MY FAIR LADY (2018) Reviews- Page 2

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:28pm

theatretenor2 said: "Musical Master said: "Chicago Tribune is mixed to negative.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/broadway/ct-ent-fair-lady-broadway-review-0420-story.html"

He must really hate his life."

He really wanted a garden-variety MFL. That review is sort of funny because this is the first Higgins/Eliza I wanted to see together at the end and goes on about how Freddy isn't right for Eliza. That review sounds like it belonged in one of the MFL threads arguing about the ending.

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 08:28 PM

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:34pm

WSJ is positive.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/my-fair-lady-review-grown-accustomed-to-success-1524184200

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 08:34 PM

[markypoo]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:35pm

What he really wanted is of little or no consequence, because the Tribune is on its wobbliest legs to date; and in time he could find himself covering Theater for the Bum**** Bugle.

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:36pm

Quite surprised at the lack of praise for HHP. I thought his performance was brilliant.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:37pm

That's so great to know, especially given how harsh he was towards Hello, Dolly! last year.

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 08:37 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:42pm

I'd say WSJ is mixed. He likes Lauren Ambrose. Doesn't much like HHP or NLB. Likes the orchestra and physical production, but says there's nothing surprising about it and wonders why he isn't more effusive about it. He ends saying:

"I enjoyed this revival very much, but I’d expected to be more wholehearted about it, and I wonder whether another director might have gotten livelier performances out of Mr. Hadden-Paton and Mr. Butz. I even caught myself wondering at times whether Mr. Sher was going through the motions instead of digging deeper into “My Fair Lady.” Having loved what he did with “The King and I” and “South Pacific,” I took for granted that he’d make an equally strong and consistent impression this time around. Perhaps he made the same mistake."

 

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:46pm

^^^Good point.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:46pm

"Hadden-Paton’s chilly Higgins might have a few pangs of regret during “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” which is sung like an absurd declaration that a relationship that never was is now over, but the famous final scene of the production will send shivers down the spine of anyone who has ever gone back to the home of an old lover to pick up their things. It is just that mutually unpleasant. Two people got some of what they wanted materially, but no one ever felt known, let alone loved."

I must have seen a different show. I thought the ending was sort of problematic simply because Hadden-Patton and Ambrose played it with such tenderness and they both emoted so much (and exuded such sadness) that their parting was actually heartbreaking and not the empowering moment I think Sher intended. Ambrose's body language as she leaves was not that of a confident young woman with the world ahead of her. She looked forlorn and heartbroken.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:47pm

I thought HHP was a brilliant Higgins myself. I think maybe people are too used to Rex Harrison that they're not used to a less bullying and more bewildered Higgins that HHP plays. As for the reviews that keep comparing it to Sher's other revivals, I wonder if it's due to the material itself. My Fair Lady is a different animal from the Rodgers/Hammerstein shows and maybe Sher's style lends itself more to the rhythm and melody of R&H.

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 08:47 PM

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:51pm

Good point. I personally only saw the film once many years ago, so I was watching HHP without bias.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:52pm

Well, once someone like Bartlett Sher has had a lot of successes, they really start to become a target.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:53pm

I don't think that true about Rex Harrison. Those of us who've been around for a while have seen Ian Richardson and Richard Chamberlain play the role. It's also not so divorced from the R&H shows - Rodgers & Hammerstein even were thinking of tackling it themselves, but couldn't figure out how to do it. 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:54pm

Jeffrey Karasarides said: "Well, once someone like Bartlett Sher has had a lot of successes, they really start to become a target."

The reviews that are more mixed or even positive really are comparing Sher to Sher, which is both fair and unfair I find.

[Mike66]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:54pm

When  I first saw this 50 years (or when I read Pygmalion) I didn't realize that Eliza was understood by Shaw's audience to have been a prostitute -- that was a 'well known trope' for young women who sold flowers in Covent Garden -- it's in several paintings as well.

As I read these comments, maybe Sher (and the other creatives) are connecting more with all of that.  The whole 'absurd' idea of the romance/marriage to Freddy is reflective of that -- how long is it going to be before the enamored rich boy figures out what's really in her background -- and Shaw making fun of the 'landed class' by creating the soon to be undone FEH.

I haven't seen it yet (next week!) but it's something I'll be looking for.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:55pm

Smaxie said: "I don't think that true about Rex Harrison. Those of us who've been around for a while have seen Ian Richardson and Richard Chamberlain play the role. It's also not so divorced from the R&H shows - Rodgers & Hammerstein even were thinking of tackling it themselves, but couldn't figure out how to do it."

I think the fact that R&H couldn't figure out how to do it pretty much explains it all. It's a contemporary of R&H shows but it is a different type of musical when it comes to form and structure and dramatic build.

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 08:55 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:57pm

Sher is so interesting. He def. has his tricks, and I've seen some of his smaller shows and really enjoyed his production of Golden Boy - but he seems to do fair less with his commercial productions. I didn't care for how his Fiddler looked. I hated seeing the stage hands move the set, etc. Just seemed cheap and yet giant at the same time. 

[Smaxie]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:58pm

>it is a different type of musical when it comes to form and structure and dramatic build.<

Oh yes? How? 

