A tragic mistake I almost made: not going to see the Paly Theater production of My Fair Lady that opened last Friday. I have seen my share of middle school, high school and youth productions, and I know there exists a bias that sleeps in my brain, nudged awake every time I am confronted with responding to that Facebook invitation. Wanting to want to reply “attending” but invariably saying “maybe,” I always end up with vague feelings of guilt quickly forgotten as life goes on. It’s not that I don’t like the productions, but with limited time and a million things to do, sometimes watching the school play can fall down my list of priorities. However, last Saturday night, I was blown away by My Fair Lady, a classic I love that Paly theater really made its own, and made it well. 

This production is unique in that there are two different casts, with the four main roles of Eliza Doolittle, Henry Higgins, Mrs. Pierce and Colonel Pickering rotated between two main actors for each role. Each show has different combinations, never repeating the same cast twice and making each experience different. When talking to other cast members and the crew of the production, their consensus was that the selection process aims to always have a mix between actors with different strengths, in this show acting versus singing. 

I found senior Stephanie Spector’s performance committed and funny, never holding back when Eliza Doolittle wouldn’t. Her sweetness in “I Could Have Danced All Night” contrasted with her amusing fury in “Just You Wait” displayed her diversity as an actress. She hit the notes well, and managed to project through a microphone failure that the pit orchestra adjusted to on spot. In fact, several sound system mishaps forced the orchestra to cut out more than one piece. That, and one or two set change errors were the only slips of the entire production, and were dwarfed in camparison to its magnetism and color. Henry Higgins, played by junior Joseph Come, was classically reserved and delivered lines well, with a resonant voice which enchanted the audience. 

The three elements of this production that especially stood out were its humor, beautiful costumes and well-orchestrated songs. I was surprised to find myself genuinely laughing all over the place, as admittedly, I can be a hard sell for scripted humor. Freshman Aaron Slipper as Arthur Doolittle deserves great recognition for his fantastic portrayal of Eliza’s father. It was an intimidating role to take on, but that did not stand in the way of Slipper’s excellent command of Doolittle’s personality, as he landed every joke and even brought his own personal shine to complement the character. Junior Grace Barry also brought the right attitude and humor in her role as Mrs. Pierce. The costumes, created with the help of parents, were truly beautiful and tied the magic of the production together. More importantly, the musical numbers had seamless transitions throughout the production. I often find watching musicals an distressing experience when the songs seem awkward and obvious, but I did not notice any of the transitions in My Fair Lady, enjoying them as they wove the story together with talented singers throughout.

Finally, I’d like to mention that we, as members of the Paly community, should go see My Fair Lady to embrace the arts more as a school and a community, especially when they put on fantastic performances. Think of how many of us actively support our athletes, and look how far they have gone: two state championships, a CCS championship and a resovior of well-rounded athletic talent. Let’s recognize how diversely talented we are as a school, and support each other in those different pursuits; they are all fantastic and important. As Eliza said to Henry Higgins, “The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated,” which both sums up the play and reminds us in these awkward years to treat everyone around us like they matter.