REVIEW: My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum

The long-awaited return of Lerner & Loewe’s ageless musical My Fair Lady has finally returned to the UK. For the first time in two decades, this timeless show has graced London with its splendour and with “a little bit of luck” will signify the return of more golden age musicals to the West End. 

First, we must appreciate the theatre itself. The London Coliseum is the perfect venue for such a nostalgic and grand show, the entire theatre dripping in opulence as soon as you enter the auditorium. The Lincoln Center Theatre’s production of My Fair Lady is one of only a few that could fill such a majestic space with its impressiveness. 

Based on George Bernard Shaw’s classic play Pygmalion, the story follows Henry Higgins, a brilliant yet unfeeling professor of phonetics, who accepts the challenge of taking working-class flower girl Eliza Doolittle and refining her into an upper-class lady fit for royalty. After a rocky start with tumultuous tempers between the two, Eliza makes a breakthrough in her phonetics training and her relationship with Higgins. The two finally see eye to eye. 

What's Closing on Broadway

Recently, Broadway has announced quite a few closures of shows. We decided to put together a list of shows that are closing within the next couple of months on Broadway, if you're going over be sure to book tickets soon! Some of these you won't want to miss. 

Kiss Me, Kate 

In Cole Porter’s sparkling 1948 musical, the warring lovers of The Taming of the Shrew are causing trouble both onstage and off. While putting on a musical version of Shakespeare’s play, exes Fred Graham and Lilli Vanessi can’t decide if they’re enraged, enamoured or enormously confused whenever they cross paths out of character. Throw in some mistaken identity, a pair of surprisingly eloquent gangsters and a whole lot of romantic entanglements, and what you get is Kiss Me, Kate - a dazzling classic that earned the first-ever Tony Award for Best Musical.

Kiss Me, Kate finishes its Broadway run at Studio 54 today, June 30th.

REVIEW: My Fair Lady at the Mill at Sonning

Lerner and Lowe's wonderful musical set in 1912 London has a joyous score, a fairytale story and a serious message which makes this new production at the small intimate Sonning Mill a delight . The transformation from flower girl , to society lady to Higgin's equal of Eliza Doolittle is beautifully staged and performed by a cast of 12 and 5 musicians and the credit for this must go to Joseph Pitcher who has directed and choreographed the show so brilliantly. 

The small stage is used very effectively with the grey rear wall and arches acting as background to the interior scenes in Higgin's study as well as the external scenes in Covent Garden, Ascot , and his mother's Conservatory . The transformation with a few props between each scene is choreographed as part of the action and moves seamlessly without lessening the pace, while leaving as much space as possible on the small thrust stage for the performers. This is used most effectively in the main chorus numbers with exciting fresh choreography to enhance the showstopping music of "With a little bit of luck", "Ascot Gavotte" and "Get me to the church on time".