Southern Light is proud to present a beautiful new production of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh.
As with George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion from which it was adapted, My Fair Lady explores society’s prejudices toward class and gender while wrapped in a spectacular Lerner and Loewe score with memorable tunes such as “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?,” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” and “Get Me To the Church On Time!”
The story is familiar – world famous phonetics expert and upper class bachelor, Henry Higgins wagers that he can pass off Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, in high society as a duchess just by teaching her to speak proper English.
Lerner and Loewe created an instant hit which has often been referred to as “the worlds most beloved musical.” The original Broadway production opened in 1956 and ran for over six-and-a-half-years with a total of 2,717 performances, and won 6 Tony Awards. It was revived by the National Theatre in 2001 and last year saw an acclaimed return to Broadway.
The cast features Rebekah Lansley as Eliza Doolittle, John Bruce as Henry Higgins, Keith Kilgore as Alfred P. Doolittle, Alan Hunter as Colonel Pickering, Averyl Nash as Mrs Higgins, David Bartholomew as Freddy Eynsford-Hill and Judith Walker as Mrs Pearce.
My Fair Lady is directed by Andy Johnston, Musical Director is Crawford Moyes, Choreographer is Louise Williamson.
Director Andy Johnston, “It is the universality of the story that makes My Fair Lady such an unforgettable piece of theatre. The innate desire to make something of yourself, to improve your life and your future are very human themes that we can all relate to. What George Bernard Shaw had to say about class, perceptions of class and social attitudes rings as true today as it did when he wrote Pygmalion over a hundred years ago. Much is made of the central relationship between Higgins and Eliza. Is it a pupil/ teacher relationship? Is there any hint of romance? Do they end up together or not?
Shaw had very strong ideas regarding this and so did Lerner and Lowe – not always the same views. With this production, we have not set out to finally and irrevocably solve these conundrums, but to investigate and find the truth in this most complex of relationships. Well, our version of the truth!
It is not often you get to work on one of the genuine legends of musical theatre and our company of over seventy, backed by a huge backstage crew and a twenty-three piece orchestra have been working very hard to bring this classic tale to life for a new generation and I couldn’t be prouder of the entire team.”
Southern Light presents My Fair Lady King’s Theatre, Tue 5 to Sat 9 March 2019 Evenings 7.30pm Saturday Matinee 2.30pm Capital Theatres – 0131 529 6000 https://www.capitaltheatres.com/whats-on/myfairlady
Tickets from £21 Access Performance Friday 8 March
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
