of Mormon and Hamilton. Current and past productions include Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, Cats, Chicago, Dear Evan Hansen, Mean Girls, Moulin Rouge! and To Kill A Mockingbird.