MY FAIR LADY (2018) Previews — Page 29

^Hmmm...I wonder. I know I have an odd break in my voice (in between my head and chest voice) that makes some songs difficult for me.

Only 7 days left until opening night. Yay!

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "disneybroadwayfan22 said: "I don’t like the costume of Eliza’s father. Is him looking like a sloppy drunkard the point?"

Are you familiar with the show?"

I am familiar with it, but I haven’t seen it before, so I don’t know all of the characters well.

henrikegerman said: "OlBlueEyes said: "henrikegerman said: "Olblueeyes, if you find Shaw's ending silly, we can agree to disagree. But curious - in addition to why you find Shaw's resolution silly, how you would prefer the play to end."

With ambiguity."

But isn’there ambiguity at the end of Pygmalion? Isn’t the audience left wondering if Eliza will stay resolutely done with Higgins or if Higgins is right to laugh at the prospect?

More has been written about the ending of this play than all that goes before.

I am referring specifically to the end that Shaw gave to his play: the prose epilogue that he added to the play after being appalled by the way that the theatrical productions were handling the end. Shaw's epilogue, if it had been written to be acted, would have added an Act 6 and maybe an Act 7.

...What is Eliza fairly sure to do when she is placed between Freddy and Higgins? Will she look forward to a lifetime of fetching Higgins's slippers or to a lifetime of Freddy fetching hers? There can be no doubt about the answer. Unless Freddy is biologically repulsive to her, and Higgins biologically attractive to a degree that overwhelms all her other instincts, she will, if she marries either of them, marry Freddy.

And that is just what Eliza did.

Complications ensued; but they were economic, not romantic. Freddy had no money and no occupation.

How does Shaw resolve this problem of Freddy and Eliza having no means of support. Finally Colonel Pickering suggests that they open a flower shop. And even this does not go well.

So Shaw has Eliza marrying a silly young man whom she does not love and does not respect. If there is any bullying in this match, it will come from Eliza. And, having risen from the gutter to royalty, she is returned to a position one step above the one from which she started, selling flowers from a shop instead of from the street.

Yes, I agree that the ending of Pygmalion is ambiguous. Eliza has a lot thinking to do about her feelings for Freddy and Higgins. Is she feeling love for Higgins or merely affection? Should she settle for Freddy. As for Higgins, in what capacity does he want Eliza to return to his house? In her prior role as a guest or as a bride. Higgins has spent two hours telling us what little use he has for women. He can't do a 180 degree turn in a couple of days. And Eliza has other choices than Freddy and Higgins. Due to her friendship with Higgins' mother, and especially with Colonel Pickering, other doors may be opened to her. In Shaw's ending, Pickering provides considerable financial support to the struggling young couple.

The End.

"

demerit: the Queen of Transylvania's entrance down the stairs is a wtf moment.

Everything else is terrific.
Ambrose is not at all hesitant with cues, and if her posture in earlier previews was in any way strange, I saw no signs of it yesterday. She's heartbreaking and very funny. She sings beautifully, but I agree it's her high notes that are the most thrilling. I wouldn't say her other first act numbers seem to reveal too much effort on her part, I'd say that hers is an Eliza that is truly finding her voice and her bearings, the character's arc charted with progressive confidence and presence, but that everything she does brings the audience to her. Her Luverly is charming, endearing and warm but still shows us a woman not yet fully formed. I Could Have Danced All Night is her most impressive number. And it's stunning. Harry's is definitely I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face. His Henry is petulant, elegant and rye. If not the grandly vivid and vocally distinct Higgins of Harrison, his choices are clean, strong and appealing (one example, his gleefully mocking Zoltan's accent in You Did It is great silly fun). And I've Grown Accustomed is brilliant.. He and Ambrose are wonderful together and their Act II scenes are cracklingly good. .
Sher, who has a very clear vision for the libretto, has directed to emphasize both the lavish and the intimate (arguably his signature style). And it works wonderfully.
I found the ending perfectly in keeping with the rest of the performance and not at all jarring or strange (of course I knew it was coming). Two elderly women, clearly no strangers to MFL, sitting behind me, loved the ending. "So much better," one of them said.
Butz and Donica are fabulous. Butz nailed his visit to Wimpole Street scene. Donica's On The Street Where You Lived was gorgeous. And I almost wanted him to be wearing the same costume when in Act II we still find him there - but that's not Sher's style here, and I get it.
Rigg had the audience eating out of her hands. I can only gather that if, as some have reported, she was failing to make much of a grand impression earlier, she's upped her game considerably.

Updated On: 4/16/18 at 11:08 PM

Why Sher doesn’t have Eliza run off with Colonel Pickering in the end is beyond me. This would have solved everyone’s issues with the ending. Pickering is nice to her, wealthy and experienced in years. The perfect mate.

Yours truly,
Daddy Warbucks

Updated On: 4/16/18 at 09:13 AM

Someone in a Tree2 said: "^ Obviously because Pickering is far too busy setting up house with his buddy Bootsy from the Home Office!"

Speaking of which, Corduner's take when Haddon-Paton sang "Would you complain if I took out another fellow?" was brilliantly funny.

Warbucks2 said: "Why Sher doesn’t have Eliza run off with Colonel Pickering in the end is beyond me. This would have solved everyone’s issues with the ending. Pickering isnice to her, wealthy and experienced in years. The perfect mate.

Yours truly,
Daddy Warbucks"

But Higgins is nearer her age than what Pickering is!

Could someone comment on Gattelli's choreography, please?

Watching the first look montage a few times after it was released makes me really want this show to be filmed for PBS. I can't stop looking at Ambrose's face in that video. She simply glows and I caught a lot of little things and expressions she does that really works for the screen. I wonder if her performance will be one of those that is can be appreciated on screen which to me is rare for a filmed stage performance. What are the chances of PBS filming this?

dramamama611 said: "Gah! SO excited to see this tonight with my son who's never seen any iteration nor been at the Beaumont. "

Already can’t wait to read your thoughts, dramamama!

Regarding the choreography-- well there's a lot of it that is basically unnecessary-- all the skipping around during "A Little Bit of Luck" and its reprise, and especially the endless waltzing at the Ballroom long before they get to the new dialogue (cribbed from the movie), just because it's pretty, I guess.

The real sin in the choreography for me comes in Act II when "Get Me to the Church On Time" jams in a French can-can followed by a jaw-droppingly bad drag routine that I swear has Lerner and Loewe turning over in their graves.

That aside, I love this production.