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:59pm

Newsday is an absolute Rave!

https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/theater/my-fair-lady-review-1.18116201

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 8:59pm

Surprises me that some of the critics see HHP's HIggins as less ferocious and misogynistic than the Professor usually is.  My impression was exactly the opposite.  And I thought it worked splendidly.

Perhaps part of my impression is that a certain kind of chauvinism from an aging man has a cantankerous charm greatly missing when it comes from a boyishly handsome just shy of 40 man.  Again, I think it worked very much to Sher's vision of the play to emphasize that kind of insular and petty bigotry.  

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 08:59 PM

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 9:00pm

Mike66 said: "When I first saw this 50 years (or when I read Pygmalion) I didn't realize that Eliza was understood by Shaw's audience to have been a prostitute -- that was a 'well known trope' for young women who sold flowers in Covent Garden -- it's in several paintings as well.

As I read these comments, maybe Sher (and the other creatives) are connecting more with all of that. The whole 'absurd' idea of the romance/marriage to Freddy is reflective of that -- how long is it going to be before the enamored rich boy figures out what's really in her background -- and Shaw making fun of the 'landed class' by creating the soon to be undone FEH.

I haven't seen it yet (next week!) but it's something I'll be looking for."

But Eliza is a good girl she is! When I was younger, I didn't know why she kept saying that and why a policeman would arrest her for talkin' to the gentleman. Then later on I realized there were flower girls and there were "flower girls" and Eliza wanted people to know she was the former and not the latter. 

About your other point, I don't want to spoil this for you since you're seeing it next week, but click if you dare:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

In this production, after "Show Me" and before "Get Me to the Church on Time", Freddy is figuring out and realizes Eliza's background and Donica plays it as if he's really thinking about what he's observing and going through his own thoughts and feelings about it all.

 

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 9:00pm

henrikegerman said: "Surprises me that some of the critics see HHP's HIggins as less ferocious and misogynistic than the Professorusually is. My impressionwas exactly the opposite. And I thought it worked splendidly."

Me, too. 

[Mike66]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 9:01pm

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "Smaxie said: "I don't think that true about Rex Harrison. Those of us who've been around for a while have seen Ian Richardson and Richard Chamberlain play the role. It's also not so divorced from the R&H shows - Rodgers & Hammerstein even were thinking of tackling it themselves, but couldn't figure out how to do it."

I think the fact that R&H couldn't figure out how to do it pretty much explains it all. It's a contemporary of R&H shows but it is a different type of musical when it comes to form and structure and dramatic build."

It's always been my understanding that the problem was the ending -- and that Shaw wouldn't allow any changes to the ending in Pygmalion, and that it was only after he died that his estate agreed to allow the "ambiguous" ending that was in the original production.  Is that wrong?

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 9:04pm

Smaxie said: ">it is a different type of musical when it comes to form and structure and dramatic build.<

Oh yes? How?"

A lot of it was actually discussed in the Lincoln Center book, but just from watching My Fair Lady and comparing it, it's sort of res ipsa loquitur. 

If you need an explanation, here's a quote from an article:

"It wasn't the kind of watershed event that "Oklahoma!" had been in '43, when Rodgers and Hammerstein's first collaboration established the primacy of the integrated book musical for the rest of the century. But "My Fair Lady" broke the rules to which even Rodgers and Hammerstein adhered, and that prevented them from solving the "Pygmalion" puzzle. This is the pioneer musical with no big chorus numbers or standout dance segment. This is the first smash musical written for a leading man who can't sing. There's no essential secondary couple providing a comic parallel to the lead love story. In fact, there's no love story at all.

"How, may I ask, does one write a non-love song?" Lerner said of the quandary he and Loewe faced when they began. The solution he found -- with considerable help from Shaw and Harrison -- is a large part of what elevates "Lady" above most of its contemporaries and every other show Lerner and Loewe wrote before ("Brigadoon," "Paint Your Wagon"   and after ("Camelot," "Gigi"." )

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 09:04 PM

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 9:04pm

Mike66 said: "When I first saw this 50 years (or when I read Pygmalion) I didn't realize that Eliza was understood by Shaw's audience to have been a prostitute -- that was a 'well known trope' for young women who sold flowers in Covent Garden -- it's in several paintings as well.

As I read these comments, maybe Sher (and the other creatives) are connecting more with all of that. The whole 'absurd' idea of the romance/marriage to Freddy is reflective of that -- how long is it going to be before the enamored rich boy figures out what's really in her background -- and Shaw making fun of the 'landed class' by creating the soon to be undone FEH.

I haven't seen it yet (next week!) but it's something I'll be looking for."

I think that while it was common for flower girls to also be prostitutes both the play and the musical make Eliza out to be extremely young, naive, and virtuous. That doesn't mean she was virginal or anything, just that she tries to be a "good girl." She hesitates about eating the chocolates because she's afraid she'll be drugged and raped. 

I think the main reason she won't be happy with Freddy is because Freddy despite his sweetness is shallow and sort of dumb. Higgins for all his faults is keenly intelligent. 

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 4/19/18 at 9:10pm

QQ: Will the lack of praise for HHP knock him out of the Tony race?