The show is top-knotch in every respect and, even though it makes for a marathon evening of more than 3 hours, it is never less than glossy and rehearsed to the last detail.
It looks superb, especially the black and white outfits for the Ascot Gavotte scene, so reminiscent of Cecil Beaton's couture designs for the film
It is pretty hard to forget the Rex Harrison/Audrey Hepburn movie version:those remain the definitive performances despite the recent much-acclaimed revival in London, and here WWOS veteran Chris Shaw follows in Harrison's suave footsteps as the irascible Higgins. Every nuance of the character is present in his perfectly-timed and rhythmic delivery from worldly arrogance to schoolboy petulance and total lack of understanding of his pupil Eliza in Why Can't a Woman be More Like a Man?
You almost forget how many wonderful songs this Lerner and Loewe musical contains and they are so well staged – with the exception of The Rain in Spain. I would have liked a greater burst of joy choreographicaly speaking when Eliza finally "gets it".
Tracy Prizeman makes the transition from squashed cabbage leaf of a Covent Garden flower girl to "princess" with sharp comedy and great poise – plus sparkling voice. She handles the Ascot scene and her final put-down of her mentor – Without You – extremely well.
Kevin Gauntlett is a comic turn from start to finish as dustman Alfred Doolittle, itching, scratching and fidgeting his way through his conversation with Higgins and putting in a jaunty display of dance with the well-drilled chorus for Get Me to the Church on Time.
Paul Mount's Colonel Pickering finds more fun than is often the case in this role, although unintentionally on Tuesday when he was the victim of every actor's nightmare – the undone flies for the Ascot sequence..
A great show following the fine tradition of this very fine Society: platinum polish for a platinum occasion
Diane Eccleston
Croydon Advertiser
all the fun of the fair
Last week, the West Wickham Operatic Society decided to celebrate its 70th anniversary by bringing the Lerner and Loewe classic musical My Fair Lady to the stage of Bromley’s Churchill Theatre, writes Roy Atterbury.
A 60-strong cast, professional sets, superb costumes, and a full orchestra directed by Peter Dodsworth, all helped to generate a powerful sense of theatrical magic throughout the production.
The principals radiated professionalism. Tracy Prizeman, who played Eliza Doolittle, provides nothing in her background notes to account for the outstanding quality and power of her voice, either when singing or acting. And, as a bonus, she also has a vibrant personality to round off her talents. The show could not have had a better Eliza and her transformation from a cockney flower seller to an elegant newcomer to the upper ranks of the social scene was achieved with great humour, pathos and creativity.
Happily, Chris Shaw made an equal impact in the role of Professor Henry Higgins and I suspect that his interpretation would have brought a wry smile of respect from Rex Harrison who played the part in the 1960s film. The portrayal had style, depth, a subdued power, and an intellectual charisma that was perfect for the character - and his singing-talking abilities were first class.
As the Professor’s friend Colonel Pickering, Paul Mount generated a gentle air of unflappability that made the perfect contrast to the cut and thrust attributes of his intellectual colleague.
The real surprise was provided by Kevin Gauntlett playing Eliza’s irrepressible father and dustman, Alfred Doolittle. Here, there was little cockney bluster, excessive beer swilling, nor an unscrupulous attitude to life - instead, Gauntlett was more like a cockney sparrow that could dance with twinkling feet, sing with verve and skill, and captivate an audience. Even the selling of his daughter to Higgins for £5 seemed a like an everyday occurrence while the scene where he sang I’m Getting Married In The Morning was one of the highlights of the show.
Good acting and singing came from Jonathan Faint (Eliza’s suitor Freddy) while Pat Adams (Higgins’ housekeeper) and Lesley Burt (Higgins’ mother) both gave very sensitive and strong performances.
After a long absence, Briar Black returned to WWOS as the director of the musical and coped with a huge task with great skill. And little niceties such as an old lady smoking a clay pipe quickly established that she has a very discerning eye where minor characters are concerned.
On the Wednesday night, the brass section of the orchestra was somewhat erratic but Zoe Ellen’s choreography was inventive throughout and Ivan Buckle’s lighting design added a powerful dimension to such spectacular scenes as the Covent Garden flower market and the Ascot parade.
Roy Atterbury
Kentish Times (Bromley Times) 15th June 2005
Enchanting production
West Wickham Operatic Society returned to the stage with an enchanting tale of rags to riches in the musical favourite My Fair Lady.
