Jazmin Gorsline as Eliza Doolittle
Summer Theatre of New
Canaan has come a long way from its inception, when the audience
brought its own chairs and blankets and sat under the stars (or storm clouds)
on a grassy knoll to watch a Shakespeare play performed on an open-air, platform
stage. Now it has found a convivial home at Waveny Park
under a sheltering tent and has opted to eschew the Bard in favor of tried and
true musicals such as “My Fair Lady,” which is the opening offering of STONC’s
2012 season. Yet, there is still a “Let’s put on a show” feel to what STONC is
doing, and it by and large works.
Certain
shows are haunted, if you will, by the actors who first created the pivotal
roles: think Yul Brynner in “The King and I” and Zero Mostel in “Fiddler on the
Roof.” Such is the case with “My Fair Lady.” Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews.
Try as you might
to wash your mind clean of these performances as you hear the opening strains
of the overture, you can’t help but remember. Thus, like it or not, one of the
challenges of producing…and acting in…”haunted” musicals is to deal with the
ghosts. In the case of STONC’s “My Fair Lady,” Richard Sheridan Willis, who
play’s Professor Henry Higgins, the role originally created by Rex Harrison,
cuddles up to the ghost and in the process gives us a “Rexy” Higgins that is
almost dead-on, save for some excessive body language and constant movement.
However, Jazmin
Gorsline opts to give us an Eliza Doolittle that, based on productions I have
seen, is (perhaps with the help of director Allegra Libonati) all her own. It’s
like she is saying, yes, Julie Andrews once played the role, as did Audrey
Hepburn in the film version, but here’s my Eliza, more feisty and forward, and,
like her or not, this is what you get. Hence, as the musical unfolds, Willis
kept on reminding me of Harrison, while
Gorsline…well, I forgot Andrews and Hepburn, not because I wanted to but
Gorsline made me do so…and thus her performance is worth the price of
admission. She’s simply a wonderful Eliza, shining every moment she’s on the
stage.
That’s not to say
there aren’t problems with this production, although the positives far outweigh
the negatives. One problem is the damn stairs in Professor Higgins’ abode,
which is part of the tripartite turntable set (designed by Charles Pavarini
III) that dominates center stage. One of Allegra Libonati’s tasks as director is
to block her actors movements, which basically means telling them where to move
in each scene, and since these stairs dominate, she has her actors moving up
and down these stairs with, quite often, no more motivation than, well, they’re
there, so let’s use them. Some of the movements, and moments created, are
effective, while others are just…movement for movement’s sake. I’m going up the
stairs and now I’m going down…and then up again. Don’t ask me why.
This “works” and
“doesn’t work” extends to the performances of the actors portraying secondary
characters. Sandy York, as Mrs. Pearce, the ruling factotum in Professor
Higgins’ household, seems to have one expression, and one somewhat stilted way
of speaking, though she does shine (watch her eyes and her lips) as the silent
recipient of the good professor’s complaint about why women can’t be more like
men late in Act Two. Her facial features all of a sudden speak volumes.
As an avuncular Colonel
Pickering, Gary Harger seems, at times, to be channeling Nigel Bruce of Doctor
Watson fame, but he also has his moments, especially in the Act Two “You Did
It” number. Another actor that seems to be channeling is Christian Libonati as
the love-besotted Freddie Eynsford-Hill. In his rendition of “On the Street
Where You Live,” you’d swear Jack Nicholson had taken possession of him: his
eyes seem crazed and his smile even more so. Speaking of facial expressions,
Brian Silliman as Alfred Doolittle appears to have just one, whether drunk or
sober, a sort of bland befuddlement. Whether he’s pontificating about the poor
or singing that he’s “getting married in the morning,” his expression remains
essentially “mute.”
Much more
expressive, and beautifully cast, is Anna Holbrook as Henry’s mother, Mrs.
Higgins. She is both regal and arch and treats her son as the spoiled little
boy that he is, but perhaps the strongest element in this production, aside
from Gorsline’s performance, is the wonderful collection of young actors and
actresses that plays the tertiary roles or in the ensemble. Whether they are
acting as part of a Cockney crowd, butlers and maids in Higgins’ household, or
members of the landed gentry attending a race at Ascot, they are superb,
filling the tent with a marvelous sound and dancing (under the guidance of
choreographer Doug Shankman) over the somewhat limited stage space with
exuberance.
Whatever problems
the production might have, the presence of Gorsline and the ensemble makes it
well worth the watching. The show itself is well over 50 years old, having
opened on Broadway in 1956, but it doesn’t show its age. The transformation of
the flower girl into a beautiful, sophisticated lady is still mesmerizing, and
the professor’s growing realization of his love for her still touching.
“My Fair Lady”
runs through July 7. For tickets or more information call 203-966-4634 or go to
www.stonc.org
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