|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|
|
THEATER REVIEW My Fair Lady
Special to the Online Edition of Windy City Times
by Mary Shen Barnidge 2009-12-23
|
|
This article shared 2407 times since Wed Dec 23, 2009
|
|
Playwright: Music by Frederick Loewe, book & lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, based on the play, Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw. At: Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott, Lincolnshire. Phone: 847-634-0200; $45. Runs through: Feb. 14
My Fair Lady is nowadays lauded as the "perfect musical," but recreating perfection a half-century later presents its challenges: For one, its adaptation from Shaw's five-act play makes for an unusually long stretch from curtain to intermission. For another, its premiere production featured male headliners with near-atonal voices performing all but one of the songs assigned to that gender. Finally, the irregularity of an unmarried young lady lodging with a pair of bachelorsan issue often addressed by Shaw, if only to be dismissedhas nowadays been replaced by a mandate on sexual tensions unavoidable in this household arrangement.
Director Dominic Missimi, faced with the Marriott's arena-sized stage, solves the structural problem by setting a pace not unlike that of the racehorses at Ascot ( whose progress Robert E. Gilmartin replicates in stereophonic sound ) : dialogue slides into recitative with nary a pause, troops of actors in stiff-collared Edwardian garb march through their drill formations, scenery is handed up the aisles to stagehands like buckets in a fire-brigadeand purists may detect a verse or two missing from their favorite ballads.
What prevents this becoming a simple sprint through the score, however, is Heidi Kettenring's complex portrayal of Eliza Doolittle, the sullen street-girl who undertakes to better herself and succeeds beyond her own, and her mentors', expectations. Not only does Kettenring have the vocal body and range to deliver speeches, both spoken and sung, with fully realized emotional expression, but she retains the subtextual revelations largely ignored by her fellow players to reveal her character's private responses to the events surrounding her. This attention to detail puts us squarely into this three-dimensional Eliza's corner from her first entrance.
David Lively as Colonel Pickering and Ann Whitney as Mrs. Higgins, likewise, emerge as personalities possessing depth and humor to win our support. But the status of Professor Higgins, in this production, remains curiously nebulous. Kevin Gudahl's too-elderly appearance hardly suggests a love interest ( after the manner of the recent Light Opera Works interpretation ) , but his fussy academic is too boyish to achieve a suitably avuncular mien, resulting in a dynamic more that of a spoiled sibling squabbling with his equally headstrong sistera considerably less sympathetic foil for our ambitious heroine. And in the final scene, we are unsure whether their relationship has undergone a change, or if she has merely come to accept her place in this man's world. |
|
|
|
This article shared 2407 times since Wed Dec 23, 2009
|
ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
---|
|
| | THEATER 'Mamma Mia!' returns to Chicago with 'Daddyhunt' star Jim Newman 2024-04-24 - "Who's your daddy?" That's the key plot question driving the global hit Mamma Mia! The global smash jukebox musical famously features the song hits of Swedish pop group ABBA, and it returns for a three-week run ...
|
| | Local queer opera composer premiering her first show, a coming-of-age tale with LGBTQ+ themes 2024-04-23 - A Lake View woman is debuting her first opera as a composer, a coming-of-age story with LGBTQ+ themes. Gillian Rae Perry, a fellow with the Chicago Opera Theater's Vanguard program for emerging artists, composed The Weight ...
|
| | The importance of becoming Ernest: Out actor Christopher Sieber dishes about the Death Becomes Her musical 2024-04-20 - Out and proud actor Christopher Sieber is part of the team bringing Death Becomes Her to life as a stage musical in the Windy City this spring. Sieber plays Ernest Menville, who was originally portrayed by ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' 2024-04-19 - I Am: Celine Dion will stream on Prime Video starting June 25, according to a press release. The film is described as follows: "Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, I Am: Celine Dion gives us ...
|
| | Kokandy Productions now accepting submissions for Chicago Musical Theater Fest returning Aug. 8-11 2024-04-18 --From a press release - CHICAGO (April 18, 2024) — Kokandy Productions is pleased to open submissions for the 2024 Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, returning this summer following a four-year hiatus. Kokandy is thrilled to ...
|
| | THEATER Blue in the Right Way's 'Women Beware Women' offers feminist, trans take on a troubling Jacobean tragedy 2024-04-18 - "Problematic" is a great go-to adjective to describe Women Beware Women. This 1621 Jacobean tragedy is by English playwright Thomas Middleton, who is probably best remembered as a collaborator with William Shakespeare on their pessimistic tragedy ...
|
| | Hubbard Street Dance Chicago announces programs for May 17-19 season finale 2024-04-17 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) announced program selections for Spring Series: Of Joy, the final installment of Season 46, Abundance. The engagement will include four unique works, once ...
|
| | LGBTQ+ film fest Queer Expression to feature Alexandra Billings in 'Queen Tut' 2024-04-12 --From a press release - CHICAGO — Pride Film Fest celebrates its second decade with a new name—QUEER EXPRESSION—and has announced its slate of LGBTQ+-themed feature, mid-length and short films for in-person and virtual events in April and May. QUEER EXPRESSI ...
|
| | Open Space Arts's COCK offers a complex but compelling take on relationships 2024-04-08 By Brian Kirst - Premiering in 2009, Mike Bartlett's COCK was a comic revelation, exploring notions about fluidity and sexual labelling long before they became commonplace discussions. Granted, conversations about these issues will always ...
|
| | Jeff Awards launches submission period for Impact Awards 2024-04-06 - The Jeff Awards announced the opening period for applications submissions for its 2024 honors to help inspire early career artists of color in the Greater Chicagoland area. Two recipients will be selected for awards of $10,000 ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Outfest, Chita Rivera, figure skaters, letter, playwright dies 2024-04-05 - For more than four decades, Outfest has been telling LGBTQ+ stories through the thousands of films screened during its annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival—but that event may have a different look this year because ...
|
| | SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29 Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...
|
| | WORLD Israel court, conversion therapy, death sentences, Georgia bill, fashion items 2024-03-29 - Israel's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together, The Washington Blade reported. The decision was made following a petition ...
|
| | City Lit Executive Artistic Director Brian Pastor talks theater, comics, queerness 2024-03-26 - City Lit Theater has announced its programming for the 2024-25 seasonwhich will be the company's 44th. It will also be the first season to be programmed under the leadership of Brian Pastor (they/them), who will assume ...
|
| | The Jeff Awards announces the 50th anniversary awards for non-equity theater 2024-03-26 --From a press release - A complete list of recipients can also be found online in the Non-Equity and News and Events sections at www.jeffawards.org. (March 25, 2024 - Chicago) — Celebrating its 50th anniversary awarding recognition for Non-Equity theater, the ...
| |
|
|
|
|
| New Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students...to a point | | NATIONAL Ohio law blocked, Trevor Project, Rev. Troy Perry, ICE suit, Elon Musk | | SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' | | LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project set to hold its second annual exhibition | | WORLD Nigeria arrest, Chilean murderer, trans ban, Olivier Awards, marriage items | |
|
|
|
|