MY FAIR LADY (2018) Previews- Page 26

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 4/1/18 at 8:18pm

Jeez. I'm still holding out hope for this (until I can see/hear with my own eyes and ears), but it sounds like they might need a cast voice teacher to come in.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 1:00am

Those who are praising Sher for accurately transmitting Shaw's messages on class and middle class morality in the UK I think do not know a great deal about Shaw. He was a one-trick pony. One of the characters in the play, as a stand-in for Shaw, criticizes or satirizes British middle class beliefs on many matters to his middle class audiences.

In Mrs. Warren's Profession it is the defense of the morality of prostitution by the former prostitute now Madam. In Major Barbara, it is the owner of the munitions company defending the morality of arms makers who were putting a lot of the lower class to work. Is it inconsistent to defend prostitutes and munitions companies? Probably, but this did not matter to Shaw as long as he had a subject with which to tweak his audiences' nose. He had a queer assortment of opinions: in favor of eugenics and opposed to vaccination.

It was between wars that Shaw began a romance with dictatorship as the best government. A benevolent dictatorship. Thus he hailed the accession to power of Mussolini in 1922 as "the right kind of tyrant". Shaw leaned more to the left than to the right, but still found Hitler, at the time of his succession to power in Germany in January 1933, to be "a very remarkable man, a very able man", and professed himself proud to be the only writer in England who was "scrupulously polite and just to Hitler".

But it was Stalin on whom Shaw really had a crush. He journeyed to the Soviet Union in 1931 and had a lengthy meeting with Stalin, whom Shaw later described as "a Georgian gentleman" with no malice in him. At a dinner given in his honor, Shaw told the gathering: "I have seen all the 'terrors' and I was terribly pleased by them". Of course this was five years before the Great Purge when Stalin had 750,000 to 1.5 million murdered. Shaw's kept a framed picture of Stalin until his death, and this was long after Stalin had been revealed for what he was.

Why would anyone be interested in the moral instruction of this educated but vain, ignorant and gullible man? Deceived much more easily than Chamberlain and willing to see what he wanted to see and believe what he wanted to believe.

There are much worse indictments of Shaw in videos of speeches and talks that he gave. In one he bemoans the useless members of society and how to handle them, but these are too heinous to be attributed to him without absolute proof of origin. 

[222disneyland]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 1:17am

broadwayboy223 said: "Jeez. I'm still holding out hope for this (until I can see/hear with my own eyes and ears), but it sounds like they might need a cast voice teacher to come in."

So Am I

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 4:34am

Saw it from third row yesterday- loved it though my sister called it old fashioned and old farty. She loved Take Me To The Church best of all musical numbers- that was my least favorite- and I thought it really did not fit into this production. The revolving set was really effective- and first class. The cast was good- the music great- the Ascot scene wonderful- the ending fantasy sequence really perfect for these times. Higgins lost the girl- and Freddy got her. I would go for Freddy myself. He was handsome and a good catch- though he will not make much of a living- true. Anyway- Ambrose good and I liked that she was not a youngster- ti added depth to her character.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 6:26am

Olblueeyes, the themes of Pygmalion remain the themes of Pygmalion regardless of any moral and political objections to or even outrage toward Shaw.

How do any of your arguments about Shaw's political views change the fact that he wrote a play in which two characters are being groomed by a third to come out of dire poverty and into middle class respectability, with each facing unique challenges as to how to personally fit into society and navigating a collision between their own self-actualization and middle class values and expectations? 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 9:40am

I can see Lauren Ambrose giving a polarizing performance. People either love her toned down, yearning, wounded Eliza or they prefer their Eliza's feisty and more energetic, which I find more typical since most Elizas cast are really young and play up her energy and the comedy. Ambrose is playing an Eliza who seems to have lived through some stuff even at her young age.

In that NYTimes feature, it does say, "[Ambrose] knows that Eliza can come across as merely sassy, spunky, cute. She knows that the ending can seem like a surrender, not a meeting of equals. She won’t let that happen." So it seems deliberate that she toned down that aspect of Eliza that has become the WAY to play her. I thought Audrey Hepburn played an introverted Eliza, but Ambrose plays her even more so. From the rehearsal footage, I thought Ambrose was going to play the post-Ball scene in a much angrier way than she actually did which fit the tone of her performance beforehand. However, I think Ambrose has it in her to explode during that scene and I think they should give a few performances where she does just to see how it plays.

