My Fair Lady - London Coliseum / UK & Ireland Tour

Went into this one blind this evening as I didn’t want to miss it .. sadly left a little disheartened with after an ending like that!! the book was ok with a few good laughs but it’s reallyyyyy long. painfully long. The cast were absolutely brilliant though, just not a fan of the material😭

Shaw always said that Eliza ended up with Freddie; he never wanted her to end up with Higgins. It's not meant to be happily ever after like the Hollywood adaptation's ending.

I don't think I could've ever returned to this one if it was the original ending. I was very worried it was heading that way the first time!

As I don't think I'm going to be able to see this, may I ask what ending is used?

Shouldn’t that have a spoiler toggle for people who haven’t seen it ?

Disheartened in the sense that we see Eliza (rightfully) leave Higgins after a minute or two of complete silence before a blackout. Maybe I meant underwhelming ..

I think it's also important that you SEE Eliza walking away, which might not be the case from balconies and dress circles

Found the tour production and cast so much better than the Colosseum version, with actual chemistry between the cast and they presented the whole show in a different manner, really did show how a cast can perform the same show but take it to a different level.

The set which looked sparse in London filled the Hippodrome better and the two leads had a genuine connection and really brought over in the spoken ending that these were two people who had a connection but were also totally incompatible together, compared to the London which was devoid of even a whiff of romance or basic bond between them.

The songs were played and sung wonderfully, not so keen on the I'm getting married segment being played quite so crudely, normally it's a celebration.
Surprised at the interval and end hearing so many people who seemed to be hearing and seeing the show for the first time and who loved it, guess the film is not shown as often as it was.

Very glad I saw this on tour as renewed my love for the show and songs, disappointed I wasted a London trip slot seeing the inferior version at the coliseum and at a higher price.
Four star tour version
Two star west end version

Really interesting seeing so many comments saying they’ve found the tour version better than the London production - usually I find it’s the other way round, but guess an awful lot of it (as in this case) is down to casting.

At the Birmingham Hippodrome last night, we had Rebekah Lowings on as Eliza. She did a reasonable job, but, like every other Eliza I've ever seen, on both stage and screen, was not convincing pre-transformation. Why do all Elizas look like a well-to-do lady who happens to be dressed in rags, what with their beautiful face, perfect complexion, perfect teeth, perfect posture? The acting never makes me believe that they really are from the street, but, then again, My Fair Lady the musical does not really inhabit the real world, only that Hollywood/Broadway sugar-coated confection of reality, so maybe I'm being too picky. Ironically, despite criticisms of Adam Woodyatt in this thread, his accent was probably the least Mockney one, presumably because it's his own.

The show is saved by Michael D. Xavier (don't remember that "D" before) who is perfect as Professor Henry Higgins, my favourite interpretation I think.  Otherwise, I was underwhelmed by the whole affair.

The first thing that struck me was how quiet the volume was. I couldn't work out if they'd chosen not to amplify the orchestra at all and were only amplifying the cast to match. Whatever the explanation, the effect from the centre of stalls row K was a bit like watching telly at normal volume, i.e. no aural impact at all.

Next, the set design was rather more pared back than I expected for £65 a ticket. The only detailed set was for the Higgins house, on a revolve, which seemed to have been designed for a much smaller stage on the tour. It's floor was raised about a foot, and cast members kept stepping off it on to the undressed stage in front, which triggered me each time, my inner pedant yelling in my head that some fourth wall had just been transgressed.

Worse than Mockney was whatever you want to term the faux impersonation of posh accents. Some of the minor characters made decidedly am-dram attempts.



Three stars.

Act 1: 19:01-20:28
Act 2: 20:49-21:58

I was impressed that the Hippodrome kiosk on the left of the lobby (front-circle level) had delicious carrot cake for sale at £2.25 a piece. It was unusual in not tasting mass-produced -- take note Birmingham Rep -- and that was a very reasonable price I thought. £5.80 for a medium wine at the bars too. That's about half what the rip-off merchants that are ATG charge.

I love the ending because it's what Shaw originally wanted to do with Pygmalion, and a multitude of other reasons that I could write you an essay on (it's my favourite musical)😂