My Fair Lady, National Tour

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

https://www.myfairladyontour.com/

 

Caught this at the Kennedy Center last night. It's based off the LCT revival from last season.

 

I had wondered how they would tour it, seeing as the version at the Vivian Beaumont was nearly in-the-round with a massive, two level set piece that would roll on and off from the very rear of the stage. Thankfully, this tour was not much scaled-back and Higgins's large home rolled on and then functioned as a turntable just as it did in NYC. Impressive touring stagecraft, for sure.

 

First off, the orchestra sounded large, lush and they did the score massive justice.

 

The cast was uniform and very, very talented. For a first stop, they all seemed polished and as if they had been doing this for years. Shereen Ahmed as Eliza was beautifully sung and found a ton of strong comedy in the show I never saw with the LCT cast. Laird Mackintosh was the standout as Higgins: His vocal rythyms were a bit like Rex Harrison, but clearly he could sing. His words were bell clear. His movements crisp (as he was a former ballet dancer). I really enjoyed his take on the role.

 

Highly recommended if it's in your neck of the woods.

[dcguy20]

I saw this during the tour's last week at the Kennedy Center. I had also seen Shereen Ahmed as Eliza in the Lincoln Center production. I thought it was a wonderful production, although I definitely preferred the Freddy at LCT.

 

I missed the staging from the Embassy Ball, and realize things have to be altered for touring productions.

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

I missed the staging from the Embassy Ball, and realize things have to be altered for touring productions.

 

It also lost something on tour with about 1/2 as many waltzing cast members.

[+ E.T.Bass]

All I want is a room somewhere....

[dcguy20]

@Benjamin_Nicholas, oh I didn't realize there were less dancing couples. I knew they wouldn't be able to put the orchestra on stage during this scene, but it certainly felt less grand. The underwhelming staircase didn't help matters.

 

Overall, I still enjoyed this production.