I thought her singing was more-than-fine and exhilarating at the end of "I Could Have Danced All Night". I heard so many soaring sopranos singing the score where I felt they concentrated on selling their voice rather than interpreting it, and I think Ambrose is able to hit the notes but really get to the heart of the songs. The way she sings the score actually makes me seriously look forward to this cast recording. I loved her "Show Me" and I loved parts of "Without You" but I do think she could let it rip a bit in "Without You" and show a bit more attitude like with the "duckie" line. I also don't blame Ambrose if there is some wandering around aimlessly at the stage. I sort of found that distracting too because Ambrose does a great job getting into the Eliza she and Sher have come up with that her circling and singing to the audience sort of takes me out of the character and goes into singer mode rather than integrating the book, character, and songs together. I'd put more "blame" on Sher's directing and blocking for her. Maybe it was a directorial choice where the spotlight was supposed to be on Eliza and she's singing out away from Higgins and the other characters because she's going to move beyond them by the end.

Updated On: 4/2/18 at 09:40 AM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 4:35pm

^I'm now a big fan of Ambrose as well, after being bowled over by her performance last Friday. Funnily, my favorite song deliveries of hers are your least favorites, and vice versa.

I thought her "Show Me" was sluggish and halting, short of breath and missing the pulse the song needs to propel it to the end. It should run like a house on fire and hers did not. (Her posture was noticeably woeful here too, the opposite of the new-found confidence her lyrics display in this scene.)

Yet her "Without You" was just perfection! Funny and posh and a swell throwback to the cockney flower girl she used to be all in one number.

Incidentally, it's always bugged me that all Elizas the world over sing "I Could Have Danced All Night" in the Queen's English. Shouldn't she relax into her own speech pattern after suffering through the lessons all night? Who on earth is she delivering those proper vowels for at 3 in the morning?

[JPeterman]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 5:22pm

We saw the show this past Friday. I loved it.

The person I was with picked up on a couple little things that bothered her that I didn’t even notice. She said that it annoyed her that a handkerchief was thrown in a trash can in Higgins’ house and it sat there in the trash can the entire show. With a large house keeping staff and the show taking place over a period of many months, my show mate felt the handkerchief should have been removed. Why would Higgins’ maids and butlers leave trash in the trash can for months at a time.  Like I said, I didn’t notice. My companion also was annoyed that the fake flowers the flower girls were selling still had little price stickers on their fake stems, nobody had bothered to remove the stickers. Again, I didn’t notice if this was true myself.

I am a huge Game of Thrones fan. I basically function mentally about 40% on earth and 60% in Westeros. I didn’t know Diana Rigg (the Queen of Thornes/Lady Terrell of Highgarden and a lifetime actress with many dozens of theatre, tv and movie credits including a Tony for Medea) was in MFL. When she appeared on stage my eyes grew wide and I had a bit of a melt down.

We were standing outside the theatre along W 65th right after the show let out, and she came strolling by with another actress. I said some incredibly awkward and nerdy things to her .... she kept walking but she turned around and smiled .... it was awesome. Now I have a crush on a 79 year old woman.

Updated On: 4/4/18 at 05:22 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 5:22pm

I saw yesterday’s matinee and I loved every minute of it, though I must admit to being predisposed in Ambrose’s favor. Would love to see this launch her as a Broadway leading lady on a regular basis.

[MCfan2]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 7:04pm

Someone in a Tree2 said: "Incidentally, it's always bugged me that all Elizas the world over sing "I Could Have Danced All Night" in the Queen's English. Shouldn't she relax into her own speech pattern after suffering through the lessons all night? Who on earth is she delivering those proper vowelsforat 3 in the morning?"

I think that the point -- or part of the point -- is that it isn't her own speech pattern any longer. She's had a breakthrough and left it behind her. Of course it's not realistic that she does it all at once, and so completely -- but, well, it's a musical.  

 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/2/18 at 8:55pm

I really did love the staging of "I Could Have Danced all Night". She made it less about the excitement that is usually read about being excited about when "he" danced with her and that being why she could have danced all night. Instead, it was a bit of that, but it was more about Eliza trying to grab the book and continue studying and working because she was so excited she made a breakthrough that she didn't want to stop. She wanted to keep working and see what else she was capable of doing and the staging made really brought that point home.

[SmoothLover]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 1:58am

Someone in a Tree2 said: "Thanks for that, Henrik. Perhaps it's time tohear from someone else who's actually seen this production.

