University of South Carolina Libraries
?Entertainm mm Tow * m By MIKE ROMATOWSKI It teminmcnt Editor One way to describe Town Theatre's current production of the classic musical ^"My Fair Lady" with a four ^ letter word: it s a three-hour marathon that would probably try the patience of many theatregoers if not for one other fact; it is also very, very good. Hno nf tlip crrf??f rnmanPPS V/IIV. \JMl iliv V-V. v * of all time,"My Fair Lady" first opened on Broadway in 1956 and has twice been revived on Broadway. It is a somewhat Cinderella-like ^ags-to-riches story; a ? ? -i I cocKney i lower giri nameu Eliza Doolittle comes under the wing of Henry Higgins, an abrasive middle-aged bachelor who is the leading phoneticist (teacher oi correct speech and pronunciation) in England. Higgins is challenged by a Colonel Pickering to "Metamorphose the gutJ x ;'?aBH -; --^v-""-s-.^ > V* Lillian Q ient? n i ne W tersnipe (Eliza) into a paragon of verbal correctitnrip " Hippins accents the challenge, and the result occurences, which take place over a period of several weeks, are nearly enough to drive all the involved parties crazy. run, luwix ineaire version, directed by Emmalee Elizabeth Robbins, got off to a sometimes rough but ultimately successful start on its Sept. 25 opening night. As aforementioned, the length of the show was the major problem; a secondary problem was the English accents which the actors had to assume. "Why can't the English learn to speak?" lamented Professor T4icrainc (nnrfravoH tn rfrilff crochety perfection by WLTX TV anchorman John WrisJey) in the opening scene. A more pertinent question would have been "Why can't South Carolinian actors learn to speak with English accents?" .. \. :~:i5i-.y^E%' \..?^K::&:' ..^^H uackenbush excelled as 'My Fai 1IIIU es AI The attempts by most of v the cast to "speak English" f' ranged from merely bad to c pitiful. The most notable exception was Lillian V Quackenbush, whose por- li trayal of Eliza Doolittle was f the finest theatrical per- s iormance i nave seen on a i. Columbia stage this year. Quackenbush was splendid from the opening scene, when she horrified Professor Higgins with her mutilation of the English language and her tendonrv to let loose with a god-awful 1 "AAAARRRGH!" whenever < she was offended, to the I closing moments of the play 1 when she had finally been i transformed into a poised < and confident "lidy." < The quality of Quackenbush's performance was total and complete; her i gradual transformation i from raeeedness to elegance was a joy to watch. Even her singing reflected the metamorphosis; her early vocals were shrill and purposely slightly off-key, ' ' ' '^ NhK* r Lady. 9 n Long /hile her later songs were nil of power and ringing b onfidence. i As Henry Higgins, John g Vriclov tiirnpH in thp nthf?r fv light.,' impressive per- b ormance of the night. His ense of vocal timing was lothing less than perfect luring his delivery of such lumbers as "I'm an Orlinary Man," and "Hymn to iim." Wrislev brought out lot only the gruffness in liggins, but also the hidden raits ot lovaoiiity. Masning | lis hat down over his eyes l ind pacing back and forth, le delivered his one-liners .vith a flair that was a lecessity on a stage otherwise dominated by Quackenbush. . . THE LIVELIEST musical I numbers of the evening were [ the hilarious renditions of ' "With a Little Bit of Luck," led by Roy Mitchell, who ' portrayed AL d P. i Doolittle, Eliza's pv>or and somewhat conniving r"ther. Mitchell was also one of the few in the cast who could pull off a reasonable impersonation of the elusive English accent. A1 McNeely as Colonel Pickering played his part in an unobtrusive manner that allowed the other major characters to shine; he was the perfect foil to Wrisley's portrayal of Higgins. His tasteiui periormance was more fully appreciated in hindsight than while the play was actually taking place. The nineteen-member singing and dancing ensemble was unpolished but still effective. The dancers seemed as if they were often on the verge of several mass collisions, but that actually enhanced the choreographic effect. Bobbins' direction and choreography were excellent; the actors were always in positions of maximum visibility and the overall projection of voices was consistently good. Also quite effective was the set design of Walter P. O'Rourke, Jr. and the downto-basics lighting of Mark Shpllov Mvke O'Conner and James Burton. The orchestra, under the direction of Guthrie Darr, gave a superb effort, especially flutist Connie Lang and percussionist Earle Davis. THE EVENING produced IWU IIU1UU1UUO 1I1UIAIVIUO UIUV were unplanned: First, during a scene where Higgins was demostrating to Eliza how to pronounce her "h" sounds by breathing on a candle, Wrisley accidentally blew out the flame. "You did that very lir La ..L hWIV ! f ,-- ,&\ ?BbBb ? I * > ::;-l ir liniii in II fin'iiiriMiomi^ John Wrisley portr. well, Henry," quipped McNeely in a lightning vjur,i\ nu nu. "I did it too well," shot back Wrisley. The second incident occured when a bird somewhere in the building started chirping during one of the scenes. The offending feathered creature was silenced during in termission, however. The funniest moment of the performance that was planned came during a scene where everyone on stage was watching a horse race. Eliza, in her first public appearance since coming under the tutelage of Higgins, silently rooted for her favorite horse while struggling to keep her newly aquirea laayiiKe composure. Finally she lost control and blurted out an exhortation for her horse to "Move yer bloomin' ass!" THUS. "MY Fair Lady" MM?i MKllfe " IPwHH sJ|P* / So -''B : .' # ' '' -'^ T*rr^ ': '' . ' - , - J: a# ,-v : : ' i pi?J :f 9 ' 1 A r:\ ^:":' " " - \V-~: I'r^- '"'' 'Si^W^"' ' ' <c?????>ww^.s ^ W*W)W> 1 > yB[K^8B^Sygl < lyed Henry Higgins was first-rate entertainment, which makes me hate to continue to harp about its seemingly interminable length. I must admit in an nonesuy, however, that when Wrisley uttered the final line of the night ("Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?"), 1 was, to put it mildly, greatly relieved. Curtain time for the shows (which will run until Oct. 10) is 8:30 p.m., so if you don't want to miss Johnny Car son's monologue, or you turn into a pumpkin if you don't get home by midnight, you might not want to risk seeing the play. On the other hand if you're a theatre-lover and ti/vii iijon# con a r*i 1! \/ JUU rrwin, IU ovv u n uij splendid performance by an actress named Lillian Quackenbush,"My Fair Ladv" will provide you with a long (long, long) night of fulfillment.