-- November 5. Opening night of "My Fair Lady" in Westbury. The show, of course, is impeccable. I'd never seen it done live, and the songs and performances were really stellar. My friend who I went with said the woman who played Eliza also played Belle on Broadway's "Beauty And The Beast." I don't know for sure, but she seemed certain.
But more importantly, I'm assuming everyone would like to hear a rundown of Moriarty's show. He decided to play Henry Higgins very loosely, very flowing. Arms everywhere. Agreed, Rex Harrison will always (in my mind) be the originator, and he had a very ramrod straight, stern way of portraying the character. Moriarty instead has him flapping his arms all over, loose wristed, not very controlled for a character who is, as written, very tight and controlling. I'm not certain on the voice; I'll have to think on this a little more. Obviously, one cannot play Henry Higgins without doing an English accent, but to me, where I sat, he sounded fairly muffled and occasionally I couldn't be quite sure what he was saying. It might have been bad microphones, but I didn't have that problem with the other actors. Additionally, Moriarty seemed to have a cold; he coughed on and off throughout the entire performance. Not huge hacking coughs, just a clearing of the throat kind of cough.
Still, I really did enjoy it. Tuxedos! :D I live for that. The singing was just great; his voice when he sang was stronger and smoother than his speaking voice, and I had no problem buying him in the role. The play was very funny in parts, as it was supposed to be...but...and this might have been just that it was the first night...it felt very, well, *acted.* I'm not a theater reviewer, so I don't know what things to look for, plus I was seeing this through the film filter, plus I was kind of far back...so I'm not the best judge to say why this was a problem. It just felt strongly acted in parts, less convincing and more strained. That will no doubt improve over the next few performances.
But he set himself up, instantly, for a more critical performance. The way the musical opened was this: the actors do their little flower girl dance, the play begins, and a few minutes in Moriarty makes his entrance and starts speaking. He begins to talk and as he does there is spontaneous applause: after all, he is why most everyone in the theater is there. But then! Ach. Probably entirely instinctual but to me terribly, terribly disappointingly unprofessional -- he broke character midsentence and turned a bit and said, to the audience, "thank you." Oy vey! Even I, no theater buff or actress or anything, knows you just plain old don't *do* that! And then he launched back into Higgins. Well, after *that* how can you fully buy the character?
I enjoyed it...I should really emphasize that...more for the joy of seeing the guy act for over two hours solid, seeing him lounge out on the chaise in a smoking jacket, wearing that great patented Henry Higgins tweed jacket and pants, singing and occasionally doing a little shuffle dance, looking indignant and puzzled and folding his arms and trying to appear stern...but there just were those few holes that needed plugging up.
Well, I was totally dumbfounded and didn't know what to do after the performance. I mean, I'd asked if I could go back but didn't think I'd have the guts to do so, so my friend and I hung at the curtains to get backstage, sort of standing around trying to figure out what to do. I just didn't think I'd have the guts to announce "well, I was invited" or anything so heinously untrue, ....I was about ready to go home. But then this group of four got some signal that it was ok to go backstage, so we just tagged along. They ended up going to Eliza's dressing room, at which we said, "Ooops." The woman backstage said "which dressing room were you looking for?" which amazed us...we figured now we were caught. So I said, "Em...Michael's." As if it was totally natural. She said "Are you expected?" So I figured, in for a penny....and I said yes.
He was very sweet again (I was a little uncomfortable going back so soon; I'm all for giving everyone a good fifteen or thirty minutes to cool down but you have to take your chances when they come) and was talking to two young men when I stuck my head in the room. I used the line he'd given me -- "We met on the street" -- which was sounding more and more tawdry, but it appeared to jar his memory and we talked for a few minutes. (My mind was going "suspenders!" (he was still in them) and I was having Ben Stone flashbacks as we did.) I said I hoped the cold wouldn't slow down his performances but he said "I always sound like I have a cold these days. It's my smoking voice." I decided not to pursue the cough angle. He was still doing the Higgins voice, so I asked how long it took to lose the accent when he was done, and he didn't appear to realize he *was* still talking in that stuffy accent. But I didn't stick around; his dressing room was eerily empty of people other than myself, my friend, and these two guys, and I felt badly for not having the foresight to bring flowers or *something* to commemorate a first night, but I assumed the place would be brimming with well-wishers and people he knew and I'd just look dumb with a big bunch of flowers, so I hadn't brought anything at all. I made my exit and as we waited for our ride outside the building the boys came out and tried to hail a cab. I asked them how they'd known him; they said something about a friend of the family. I said "Well, you didn't stay long, either." One of them told me, "Well, he wasn't too happy with his performance, even for a first night. I don't think he really wanted anyone back there."
Thanks Kitt. Sounds like you had a great encounter with Michael! [dw]
If you have seen a live performance, movie, book or TV appearance and would like to send a review just e-mail: Debbie