Watching the show last night from the center loge, for the most part I was absolutelyenchanted. I've always considered MFL the greatest of all golden age musical plays, despite having never seen a Broadway mounting that actually worked for me (going back to the revival in 1976). There was no major revisal here-- Bart Sher's essential choice was to focus on Eliza's story front and center. That's the whole point. Never look away from her, never miss the impact of how someone else's speech might affect her. And when she makes the choice she does at the end, that choice is truly earned. Frankly Lauren Ambrose was a revelation to me-- a translucent actress with a lovely soprano (and yes, anodd way of standing when singing thosehigh notes), who had the skill to make Eliza's journey heartbreakingly real. Sheisthe reason to see this mounting, hands down.

Harry Hadden-Paton is young and vibrant and a commanding singer, and never really broke the mold set forth by Rex Harrison 60 years ago. In this staging,hewasn't meant to. Jordan Donica was a sparkling, ravishingly beautiful Freddy-- the best I've ever seen. Sorry to say, Leo Butz is the one weak link in the cast, never mastering either the accent nor the contagious glee with which Alfred seizes life's chances.

The set designs are often ravishing, but always very traditional, which was a surprise given what MichaelYeargen is capable of. He showed something magical in the St Paul's Exterior and in the Exterior Higgins House where the false perspective facades aresliced off at the ends in a fresh way. I would have adored an entire production designed just that way. And was it budget cuts that left the Ascot Gavotte just one sad striped awning on an empty stage?

The Catherine Zuber costumes gave melife, as expected. They are thrilling ideas of the period that side step every choice ol'Cecil Beaton made with the originals. Eliza's ballgown is absolutely to die for-- though weirdly most ofher other ensembles were the only minor missteps in the amazingparade.

The show, let's face it, is a little long, particularly since they've interpolated line after line from Lerner's film screenplay. (Anyone who only knows the published play script by heart will be surprised by any number of addedbeats, including Eliza's introduction to a steam shower in scene 3!!) So, with apologies to Chris Gattelli, here is a list of cutsI'd propose forthwith: in Act 1, lose a verse and chorus in the "Loverly" dance break. Lose a verse in the "Bit 'o Luck" reprise dance break. Lose all those added measures in "Poor Professor Higgins" while we waited for the turntable to finish rotating. In Act 2, cutallthat needless Ballroom dancing before the dialogue begins. Most of all, please God cut the 5 minutes of Can-Can and Drag Actsstraight out of La Cage aux Folles that absolutely destroyed"Get me To theChurch On Time"! What on earth do ugly men in boxers, corsets and wigs have to do with Eliza Dolittle's story? Lerner and Loewe would be horrified by that whole sequence and Bart clearly lost his mind in conceiving it. The show rights itself soon enough ("A Hymn to Him" is absolutely delicious), and "Without You" is the best singing Lauren does all night.

M A J O R S P O I L E R A L E R T



Which brings us to the final scene. I loved the touch to the face. I loved the choice to leave. But why oh why did Eliza enter the scene through the study doors and exit through the fourth wall??? Was she a vision of Higgins' imagination? Did she really come back in the flesh? A simple blocking fix would immediately make Bart's intention crystal clear. My honey and Iwere on our feet in an instant for the well-earned standing ovation this show deserved, but we argued about that beat the whole way home.

 

Thank God!! I thought I was the only one who felt like she walked through a wall. I thought I had flipped the channel to an episode of Bewitched featuring Aunt Clara.

King and I was a better production in which all  the elements complimented one another with some star turns. This will get favorable write ups but they will not be over the moon. Tony's will be earned but in part due to a lack of competition.




"

 

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 2:41am

henrikegerman said: "Olblueeyes, the themes of Pygmalionremain the themes of Pygmalionregardless of any moral and political objections to or even outrage toward Shaw.

How do any ofyour arguments about Shaw'spolitical viewschange the fact that he wrote a play in which two characters are being groomed by a third to come out of dire povertyand into middle class respectability, with each facing uniquechallenges as to how to personallyfit into societyand navigating acollisionbetween their ownself-actualization andmiddle class values and expectations?"

I don't want to interrupt the discussion of the musical, which I myself found to be "memorable," but I find it incorrect to ascribe to Shaw some great insight into class and morality in Victorian England through the actions and choices made by the eccentric characters he created for the play. Not many of the lower class women of the era had the spunk and intelligence of Eliza, and scarcely any of these had the fortune of encountering a Higgins. It is to Shaw's credit that he created characters for this comedy which resonated with his audience. You write 600 plays during your life and you should have a few that outlive you.

