Theatre | The Guardian: I have seen My Fair Lady an alarming number of times but never on stage. The musical is coming to the Coliseum in London and, when this was announced, I learned that Amara Okereke, who is playing Eliza Doolittle, is reported to have watched the film version more than 200 times. Now, it’s not a competition, but I reckon I’m up there with those sorts of numbers.
2 comments:
This was a really interesting exploration into My Fair Lady and some of the nuances that would make it a very interesting show to do today. I personally have never seen the musical, although I definitely want to after reading this article. I am always excited about the idea of a revival of a show that was in its time forward thinking or progressive and seeing how to make it fit the expectations and changed views of our time. This revival seems like it will do a really good job of taking some of those issues from the past and working them to fit the modern audience. I am very excited to see Amara Okereke in the role of Eliza, especially because of her apparent expertise on the move, having watched it two hundred times. I think that she will do an amazing job in the role, because there is nothing like seeing an actor play one of her favorite characters.
I love hearing people’s opinions on classic media. When she started talking about my fair lady I was reminded about something that I had not thought about in years. I’d not seen the film for years, as I did most of my watching in early childhood while I was being looked after by my grandma. Back then, grandmas weren’t armed with the same childcare tools. There was no on-demand kids’ TV, iPads or YouTube so she had to rely on the humble VHS to entertain a preschooler. She narrowed the suitability of her video collection down to a fairly small number of classic musicals. My Fair Lady was a weekly watch. Other musicals in my gran’s collection included Carousel, Oklahoma! and Oliver! but My Fair Lady was my favourite. I reckon it could be because the female protagonist felt different from others of the era. Eliza is outspoken, noisy and funny, and transforms herself to become princess-like with real poise and beauty.
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