Theater Review - Hale Centre Theatre's My Fair Lady

Last night was the opening of Hale Centre Theatre's My Fair Lady at their beautiful theater in West Valley. My wife and I were lucky enough to get two comp tickets from a member of the cast and to have a family member willing to babysit so that we could enjoy a lovely evening.

We are regular patrons of the Hale Center Theatre in Orem, but this was our first trip up to their sister theater in West Valley. While we were impressed with the theater and its opulence, we were absolutely spellbound by the mobility of the staging in the show.

The show starts with a gazebo-type framework on a round stage, and in the course of 2.5 hours, the framework disappears into the ceiling, a professor's study appears from beneath the stage, an embassy ballroom descends from the ceiling, the entire stage rotates 360 degrees, actors appear from (and disappear into) the basement of the theater, and street lamps, plants, chandeliers, and the original gazebo framework descend from above. It is amazing what they do with the space that they have.

The show is directed well and my wife loved the costumes. (Especially the shoes). The one drawback of this type of theater is that there is no room (and probably no budget) for live musical orchestration, so the actors really need to be on top of musical cues since there is no room for vamping and no pit conductor to look to. Generally the music was good, though there were a few instances where the delivered lines were a bit behind the accompaniment, or where a chorus wasn't exactly together on a phrase. It being opening night, these types of mistakes are common and understandable; they will disappear later in the run.

As far as individual performances are concerned:

Justin Kennington in the role of Henry Higgins grew on me throughout the play. At first I wasn't sold on his professorial position or supposed command of the proper English language, but as the show progressed, I liked him more and more. He handled Henry's quick-witted and sharp verbal assaults towards Eliza very well.

Kelly DeHaan was excellent in the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering as a balancing influence to combat Henry's cynicism. When Henry was rude, standoffish, and otherwise horrible, Pickering was kind, inviting, and delightful. Pickering's accent and intonation were fun to listen to and were complemented by a number of quirky actions/motions that rounded out his character.

DeLaney Westfall was adequate in the role of Eliza Doolittle. I didn't love her singing (she hits the right notes, but her voice doesn't have much body to it), and her accents were a bit muddled. Admittedly, this is a very difficult role to play and generally she did a good job. I noticed however, three accents throughout the play: cockney, proper British, and angry. Her angry accent was a muddled mix of cockney and proper British. Unfortunately Eliza spends much of the play in an agitated, perturbed, or otherwise upset state, so the angry accent came out pretty often. I also didn't buy her anger. In other performances of My Fair Lady, I've always been able to relate to both Henry and Eliza, but in this I could only relate to Henry. Eliza, it seemed, was always too emotional, too angry, or too in love. There was no middle ground here; she was in a word, bi-polar. She went from Just You Wait to I Could Have Danced All Night in a split second.

David T. Glaittli was superb in the role of Alfred P. Doolittle. He managed to be absolutely drunk and lovable at the same time, while providing necessary comedic relief. He was quirky, funny, and memorable.

Lee Cannon was perfect in the role of Freddy Eynsford-Hill. My Fair Lady is an interesting show, as it has many great songs, but not many great male singers. While I'm sure all the male actors were accomplished singers, their roles in this show did not let them showcase that talent. After an hour and fifteen minutes of Alfred and Henry bumbling and grumbling through songs, the musical highlight of last night's show was Freddy's breathtaking performance of On The Street Where You Live. It's almost a shame that Freddy and Eliza don't end up together; they would sing beautifully together.

Other notable performances included those of Diane Dabczynski as a dignified and proper Mrs. Eynsford-Hill and Logan Bradford or Tanner Rampton (not sure which) as a Servant with excellent aim. He threw a top hat across the stage (at least 10 feet) which landed squarely on the head of a sculpted bust to end a scene, which elicited "oohs" and "aahs" from the audience.

All in all, My Fair Lady at the Hale Centre Theatre is an engaging show with beautiful music. You'll definitely be humming the score for the rest of the night... and beyond.