It's Thursday, and time again for a visit with theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who regales us each week with her reviews of the region's rich thespian offerings. Today, she spotlights the new touring production of My Fair Lady, now on stage at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
The Kennedy Center show launches the national tour for the Lincoln Center Theater productionof the much-beloved musical by Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics) and Frederick Loewe, who adapted it from George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play and Gabriel Pascal's 1938 film, "Pygmalion." The story of Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from phoneticist Henry Higgins so that she can pass as a cultured lady, was a major commercial and critical success when it opened on Broadway in 1956. Boasting such enduring songs as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “The Rain in Spain,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” My Fair Lady earned four Tony Awards and set a record at the time for the longest run of any show on Broadway. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous award-winning revivals...
The current touring revival by the Lincoln Center Theater in New York is directed at the Kennedy Center by Bartlett Sher, with music supervision by Ted Sperling and choreography by Christopher Gattelli. The show's 33-member cast is led by Shereen Ahmed as Eliza Doolittle, and Laird Mackintosh as Henry Higgins.
My Fair Lady continues at The Kennedy Center in Washington through Sunday, January 19th. For showtimes and ticket information, click here.
