Lerner and Loewe, after George Bernard Shaw
Opera North and Leeds Playhouse
Leeds Playhouse
May 31-June 29, 2024: 2 hrs 45 mins
Not for the first time, Opera North has teamed up with Leeds Playhouse for a summer musical and, true to their Yorkshire traditions, they’ve made a proper job of it.
When I say "proper job", I mean you’ve got a full-size orchestra (conducted by Oliver Rundell) and outstanding voices from the Chorus of Opera North, plus gifted guest artists; even if you know My Fair Lady well, you’ll hear aspects of the score you never before realised were there.
The orchestra is relayed via the theatre sound system (there being no pit in Leeds Playhouse), and the singers are miked, so it’s not the same as hearing an opera, but my goodness it’s refreshing to hear a classic 1950s musical, done as it was meant to be rather than recreated by synthesisers and a handful of instrumentalists, as is the pattern in many commercial revivals.
The obvious comparison, from an audience point of view, is with the touring version by Barlett Sher, based on his Lincoln Center production and seen in Manchester just over a year ago. That was notable, among other things, for its multi-roomed and ingenious set, which by using a revolve could present the different locations of the original scenario.
James Brining, director of the show and boss of Leeds Playhouse and designer Madeleine Boyd, don’t have that option but present everything on the thrust stage in front of and atop a representation of the Mayfair Tavern - the favourite haunt of Alfred Doolittle and his friends. It doubles, with a few adjustments, as both the outside and inside of the house of phoneticist Henry Higgins; the Transylvanian Embassy for the ball scene; the garden of Higgins’ mother’s house, and even the stage door of the Royal Opera House (which was in Floral Street) for the opening.
Some aspects work better than others: there’s a rather unrealistic trap door in the stage to imply a below-stairs area in the Higgins residence, and the Ascot race scene is represented by an area on top of it as the stand, plus a panel displaying costume design sketches, with head-holes through which the chorus members can sing, in front. Take that for what it is – ingenious; and an invitation to eke out what you see with your thoughts.
The great plus-point of the show is in the individual performances. John Hopkins (perhaps best known to those of a certain age as DS Scott in past editions of Midsomer Murders) is outstanding as Higgins. Unlike the role's first incumbent, Rex Harrison, Hopkins can hold a note well and in tune when he’s asked to sing – though many of the songs are designed for partial declamation too, which he does with skill and panache. It’s a difficult part to make sympathetic, and he goes for all the comedy he can, with occasional touches of hesitancy and insecurity behind the bluster to make the man just a little likeable.
I heard Gillene Butterfield as Eliza (she shares it with Katie Bird), and she is excellent: as an Opera North chorus member her singing is superb, and she has the accent off pat.
Richard Mosley-Evans is different from all the other Alfred Doolittles I’ve seen and certainly one of the best – in fact all the Opera North Chorus members (led by Miranda Bevin as Mrs Higgins, Helen Evora as Mrs Pearce and Dean Robinson as Colonel Pickering) are good value both vocally and in their acting, and Amy Freston again contributes style to the dance numbers.
What a pleasure it is to hear the male quartet in such fine voice in Wouldn’t it be Luverly; as also the female backing duo in I Could Have Danced All Night, and the full chorus in Get Me to the Church on Time. Ahmed Hamad brings an appealing manner and a nice light voice to Feddy Eynsford-Hill, and Mark Burghagen a comic study to Zoltan Karpathy.
Is there a serious side to My Fair Lady? Yes, because of the way Shaw wrote Pygmalion, on which it is based. It’s about the gulf between the moneyed few and the struggling many, a fact of British life as recognisable in the 1950s as in the Edwardian era. James Brining doesn’t ignore that, and he leaves the ending as it should be, asking as many questions as giving answers.
More info and tickets here
