When I walked in on opening night to watch My Fair Lady, I expected an ordinary high school production: a few cracked notes, a missed line here and there, but still amusing just because you knew people in the play.
Yet when the purple lights shot on and the music began playing to the tune of “Why Can’t the English,” I silently scolded myself for downplaying the production earlier. Palo Alto High School’s theater rendition of My Fair Lady matched up to the Audrey Hepburn movie classic by surpassing all of my expectations. Although I detected some audio issues, with voices fading in and out as actors’ microphones turned on and off, I was too busy taking in the action on stage to pay attention to the technical issues.
Paly has two sets of cast which alternate performances for audiences to enjoy. In the performance that I watched, senior Arielle Fishman plays protagonist Eliza Doolittle, a classic impoverished female character whose life turns into a Cinderella story after being taken in by a wealthy benefactor. Fishman’s voice hit all of the notes clearly and loudly enough for the entire audience to hear. Her first number, “Wouldn’t It Be Lovely?”, actually got stuck in my head for days to come. Needless to say, the musical numbers were fantastic.
In this story, Eliza is adopted by the snooty Henry Higgins, whose sour personality was incredibly captured by junior Zachary Freier-Harrison. Harrison’s amusing gestures and facial expressions successfully portrayed Higgins as a man whom viewers hate and love.
Besides the singing and acting, the set’s aesthetic value considerably enhanced the play. Purple lights and a little “Covent Garden” sign first welcomed the audience to create a calm and soothing atmosphere. The level of detail in set design helped me escape into the world of the play –- I felt as though I were experiencing the story of the play myself. In particular, the characters walking in and out of different doors made me feel as if I was indeed in Higgins’s fancy living room or the ball room. Though most of the set was implemented well, I laughed when I saw that the staircase moved along with the people walking on it.
One issue the actors faced was lack of space on the Haymarket Theater stage. During band concerts, I remembered being squished and afraid I would fall off the stage because the stage could barely hold all of us; it was even worse for a full production that emphasized singing and large dance numbers. However, the cast and crew of My Fair Lady utilized their space well by acting in the aisles and sides. This had the added benefit of drawing people further into the play and capturing their full attention.
My Fair Lady enchanted the audience with the beloved classic of Eliza Doolittle’s bittersweet journey to become a lady, and I could have watched it all night.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated that the wealthy man who adopted Eliza was Harry Higgins, when it is in fact Henry Higgins. The opening scene also contained a sign that read “Covent Gardens,” not “Convent Gardens.” The current version of this story reflects this change.