I have to admit that I hesitated briefly before calling the Valley Forge Music Fair for a ticket to My Fair Lady. The musical wasn't one of my favorites, and it was hard to visualize Michael Moriarty in the role with which Rex Harrison was so closely identified. If it had been almost any other actor, I probably would have skipped it.
But my excitement on the night of the performance was tempered only by the knowledge that the Music Fair was due to close soon and be torn down. I was especially thrilled to find that my seat was situated in one of the theatre-in-the-round's first rows, next to one of the stage entrances.
I needn't have worried about Michael Moriarty's performance. By re-interpreting the role of Prof. Henry Higgins, the actor neatly avoided the shadow of Rex Harrison. Moriarty's Higgins was a curmudgeon, but a more playful one. The words stayed the same, of course, but the smile that accompanied them softened the sting of the professor's misanthropy. And this solved one of the musical's problems: the believability of Eliza Doolittle's attraction to an unromantic man many years her senior. Also, Moriarty's outburst of pain when Eliza leaves him seemed more like the reaction of a man who has fallen in love, however late in life, rather than just a stick-in-the mud's irritation at the disruption of his routine.
Moriarty handled the song-and-dance requirements with authority, although his voice sounded a bit hoarse and occasionally faded. Michele Ragusa did a marvelous job as Eliza; Robert Lydiard turned in such an excellent performance as Alfred Doolittle that I preferred him to the film's actor. It was a fine production with which to say farewell to the Music Fair.
Not long after that evening, the film version of My Fair Lady was broadcast, and I watched it to relive some of the musical's best moments. Oddly enough, I found that the movie was improved for me by bringing to it my memories of the stage production I almost decided to pass up.
Thank you so much Laura! Sounds like a fun time! [dw]
If you have seen a live performance, movie, book or TV appearance and would like to send a review just e-mail: Debbie