But I don't see anything heroic about Shaw's insistence that Eliza cut off Higgins entirely at the end, especially if she chose Shaw's option to run a flower shop with Freddy. Eliza in "Show Me" I believe established that he was beneath her, and she might have had a much more interesting life with the humbled (and much younger than the Rex Harrison we remember) Higgins.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 3:03am

What’s with the assumption that a woman should choose someone who’s not “lower” than her to have an “interesting” life? I find it utterly flummoxing.

Updated On: 4/3/18 at 03:03 AM

[Melissa25]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 7:13am

We saw this last Friday as well and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The incredible sets will join Harry Hadden-Paton for Tony nominations.  I thought Lauren Ambrose was excellent especially in the acting department.  I felt for her Eliza and she had me on the edge of my seat.  You could always see her thinking and what a journey she takes you on.  

Ironically others have commented about her poor posture but we thought there were too many times where she was so stiiff and seemed to me gazing up at the moldings which prompted a previous poster to characterize her as “dazed.”  Her transformation however was incredible to watch.  I loved her comedic scenes especially the one at the racetrack.  I remember thinking about the Sutton closet scene in Charity even though they are very different in tone.  Two strong women trapped but playing along in order to survive. 

Ambrose broke my heart in the “You Did It” scene after the ball.  I too could not take my eyes off of her.

We also commented on how much we enjoyed the Ascot ensemble scene.  Classic vogueing at its best with subtle hues of grey that were just delicious on the eye.  Thanks to Sher for not being afraid to employ many women over 40 for this scene!! The result was pure glamour and a sophisticated mystery. 

I have to be honest that I purposely did not read this thread until after I saw the show.  Having never seen a stage version or the movie, I wanted to go in without any pre-conceived ideas.  Now it understandable why there is so much discussion about the ending.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

My partner and I talked about our feelings about the ending for several days.  It prompted me to even watch the movie.  Ultimately we were dividedd.  Partner wanted a traditional “happy” ending where Eliza and Higgins are together.  A wink ending would’ve worked.  I liked the way that it ended and am happy and hopeful for Eliza’s independence.  

Was it a dream?  We talked about this too and came to the conclusion that it was not.  We felt that Eliza returns to the study a few days (weeks?) later in a turquoise outfit never seen before.  She lovingly touches Higgins face as if to bid him farewell and show him an act of kindness.  Something he has not been able to do.  She turns and walks through the 4th wall past me up the aisle between the left and left center orchestra.  I kind of felt that this was her Rocky moment first stepping into middle class society ( with us) and rising UP the stairs towards independent freedom and happiness.  I really thought that this stage direction worked wonders and am so glad that she did not exit into the wings.

My partner still wanted a good old fashioned “they get together at the end” ending.  Even if you are willing to look past the slippers remark are you willing to settle for someone who justIfies a lack of kindness and compassion by asking “Have you seen me treat any others that way?” Later dude. I’m out. 

 

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 8:22am

OlBlueEyes said: "Those who are praising Sher for accurately transmitting Shaw's messages on class and middle class morality in the UK I think do not know a great deal about Shaw. He was a one-trick pony. One of the characters in the play, as a stand-in for Shaw, criticizes or satirizes British middle class beliefs on many matters to his middle class audiences.

In Mrs. Warren's Professionit is the defense of the morality of prostitution by the former prostitute now Madam. In Major Barbara, it is the owner of the munitions company defending the morality of arms makers who were putting a lot of the lower class to work. Is it inconsistent to defend prostitutes and munitions companies? Probably, but this did not matter to Shaw as long as he had a subject with which to tweak his audiences' nose. He had a queer assortment of opinions: in favor of eugenics and opposed to vaccination.

It was between wars that Shaw began a romance with dictatorship as the best government. A benevolent dictatorship. Thus he hailed the accession to power of Mussoliniin 1922 as"the right kind of tyrant". Shaw leaned more to the left than to the right, but still found Hitler, at the time of his succession to power in Germany in January 1933, to be"a very remarkable man, a very able man", and professed himself proud to be the only writer in England who was "scrupulously polite and just to Hitler".

