Review: "My Fair Lady" Overshadowed Productions, Itasca, IL Ends 8/7/10

I grew up listening to the music from this show.  I lived in Oak Park and I listened to the album every day. I could talk/sing all the Rex Harrison stuff while strutting around the living room acting the arrogant peacock that is Higgins.  I was around 8-years old.  This was a time when albums were vinyl and played on Stereo High Fidelity entertainment systems that looked like credenzas or breakfronts.  When I was done with this, I'd put on Sing-A-Long with Mitch Miller, who died this week at the age of 99.  So, this show holds a special little place in my heart.  I will look upon it fondly...unless it's done poorly.


Last week, I had the opportunity to see a production of My Fair Lady at Overshadowed Productions in Itasca.  They are a faith-based theatre group that is all-inclusive (they let me in, didn't they?) and genuinely concerned about catering to their audience.  Not a big name in community theatre, but one that left a favorable impression on me (and I qualified for their 55+ senior discount - I'm officially elderly...woo-hoo!!)  If you'd like more information about this theatre, including show times, etc., click here.  If you need more information about the story of My Fair Lady - uh...really?  Try Goggle or Bing.  You may find a reference or two.


Worth the price of admission?  Yes.  Great production?  No, not great.  But a great effort.  No one gave up, and everybody worked the moments.  They made choices and stuck with them and enjoyed what they were doing, which is very contagious to an audience.  As I watched the large ensemble during "Get Me To The Church On Time" crowded onto a small stage going through a regimen of clapping, out of place square dancing, pot clanging, mug slamming and Stomp-like movements with anachronistic garbage can lids, I just smiled.  It wan't great, but it was fun.  It was overkill having that many people on the stage and overwrought being so loud, but somehow it became part of the charm.  It looked crowded, but that never detracted from getting the job done.  The production was unpretentious, which I find a blessing.  All too often, productions take themselves much too seriously (We're doing art, dammit!)


Matt Hallstein does a masterful job as Henry Higgins.  He brings his own style to the character while maintaining just the right amount of Rex Harrison mannerisms that we come to expect of a Higgins.  He commands the stage and your attention.  I was less enthused with Becky Weise as Eliza Doolittle.  She did OK, nothing disturbing.  However, I found her vocally weak as she struggled through sections of songs in her upper register.  She has the tools, but they suffer from a lack of honing.  More breath control and training should rectify it.  She also tried so hard with her guttersnipe (love that word) accent that she disconnected from the meaning of the text a few times and it felt forced.


Jerry Berger as Pickering started slow and weak, but got stronger.  His "dash" readings at the beginning of Act II were delightful.  Brad Holloman put a lot of effort and energy into his performance of Alfred Doolittle.  Unfortunately, it wasn't focused and was all over the place (as well as over the top).  It lacked the restraint needed to keep it human, and much of what he did became artifice.


The rest of the cast fell somewhere between acceptable and great, and the overall presentation was delightful.  The harmonies in the smaller ensemble numbers were some of the best I've heard.  The quartet of pub enthusiasts and the group of servants were particularly good.  I thought the direction was focused, and was impressed with the use of walking sticks/velvet ropes during the Ascot scene.  It was clever.


The biggest disappointment for me was the band.  They started off-key and off-tempo and didn't recover very often.  It was always a surprise what you were going to get when they started up.  Generally, I like surprises.  Not so much this time.


So, get a ticket if you can.  It's not great, but it's fun.  Everyone is trying hard and you feel the genuine love of performance.


Paid:  $12  (because I'm old)


Run time:  2hrs 20 minutes, with intermission.