Photo by OSTC
By Frank O’Donnell WPRO Arts and Entertainment
“Look at her, a prisoner of the gutter,
Condemned by every syllable she ever uttered.
By law she should be taken out and hung,
For the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue.”
So begins “My Fair Lady,” with the lament of Professor Henry Higgins (Richard Costa) in “Why Can’t the English Learn to Speak?”
He’s a linguist, sort of a Sherlock Holmes of language. He can tell where a person’s from and where a person’s been simply by listening to his or her speech.
And he’s disgusted with the speech patterns of Eliza Doolittle (Jessica Wagner), a young lady as colorful as the flowers she sells.
On a bet, Higgins decides to take Eliza in and teach her the proper way to speak. Eliza dreams of being a lady in a flower shop, not on a corner. Higgins finds her “so deliciously low,” and knows he can make a duchess of her.
“My Fair Lady” is the opening show of the new season at Ocean State Theater Company in Warwick, and it’s a grand spectacle.
The lights, sets and costumes play as big a part as the cast, and it’s impressive all around.
The music is familiar – Lerner & Loewe’s music and lyrics are well-known. From “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” to “I Could Have Danced All Night” to “On the Street Where You Live,” you’ll probably find yourself singing along.
The ensemble musical numbers are energetic, especially “With a Little Bit of Luck” and “Get Me to the Church on Time.”
And there are some powerhouse solo performances here. Roger Reed is wonderful as Freddy, the young man from the upper class so smitten with Eliza. He’s a joy to watch and listen to, especially in “On the Street Where You Live.”
Todd Berkich is convincingly doddering as Colonel Pickering, the bankroll behind the bet with Higgins.
David Groccia turned in a fine performance (stepping in as the understudy) as Alfie Doolittle, Eliza’s conniving father, who sort of sells her to Higgins for five pounds, earning him Higgins’ sobriquet of the “most original moralist in England.”
Richard Costa’s Higgins is a hard man, very set in his ways, walled in so that no one can get to him. It takes him a long time to warm up to anything other than winning the bet with Pickering.
But this show belongs to Jessica Wagner. Her take on Eliza is amazing, her transformation from guttersnipe to duchess incredibly believable. She gets to show off her comic talent in “The Rain in Spain” – a number you know is coming but is so very well-played. And she lets loose with a stunning rendition of “I Could Have Danced All Night.”
Amiee Turner’s take on this classic bit of Broadway stays true to the original, from start to finish, and it’s very loverly indeed.
[Ocean State Theatre presents “My Fair Lady” through Sunday, October 19. Call 401.921.6800 or visit www.oceanstatetheatre.org for tickets and information.]