But it was Stalin on whom Shaw really had a crush. He journeyed to the Soviet Union in 1931 and had a lengthy meeting with Stalin,whom Shaw later described as "a Georgian gentleman" with no malice in him. At a dinner given in his honor, Shaw told the gathering: "I have seen all the 'terrors' and I was terribly pleased by them". Of course this was five years before the Great Purge when Stalin had 750,000 to 1.5 million murdered. Shaw's kept aframed picture of Stalin until his death, and this was long after Stalin had been revealed for what he was.

Why would anyone be interested in the moral instruction of this educated but vain, ignorant and gullible man? Deceived muchmore easily than Chamberlain and willing to see what he wanted to see and believe what he wanted to believe.

There are much worse indictments of Shaw in videos of speeches and talks that he gave. In one he bemoans the useless members of society and how to handle them, but these are too heinous to be attributed to him without absolute proof of origin."

pro tip: most people's eyes glaze over after the first 2 sentences

[MCfan2]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 9:35am

Dancingthrulife2 said: "What’s with the assumption that a woman should choose someone who’s not “lower” than her to have an “interesting” life? I find it utterly flummoxing."

Intellectually. Freddy is beneath her intellectually. That's not to take anything away from him as a person; he's friendly and good-natured and he can't help not being bright. But I honestly believe he would end up boring Eliza to death.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 9:43am

MCfan2 said: "Dancingthrulife2 said: "What’s with the assumption that a woman should choose someone who’s not “lower” than her to have an “interesting” life? I find it utterly flummoxing."

Intellectually. Freddy is beneath her intellectually. That's not to take anything away from him as a person; he's friendly and good-natured and he can't help not being bright. But I honestly believe he would end up boringEliza to death."

Hmm one of the things about Freddy in this revival is that Jordan Donica has maybe the loveliest voice of anyone in the production but his line readings were very stiff and so as a result Freddy comes across as rather priggish and arrogant rather than the sweet sap. Now I saw this early in previews and maybe he will get more comfortable with the lines. I have a ticket April 10 and can't wait to see how the actors have grown (or not grown) into their roles. But Donica definitely IMO needed the most work acting-wise.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 9:46am

There's something interesting about Freddy in that it was the part about where she talked about how the Aunt bit off the spoon, how she completely done him in. He really romanticized her in the beginning but unlike other men of his class who probably would have been repelled by that story he was completely transfixed. Maybe there was a bit of fetishizing going on because Eliza was somebody completely new and was not raised in the same social circle so she provided Freddy with something new and exciting. However, to give Freddy credit, there are far less people interested in new and different than we realize (most of us do which is why we love theatre) and this may show an open-mindedness about Freddy.

I think what helped during this production was the way they had Donica play Freddy during Eliza's return to Covent Garden and you see the wheels turning inside of him as he was realizing the truth. To me, the part where Eliza and Freddy fell in love (if they do...whatever Shaw actually wrote in the epilogue) would have actually started during THAT scene and not the Ascot Garden scene. We, as an audience, aren't privy to that development, but I think this production hints that if it were to happen this is how it would have happened and Eliza and Freddy would get to know each other and they obviously did not get married right away (if they got married) because even Eliza says they'd have to wait until she could support him, which is her choice and one she's happy about. Freddy is more likely to provide her with that head resting upon her knee, making her warm and cozy, and takes care of her, if not financially then in terms of companionship and warmth and making a home which is what she stated in her I Want song. Plus, he happily stuck around after she basically yelled at him in a rant that was more for Higgins than him.

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 10:15am

We are seeing this Friday night for the first time. Neither of us have seen the show or the film, so going in with completely fresh eyes and ears. We are sitting in row E of the Loge (near center). How is the sound and view?

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 10:20am

The view is great. The sound is pretty quiet. I hope they fix that problem soon.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 10:50am

OlBlueEyes said: "henrikegerman said: "Olblueeyes, the themes of Pygmalionremain the themes of Pygmalionregardless of any moral and political objections to or even outrage toward Shaw.

How do any ofyour arguments about Shaw'spolitical viewschange the fact that he wrote a play in which two characters are being groomed by a third to come out of dire povertyand into middle class respectability, with each facing uniquechallenges as to how to personallyfit into societyand navigating acollisionbetween their ownself-actualization andmiddle class values and expectations?"

I don't want to interrupt the discussion of the musical, which I myself found to be "memorable," but I find it incorrect to ascribe to Shaw some great insight into class and morality in Victorian England through the actions and choices made by the eccentric characters he created for the play. Not many of the lower class women of the era had the spunk and intelligence of Eliza, and scarcely any of these had the fortune of encountering a Higgins. It is to Shaw's credit that he created characters for this comedy which resonated with his audience. You write 600 plays during your life and you should have a few that outlive you.

