My Fair Lady!

My Fair Lady's national tour opened in Omaha at the Orpheum last night in front of a packed house (at least on the floor). Now this is a classic musical from the 1950's and 60's based on the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion. A cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, is taken in by a weird professor, Henry Higgins, who bets he can teach her to be a high-class lady who will fool them all. The training occurs, Eliza becomes a lady, Higgins treats her as a project that he won, she leaves angry and disrespected, he realizes he's in love with her and she comes back.....or does she? 

That's the story. Now the music. Some of the most iconic songs in theater history reside in this musical. Wouldn't It Be Loverly, With a Little Bit of Luck, the Rain in Spain, I Could have Danced All Night, On the Street Where You Live, Get Me To The Church On Time and I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face. I mean if you didn't know those songs were all from one musical, you will realize it soon enough. It really is amazing that all those classic tunes those of us of a certain age grew up hearing on every variety show known to man in the 60's and 70's are all from one show.

The performances are great. Anette Barrios-Torres is only in her second week as Eliza Doolittle on this tour, but you'd never know it. She has the chops of a veteran. Jonathan Grunert as Henry Higgins has been doing the show so long its second nature to him and he shines. But now let's talk about Michael Hegarty as Eliza's father. Alfred P Doolittle. This guy has the moves of a Jackie Gleason, lots of power and energy to mention for a big guy he moves like an athlete and damn he can sing. He was a commanding presence every time he was on stage. During the number featuring Get Me To The Church On Time the musical turned into a wild burlesque show featuring dance hall girls and Hegerty doing a Ralph Kramden like pirouette. I half expected a bang zoom moment. The great talent on stage is undeniable.

Now the truth as I see it. This musical is dated. Though the final scene was changed to reflect modern times by leaving a did she stay, or did she go ending open to interpretation, you can see why this was popular in 1957 to about 1964, when the movie was made. In 1964 The Beatles changed everything. Modern audiences changed. Youth changed. It was no longer popular for rather mundane story lines reflecting middle class values and happy endings to dominate. Pretty soon Broadway had Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell and Cabaret, musicals that reflected subjects that had been taboo. The war in Vietnam, homosexuality, religion, and the draft were all now able to be talked about and put to music. Old musicals like My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, Carousel etc.. , though wonderful still, do not require a lot of thinking and that's good at times. It's candy and popcorn. Fantastic but not really nutritious. My Fair Lady fits there. It's not going to offend, it's not going to get protesters, it's not going to scare anybody away. It's just entertaining in a 1960 kind of way. Sometimes that's just what you need. Go see it.