Prepare to be whisked off to Edwardian London when you step into the Marina Bay Sands’ Mastercard Theatre to watch My Fair Lady, which opened on Feb 11.
In a nutshell, cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle is transformed into a proper lady by the misogynistic phoneticist Professor Henry Higgins, who wagered that he can do just that in three month’s time.
Playing the parts originated by Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, Chris Carsten and Aurora Florence are delightful and are a perfect fit for the roles.
Carsten’s Professor Higgins is perfectly believable as a curmudgeon who is not interested in being with a woman (I’m an Ordinary Man).
Meanwhile, Florence is charming and beautiful, and easily pulled off the switchover from her Cockney accent to her perfect English accent. Her strong performance combines great acting chops, comedic timing, and a lovely voice that soars, especially in songs like Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?, The Rain in Spain, and I Could Have Danced All Night.
However, stealing the show is Richard Springle as Colonel Pickering, who as a perfect gentleman served as a foil to Higgins, who couldn’t care less about Eliza’s feelings. Make sure to pay attention to him especially during the song The Rain in Spain, you won’t regret it.
The experience of 1912 London is completed by the exquisite costumes, from Eliza and her friends at Covent Garden to the upper class at Ascot.
The 3-hour long play could benefit from cutting down the length of some of the long production numbers involving Eliza’s father, and using that time instead to show more of Eliza and Henry, for instance the Embassy Ball sequence. However, fans of big production numbers will enjoy the rousing Get Me to the Church on Time.
Catch My Fair Lady until March 2 at Marina Bay Sands Mastercard Theatre. Tickets start from $95.
A "loverly" night with My Fair Lady
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