While temperatures plummeted the sense of atmosphere and occasion was prevalent at Edinburgh Playhouse for the much-loved revival of Lerner & Lowe’s My Fair Lady.
Charlotte Kennedy produces an earthy cockney accent as flower seller Eliza Doolittle during ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly’ after a comical ‘Why Can’t The English’ by the stuffy Professor Higgins played by Michael D. Xavier. For a London story set in 1913, many themes feel noticeably present.
Adam Woodyatt, the actor best known as Ian Beale in Eastenders, does a star turn as Alfred P. Doolittle who declares that as a member of the “underserving poor” he is up against “middle-class morality all the time.” His journey to social respectability is marked with a colourfully choreographed ‘Get me to the Church on time.’ Opera singer Lesley Garret is excellent as the maternal Mrs Pearce, there’s no doubt of her regular gig when she performs during ‘The Servants Chorus’, ’You Did It’ and the classic ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’.
This production attracted an intergenerational audience, my daughter Christina (10) particularly enjoyed the colourful costumes during ‘The Embassy Waltz’. The return of this classic musical was complete with a rendition of ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face’.
The romantic ballad performed by Higgins before Eliza appears for the closing scene had the audience enchanted as they spilled out onto a freezing Edinburgh night.
Until January 7th