But I don't see anything heroic about Shaw's insistence that Eliza cut off Higgins entirely at the end, especially if she chose Shaw's option to run a flower shop with Freddy. Eliza in "Show Me" I believe established that he was beneath her, and she might have had a much more interesting life with the humbled (and much younger than the Rex Harrison we remember) Higgins."

Fine and good, but what does ascribing or not ascribing heroism to Shaw's intentions have to do with our interpretations of the play he wrote?  This isn't about endorsing or embracing Shaw's themes and ideas (in general, politically, on some controversial, even alarming, occasions, or even in the play itself).  One is free to relate to Shaw's ideas or theories or reject them, just as with any other writer or idealist-theorist of any sort.  

It has to do with being attuned to the themes and ideas presented in a work.  Of identifying those ideas and themes so that they can be appreciated or rejected (or anything in between), discussed both in terms of their value and in terms of how well the work conveys them. 

And certainly Shaw, of all modern playwrights, had strong themes and marked ideas.   

Also, how does a woman wanting a man to "show" her his feelings for her rather than speak of them (the throughline of "Show Me" -  which btw is a rather topically controversial one (given our sensitivities to men committing amorous/romantic/sexual acts when there is no wish by the woman for him to do so - particularly in the context of two people, such as Eliza and Freddy, who hardly know each other and have only met briefly... and she wants him to be physically demonstrative without speaking of his feelings and hearing her response... hmmm -

how does anything about "Show Me" suggest that the man is beneath the woman?  Because he isn't physically or sexually assertive enough - that somehow makes him unsuitable or a lesser person?   And your take on this is all the more unclear to me given that Freddy's being all talk and no "moves," doesn't contrast him with Higgins.  In fact, Eliza makes it very clear that her lament in "Show Me" is not directed only at Freddy's behavior in this regard.  To the contrary, she equates Freddy's behavior with Higgins' own  ("I get words all day through, first from him now from you"...

And who do we think is most in Eliza's mind during this song? 
The man who is dominating her life and whom she has just had the cojones to escape.... or the dear boy she hardly knows who she happens upon coming out of the house?
hint:  that's a rhetorical question.

Once could even make the argument that what "Show Me" is about is Eliza's romantic frustration with Higgins brilliantly disguised as her romantic frustration with Freddy.  Both Pygmalion and My Fair Lady leave much unsaid about the just beneath the surface romance between the two principals but both have enough there in subtext and passionate discussion of their possibly marrying and Higgins abandonment issues when Eliza leaves for the question of their having strong feelings for each other (tinged with dominance, submission, codependence, but also with them finally having met their match, intellectually and passionately and not taking any of what they consider crap from each other) and quite possibly an intense attachment of the heart to be inescapable.  

Not to mention that "Show Me" is Lerner, not Shaw.  In Pygmalion, as far as I recall there is no parallel scene in Shaw's play where Eliza laments that Freddy isn't being assertive enough romantically and is only wooing her with words.    

 

Updated On: 4/3/18 at 10:50 AM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 3:21pm

" We are sitting in row E of the Loge (near center). How is the sound and view?"

We were row C center loge. BRING SOME BINOCULARS! That's what we did. I can't imagine how much less I would have enjoyed the show had I not been able to see the details of Lauren's facial expressions through each of those scenes where she has no lines but is clearly the focus. Every set and costume detail begs to be studied at close range. 

I've promised myself to get a seat downstairs (even on the sides) the next time I'm back in NY. 

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 4:12pm

Someone in a Tree2 said: "
I've promised myself to get a seat downstairs (even on the sides) the next time I'm back in NY."

I sat on the side in seat C505 and it was indeed a terrific view. 

[WestCoast331]

Posted: 4/3/18 at 11:30pm

Well am I glad I snuck this little marvel into my trip. There’s so much to love here, much of which comes from the overall production and Sher’s direction, and it’s easy to see this thing racking up a ton of nominations. I’ll pretty much echo everything people have been saying...

Ambrose and Hadden-Paton’s scenes together were the highlight for me, and I thought they both held up relatively well vocally. The sound mix is really soft throughout (and I was sitting Orch J), which certainly doesn’t do them any favors. Butz is Butz and energetic as always. The Higgins’ study set is a stunner as is overall costume design. All in all another fantastic night at LCT, and I think this production sets up well for a proscenium tour.