It takes a lot to make one consign the original “My Fair Lady” starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison to the illustrious past rather than having it persist as the show’s enduring standard. But the sumptuous new production offered by the Lincoln Center Theater in association with Nederlander Presentations, Inc. does the trick. It is glorious interpretation of the Lerner-Loewe musical, one of the greatest of the genre, on so many counts. It is both an eyeful and an earful, with fabulous sets and costumes and beguiling singing. What’s more Eliza Doolittle is given an extra flair of newly found independence with a dramatically altered ending not defined by anything she says but by what she does. (No spoiler here.)
The overall look of the production is a star in itself. We see a huge, wide panorama of London as background to start with, as part of the wizardry of the set design by Michael Yeargan, who also gives us a revolving interior of the home of Henry Higgins, the street where Eliza sells her flowers, the exterior of the pub where Eliza’s father hangs out and other eye-catching set-ups. Catherine Zuber’s costumes dazzle, especially with the assemblage for the famous race track scene. Christopher Gattelli’s chorography bursts into a rollicking Can-Can style number that lights up the stage. Elegance and earthiness alternates.
Which brings us to the casting and the enduring score. Lauren Ambrose makes a lovely, spunky Eliza, a woman with whom one can steadily sympathize, and she has a golden voice that can especially thrill at the required moments. Harry Hadden-Paton is a forceful Professor Higgins, emphasizing his arrogant traits without letup, yet slyly managing to show us his underlying affection for Eliza that he cannot express. He also handles the numbers well, such as when he sings “I am an Ordinary Man,” and the vocal style, while similar, is a step above the speaking-like method of Harrison’s Higgins.
Norbert Leo Butz gets all of the comic bluster of Liza’s father, Alfred P. Doolittle, and his “Get Me to the Church on Time,” backed by the company, is, as it should be, one of the musical’s highlights. Jordan Donica is fine as the love-struck Freddy, and his “On the Street Where You Live” soars. Allan Corduner is commendable as Colonel Pickering.
There is a special place of honor in the performance by Diana Rigg as Henry’s mother. Rigg gives the lady class and communicates her solidarity with Eliza against her son’s arrogance with astuteness that drew applause at the performance I attended.
The musical remains a tribute to the spirit of its original sources, George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion” and the motion picture "Pygmalion." Thus the book by Alan Jay Lerner holds up firmly, and the icing on the cake is provided by his lyrics and the music of Frederick Loewe. The excellent orchestra, with music direction by Ted Sperling, gets a special chance to shine in a sequence when it is in full view on stage.
Bartlett Sher deserves unstinting praise for his direction. The magical elements of “My Fair Lady” are brilliantly displayed throughout whether the staging is elaborate or more intimate. It is an up-to-date example of striving for and achieving perfection in reviving a musical theater classic, or for that matter, the staging of any Broadway show—period. At the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center. Phone: 212-239-6200. Reviewed April 23, 2018.