“My Fair Lady” by LEOS Musical Theatre Company
May Hall, Trent College, Long Eaton

There have been a couple of changes since I last saw a LEOS production at May Hall. First the name. LEOS are now named LEOS Musical Theatre Company, and the second is the seating arrangements inside the venue. The seating is now raked, as opposed to being on a flat level, meaning that everyone gets a perfect view of the stage, and the seats are so comfortable as well.

“My Fair Lady” is the story of Eliza Doolittle, a cockney flower girl transformed into an elegant lady by Professor Higgins and is based on George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion”.

The musical is rightly described as a classic. The story is heart-warming and the soundtrack has so many recognisable songs. Songs like ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?’, ‘With a Little Bit of Luck’, ‘The Rain in Spain’, ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’, ‘On the Street Where You Live’, ‘Get Me to the Church on Time’, and ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face’.

Emma Collins (Eliza Doolittle) transformation from flower-seller to Lady, even after the several times that I have seen this musical, still makes me sit up even further in my seat. The scene where she is completely spent from practising and then delivers "The Rain In Spain" speech still seems as if it was the first time that I have seen that scene. Emma has a great voice and her dual characterisation is wonderful. She also gets to wear some gorgeous dresses as well.

Simon Parker (Professor Higgins) is also wonderful as the sexist pig of a Professor. His delivery of the insults extracted gasps from the audience, showing that they bought into the character; a sign of a talented character actor. I liked the way that he also sang some of the lines, as opposed to the way Rex Harrison, in the film, spoke the words to the tune.

Dave O'Neal (Colonel Pickering) completed the trio of main actors,and his character made a nice contrast to the brusque Higgins. An easy character to watch and an easy on the ear voice as well.

Rob Chilton (Freddy Eynsford-Hill) nails the upper class Freddy character and his easy going "On The Street Where You Live" reflected that easy going style.

Dan Bates (Alfred Doolittle) to start with was quite unrecognisable, but he made a big impression as Eliza's dad, always on the scrounge, and then when he strikes it rich, still isn't happy. Every little nuance about Doolittle is brought to the fore and magnified. The two big song and dance numbers "With A Little Bit O Luck" and "Get Me To the Church On Time" are show stoppers and received a loud and enthusiastic response.

Liz Woolley (Mrs Higgins), Angela Walters (Mrs Pearce),Phil Deakin (Zoltan Karpathy), Jack Woolley and Harvey Latter play Alfred Doolittle’s faithful sidekicks, Harry and Jamie completed the mains.

The ensemble worked well, especially in the ball room and London Street scenes, and don't they sound good in harmony!

Talking of the sound, it's always been hit and miss in May Hall, but I don't know if the new seating arrangement has changed the acoustic dynamics but I heard every word, and the orchestra sounded good, and it was nice to see them as well.

Directed by Nigel Taylor with James Bowden in the Musical Director seat, I noticed there were some new, but subtle arrangements of some of the songs, which brought a fresh sound to the songs.

This show also has some very classy dance sections, beautifully choreographed by Laurie Trott, and again I must highlight the "Get Me To The Church On Time" segment for some wonderful and fun choreography.

My only negative, and i think that this may be just because it was opening night and nerves are at their highest, I thought Act One lacked a bit of "oomph". That said, Act Two powered through.

This is a musical where you really get your money's worth as it lasts three hours with the break, and that is why they decided to start the show at 7.15pm. You see always thinking of the customer and making sure that they get away at a timely hour at night.

A classic musical given the classic treatment by a classy group of actors. Go on, treat yourself!

“My Fair Lady” is at May hall until Saturday 26 October.