As always, the amateur group were at home on the professional stage. With the help of professional costumes, lighting and a full band, the cast were able to shine, suffering only a couple of bumbled lines in an otherwise excellent show. When you think that the group is amateur and they have had to rehearse and put on the production in their spare time, then there isd little to fault.
Tracy Prizeman gave a great performance of the cheeky cockney flower seller Eliza Doolittle who becomes the subject of Henry Higgins' social experiment, following a bet that he couldn't turn her into a lady. Chris Shaw played the short-tempered and seemingly cold-hearted linguist to a tee, as he tackles the experiment as he would a maths problem. There was a great supporting cast, most notably Kevin Gauntlett's Alfred Doolittle, Paul Mount as Colonel Pickering and Lesley Burt as Mrs Higgins..
Ellie Guttridge
Bromley Extra
NODA London Area Review
'My Fair Lady, West Wickham's Summer 2005 production, is another audience favourite where the clientele probably know the songs, and some of the dialogue, as well as the company, and the large audience appreciated every minute.
Director Briar Blake and Music Director, Peter Dodsworth, produced a traditional well-paced show which showed off the talents of the principals and chorus. Briar Blake's direction was sure throughout and the company's enjoyment was evident. The opening scene, outside the portico of the Royal Opera House, took the audience straight into the action bustling as it was with cold and eager-to-be-home opera goers and the noisy and irrepressible costermongers and flower sellers. The scene worked well but the two drunks did upstage Higgins and Pickering in their dialogue as the audience was laughing at their antics and the dialogue was lost. The other ensemble and principal scenes such as the Ascot Races and the Embassy Ball had both the chorus and the principals working well together. Peter Dodsworth confidently handled both singers and the orchestra and particularly effective was the part singing of 'Poor Professor Higgins' in Act 1. The orchestra sounded good and the balance was right, never drowning the singers. The quartet in 'Wouldn't It Be Loverly' was also very good. Choreographer, Zoe ellen, had worked hard with both principals and ensemble to produce some likely dance routines in the opening scene and in 'With a Little Bit of Luck', and some very elegant ones in the 'Embassy Waltz'.
Tracy Prizeman, Eliza Doolittle, maintained her cockney accent well throughout the earlier scenes and made the transition naturally to the more refined tones expected in 'The Rain in Spain'. There was some lively dialogue between Eliza and Higgins, Chris Shaw, and the ambiguous nature of their relationship was convincingly carried through to the end of the show and the "fetch my slippers" line. Their song 'Without You' in Act 2 also exemplified this. Equally, the professional relationship between Higgins and Colonel Pickering, Paul Mount, was also correctly observed. The song 'The ain in Spain' worked well between the three. Mrs Higgins. Lesley Burt, had the correct measure of her son and played the part with finesse.
Alfred P. Doolittle, Kevin Gauntlett, played a little like Warren Clarke as Dalziel, was a refreshingly different character who seemed to invade the hallowed sanctum of 27a Wimpole Street, and his rendition of 'Get Me To The Church On Time', aided and abetted by Harry, Philip Hatch, and Jamie, Terry Gauntlett, was equally full of energy. Mrs Pierce, Pat Adams, was a confident and long-suffering housekeeper and Jonathan Faint, as Freddy Eynsford-Hill played the part with just the right touch of pathos. Zoltan Karpathy, David Hodgson, was as irritatingly smug as he is supposed to be. The supporting cast of smaller parts were well played.
The costumes were authentic looking and the usual clap was given to those of the Ascot scene, but actors do need tpo practice walking with hobble skirts to appear elegant! The set was complex and the stage manager and crew had to work hard to move all the pieces into play and did so in remarkable quick, and almost, silement order. The back cloths used were interesting particularly the Ascot Race track which was totally devoid of people and even horses for such a busy meeting, and Wimpole Street which looked remarkably like the Royal Crescent in Bath. Lighting Designer, Ivan Buckle, had complemented the atmosphere of each scene effectively. There was as susual in this theatre some difficulties with sound, particularly in the dialogue of the Ascot scene and the noise of the pounding hooves did not appear to move across the stage from left to right following the visual cue of the actor's turning heads.
Overall, an enjoyable production with plenty of activity. Well done to everybody who worked so hard on the show. My particular thanks to John and Julia Stone who welcomed me to the production and had arranged a programme for me.
Chris Williams
NODA, London Area
