Whatever “it” is, by jove, I think she’s got it.
In her voice, as cockney in word as it is crystalline in song. In her devilish but vulnerable pluck. In her impish, piercing smile that could skip stones and heartbeats at once.
As the most famous flower girl in history, loverly British songbird Lisa O’Hare has got it. In garden spades. The only thing missing from O’Hare’s winning performance in the 50th-anniversary touring production of “My Fair Lady” is, at times, O’Hare herself. (They’re cramming all the shows they can into the final week, so she’ll be replaced in the Thursday night and Sunday afternoon performances.)
Cameron Mackintosh’s name has been attached to some disappointing non-union tours that have come through Denver (“Oliver,” “Oklahoma”), but be assured, he’s pulled out all the stops, and the checkbook, for this one. Directed by the legendary Trevor Nunn and choreographed by legend-in-the- making Matthew Bourne, “My Fair Lady” was a West End rave that bypassed Broadway altogether.
But that does not make this a “direct-to-video” kind of show. It’s performed to the highest standards across the board, from the 18-piece orchestra (14 hired locally!), to a rotating set anchored by Higgins’ jaw-dropping study, to a bevy of ornate gowns (one of which draws such a gasp, it — rather than a song — drops the curtain on the first act).
Then there’s a cast worthy of any stage. Christopher Cazenove (Ben Carrington in “Dynasty”) deftly navigates the thankless role of Higgins, the obliviously cruel phonetics teacher who keeps his guttersnipe like a pet. Really, the things that so casually come out of this man’s mouth, he should be booed all the way back to Bristol.
But Cazenove’s Higgins is understandable, thanks largely to the songless but still note-perfect Marni Nixon (she sang Eliza’s part for the 1964 film). As Henry’s aristocratic mother, you really see where Higgins’ perfectionism, and his bachelorhood, come from. He’s insufferable, but a champion in the fight for the preservation of the English language. Eliza is, after all, “an incarnate insult to the human language.” He just happens to also be a battering ram with breathtakingly acidic relationship skills.
Audiences will warmly remember Walter Charles for his great work in the Denver Center Theatre Company’s “The Immigrant.” He’s wonderfully likable here as confidant Col. Hugh Pickering.
But this staging is no mere dust-off of the old classic. Source author George Bernard Shaw (“Pygmalion”) would smile at the new but unobtrusive social and political resonance (Eliza wanders into a feminist suffragette rally while singing “Show Me”).
And for pure, old-fashioned showmanship, the creative team has juiced up two numbers in particular, “With a Little Bit of Luck” and “Get Me to the Church on Time.” For the former, Bourne straps trash-can lids to his dancers’ feet, turning the old ditty into a percussive, heart-stomping, “Stomp”- worthy extravaganza.
Both numbers are showcases for the delightful Tim Jerome as Papa Doolittle, the mischievous old crook who finds himself involuntarily and miserably elevated into the insufferable upper class. His winking performance reminded me of that old joke about the Irish girl who comes home and is berated for telling her pa she’s now a prostitute. When he stops yelling, and she gives him a Mercedes, Dad says, “Oh, ye scared me half to death, girl! I thought ye said you were a Protestant. Come and give yer old Dad a hug.'”
Audiences will revel in the cavalcade of classics like “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “The Rain in Spain” and “I Could Have Danced All Night.”
But, truth: I’ve never liked this story. It’s rooted in blithe, abusive and unreclaimed cruelty. It offers a compromised ending that’s true neither to Shaw nor (thankfully) to romantic musical theater tradition. In the original London ending, Higgins demands his gloves and Eliza storms out, saying, “Get them yourself!” Now that’s an ending. But maybe they thought that was a little too “A Doll’s House.”
As a theatrical experience, though, this one’s pretty much beyond reproach. To quote another fairly successful little tuner, “Who could ask for anything more?”
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“My Fair Lady” **** (out of four stars)
Classic family musicalNational touring production at the Buell Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex. Starring Christopher Cazenove, Lisa O’Hare, Walter Charles and Marni Nixon. 2 hours, 50 minutes. Through April 6. 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. $15-$95. 303-893-4100, all King Soopers or .
