My Fair Lady - Opera North & Leeds Playhouse co-production

Woo!

Opera North’s Kiss Me Kate and Into The Woods were also very good.

Kiss me Kate at The Grand was superb

The Lincoln Centre production really didn't transfer well - it was so good on Broadway and it just looked lost in the Coli

I wish they'd announce the cast before booking opens but they're not so I'll have to hope there are still tickets left by the time the cast is announced. I'm not travelling nearly 3 hours each way to Leeds unless there are going to be singers I like in the cast.

Josephine B as Mrs H, please.

Going a week on Saturday. Very excited!

Surprisingly, finding a pal to accompany me was like getting bloody from a stone. Not a show people are keen to watch.

I saw this on Friday night - the first night.
Was very well done although it was an awful set and the costumes were dreary - even the Ascot and Ball ones were a bit dull. It’s a two tier set and I am not sure that it worked.

However, strong performances all round and John Hopkins who plays Higgins is absolutely excellent - he was the best thing in it, I think. Doolittles seem to be getting younger and there is less of an age gap between him and Eliza.

I saw the touring Lincoln Centre production in Manchester and think I preferred that one. But it is a good, solid production which is well sung as you would expect and it is really lovely to hear the score played and sung so well.

it is nearly 3 hours but didn’t seem to drag at all. 

I was also at the opening performance last Friday evening, having travelled from Kent for a double bill with an overnight stay - to include Here You Come Again (fabulous!) on Saturday afternoon.

My Fair Lady is the musical I know better than any other, having seen more than 30 productions of it in the last decade so I notice any changes or cuts. This was the first time I've seen it performed by an opera company and I felt Eliza sounded too operatic and not really Cockney from the outset. I was surprised and disappointed by the removal of several scenes, mainly humorous moments involving Colonel Pickering, along with the reprise of With A Little Bit Of Luck ; that's the scene back in Covent Garden where Alfie Dolittle is told that Eliza has moved into Higgins' house and doesn't want any clothes sent. The cuts also included Pickering's call to the Police, a scene where Eliza's age, about 21, is mentioned, possibly because the actress Katie Bird is clearly about 10 years older.

I also felt the Ascot Gavotte was very weak, with heads through a wooden picture as seen on seaside piers and also not having everyone in the traditional black and white costumes. The running time of 2 hours 50 minutes is one of the shortest I've known - two amateur productions of MFL I saw in May (Eltham and Chelmsford)  topped three hours with no cuts and more lavish sets.

Overall not what I expected from a professional production and not in the same league as the London Coliseum/UK Tour . It felt like this had been staged on a tight budget with a determination to keep it under three hours meaning around 10 minutes was cut out. Three stars.

Row B actually. I can't remember why I didn't book the actual front row for Here You Come Again but it may have been because I read somewhere that the legroom is limited, which did look to be the case. Seats in row B were priced the same @ £15, an absolute steal. Not a particularly high stage and top notch production values. Already booked it twice more on the tour.

I did go for the front row for My Fair Lady. To add to my previous post I'm quite surprised Opera North were allowed to make the cuts and changes they did, it devalued the whole piece in my opinion though I appreciate very few of the audience will have noticed or cared.

(I'm guessing you won't be at Cowes Isle Of Wight next Saturday afternoon for The Likes Of Us...)

This was the last thing I read before going asleep last night and I woke up still thinking about it. I can't imagine a better day. 😂 (Saw them last week, you'll have the best night!)

I thought this was excellent, my eyes were very moist towards the end.

The beauty of this production is how it ditches the spectacle and focuses on what matters. If it was playing in the Grand it would be lost but here in the playhouse its an absolute gem.


Maybe im a heathen, but i didn't miss any of the cuts. I also liked how we got the act 1 finale as intended.

The reviews I've read all praise the set, I don't!

With some simple movements from the chorus and a canvas we are all cut from the same cloth. Neat. It worked for me.

Some really strong performances but John Hopkins is an absolute legend. The strongest Higgins I've seen.