“My Fair Lady” simply loverly musical at CRT

by Kory Loucks

STORRS — First there was the smashing success of “Guys and Dolls”

followed by the sweet delights of “Seusical the Musical,” and now

comes the grand finale of Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s Nutmeg

Summer Series with the most “loverly” musical of all, “My Fair Lady.”

Everything about this production is just about as good as it gets. The

leads make or break this show, and here director Vincent J. Cardinal

manages some superlative casting of this classic tale based on George

Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion.”

Professional actors take the main roles including Alix Paige who is spot-on as the Cockney who becomes the lady, Eliza Doolittle, and the pitch-perfect Terrence Mann as the aristocratic misogynist who learns

much more than he teaches as Henry Higgins.

Timothy Gulan is supportive as the somewhat less sexist foil to Higgins, Colonel Pickering, who plays his character with underscored humor and compassion.

Eileen Fulton, who some might recognized from television soaps, is absolutely elegant as the frustrated mother of a spoiled Henry-Mrs. Higgins.

UConn alumni Richard Ruiz enjoyably steals the show as Eliza’sstreet-smart lovable-loser father Alfred P. Doolittle.

Ruiz has malleable facial features and eyebrows that speak languagesall by themselves. For a solid man, Ruiz is surprisingly fleet of foot while he leads the ensemble in some rousing musical numbers. Credit to choreographer Charlotte d’Amboise and the fit and able ensemble cast.

As the plot goes, phonetics enthusiast Higgins decides to take an uneducated Cockney girl and teach her how to speak, act, and dress like a lady in six months. At the end of that time he takes her to a ball to see if she passes the test. She falls in love with him as he teaches her to speak in a more refined manner and they all have a grand time learning that “the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane.”

“My Fair Lady” has succinct lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and glorious music by Frederick Loewe, includes classic songs such as “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.”

Not only is the music memorable, but the show is chock full of comic moments, such as when the ensemble, beautifully decked out in refined black, white, and grays, are at the horse races and watch a race go buy in unison with totally blank expressions. And the way that Eliza

mashes the English language is a joy to hear.

The costumes are numerous with many fine details, like ragged petticoats for the poor women and plentiful lace for the rich ladies.

However, Paige has a delicate, petite frame and the ball gown is toolarge for her, while the blue bodice around her waist is too thick and bulky, masking her fine figure. Much better is the delicate pink gown she wears a few scenes later while having tea with Mrs. Higgins, which

accentuates her tiny waist and handsome shoulders. Costumes by Kevin

Thacker.

It’s difficult to say who was having more fun on Saturday night, the audience or the actors, but with a little bit of luck you too will get to see this spiffy show, which sadly ends far too soon on Sunday.

All three shows were so excellent, I would recommend next year trying to book three week runs to allow more people the pleasure of seeing the Nutmeg Summer Series.

4 Stars

Location: Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre, Jorgensen Road, Storrs.

Production: Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick

Loewe. Directed by Vincent J. Cardinal. Music direction by NDavid

Williams. Scenic design by Michael Anania. Choreographer Charlotte

d’Amboise. Costume design by Kevin Thacker. Lighting design by Zakaria

M. Al-Alami. Sound design by Nathan Leigh. Technical direction by John

Parmelee. Production stage manager Cynthia Kocher.

Running time: About 2 ½ hours including one intermission.

Show Times: Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and

a Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. through July 17.

Tickets: Range in price from $10 to $39. Call the box office at

860-486-4266 of visit their Website at www.crt.UConn.edu.

ACTOR…CHARACTER

Alix Paige … Eliza Doolittle

Terrence Mann … Henry Higgins

Eileen Fulton … Mrs. Higgins

Timothy Gulan … Colonel Pickering

Richard Ruiz … Alfred P. Doolittle

Connor Moore …Freddy Eynsford-Hill

Jennifer Guindon … Mrs. Eynsford-Hill

John Bixler … Harry, Ensemble

Lynn McNutt … Mrs. Pearce

David Alan Stern … Prof. Zoltan Karpathy, Bartender

Justin Schuman … 1st Cockney, Prince, Ensemble

Joey Barreiro … 2nd Cockney, Ensemble

Ethan Kasnett … 3rd Cockney, Ensemble

Joshua Wright … 4th Cockney, Ensemble

Parker Slaybaugh … Busker, Ensemble

Cassie Abate … Mrs. Hopkins, Lady Tarrington, Ensemble

Clyde Voce … Hoxton man, Jamie, Ensemble

Daria DeGaetano … Busker, Lady Boxington, Ensemble

Kevin Jones … Selsey Man, Busker, 5th Cockney, Ensemble

Sarah Schenkkan … Cockney Flower Girl, Ensemble

Josephine and Shelby Mann … Street Urchins

Photo by David Ciano