Review: My Fair Lady on Broadway (Vivian Beaumont Theater)

Plot

Directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher, the stellar cast - led by Lauren Ambrose, Harry Hadden-Paton, Norbert Leo Butz, Diana Rigg, Allan Corduner, Jordan Donica, Linda Mugleston, and Clarke Thorell - tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a "proper lady." But who is really being transformed?

Cast

• Professor Henry Higgins - Michael Halling (usually played by Harry Haden-Paton)
• Frank, the Bartender - Michael X Martin (usually played by Michael Halling)

Musical Numbers

Act I "Overture" – The Orchestra "Busker Sequence" – The Orchestra "Why Can't the English?" – Professor Higgins "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" – Eliza and Male Quartet "With a Little Bit of Luck" – Alfred Doolittle, Harry, Jamie and Company "I'm an Ordinary Man" – Professor Higgins "With a Little Bit of Luck (Reprise)" – Alfred Doolittle and Ensemble "Just You Wait" – Eliza "The Servants' Chorus (Poor Professor Higgins)" – Mrs. Pearce and Servants "The Rain in Spain" – Professor Higgins, Eliza, and Colonel Pickering "I Could Have Danced All Night" – Eliza, Mrs. Pearce, and Servants "Ascot Gavotte" – Ensemble "On the Street Where You Live" – Freddy "Eliza's Entrance/Embassy Waltz" – The Orchestra

Act II

1. "You Did It" – Colonel Pickering, Professor Higgins, Mrs. Pearce, and Servants
2. "Just You Wait (Reprise)" – Eliza
3. "On the Street Where You Live (Reprise)" – Freddy
4. "Show Me" – Freddy, then Eliza
5. "The Flower Market/Wouldn't It Be Loverly? (Reprise)" – Eliza and Male Quartet
6. "Get Me to the Church on Time" – Alfred Doolittle and Ensemble
7. "A Hymn to Him" – Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering
8. "Without You" – Eliza and Professor Higgins
9. "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" – Professor Higgins
10. "I Could Have Danced All Night (Reprise) / Finale" – The Orchestra

My Fair Lady Report Card

Overall: 5 out of 5 (one of the best musicals of all time)

Positives

• Excellent scene design and stage work
• Costumes matched early 20th-century England
• The lyrics are stunning
• The Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center - where My Fair Lady is presented - is beautiful.

Negatives

• People in the audience unwrapping candy, chewing food, speaking loudly, and singing along.