DRAMA MY FAIR LADY
THE CAST
It is impossible to watch a production of My Fair Lady without conjuring up a mental picture of Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, Stanley Holloway and the rest. Comparisons are inevitable. Ian Lowe's cast of actors and musicians can hold their heads up high when set against the stars of that classic film, and that is a measure of the success of this production. The difficulties in staging a show of this scale at a School are enormous. It requires exceptional talent to be able to act and sing and dance equally well. Very few of the great stars of stage and screen have been able to do it. (One is reminded of the famous comment made by a talent scout who had just auditioned a young man called Fred Astaire: "Can't act. Can't sing. Can dance a bit".) It is, therefore, asking an awful lot of School pupils to expect them to act, sing and move equally well, especially in an auditorium where the atmosphere and acoustics are unhelpful. To have staged a successful show within these constraints is a remarkable achievement indeed. The leading roles were taken by Sally Hamilton and Peter Nowell, both of whom performed admirably. Peter's diction was superb: he captured Higgins' dryly academic pedantry just right. He would probably have been happier in Pygmalion, because there was a touch of selfconsciousness about his singing and movement. Sally gave a magnificent all-round performance as Eliza: she was totally uninhibited in her movements and her singing, and was equally credible both before and after her metamorphosis by Higgins. You would have to go a long way to see a better individual performance in a School production. Ellis Parry gave capable support to the principals as the kindly old cove, Colonel Pickering, and Rachel Batty was suitably matronly as Mrs. Pearce. Nicholas Barham-Hall sang beautifully as the pusillanimous Freddy.
Eliza Doolittle Henry Higgins Alfred P. Doolittle Colonel Pickering Mrs. Higgins Freddy Eynsford-Hill Mrs. Eynsford-Hill Mrs. Pearce
Sally Hamilton Peter Nowell Leon Panitzke Ellis Parry Vicki Inness Nicholas Barham-Hall AH Holley Rachel Batty
• • • • • • • • • other parts played by members of
THE
CHORUS
Claire Altman, Simon Banks, Charlie Barlow, Louise Blackburn, James Bowling, Louise Copley, Charlotte Cranston, Lindsay Daniel, Jeremy Doncaster, Sarah Durham, Clare Farrow, Paul Ferrow, Sophie Greeves, Richard Griggs, Charles Metcalfe, Jane Mindenhall, Jason Morris, Rachel Robertson, Adrian Robinson, Paul Simpson, Richard Tucker, Emma Ward, Eleanor White, Kathryn Wood.
MUSICIANS Eleanor McCowen Jane Wright Martin Kershaw Timothy Dunn Bill Riley Sarah Glover Richard Pyne Matthew Williams Jose Honing Roger Carrington Shan Sriharan Alastair Alton Tiffany Richards Malcolm Brown Christopher Braganza Keith Pemberton Rehearsal pianist
The other parts gave the director plenty of scope for typecasting. That engaging, charismatic rogue, Alfred P. Doolittle, was played by that engaging, charismatic rogue Leon Panitzke. Mrs. Higgins, a lady who stands no nonsense, was played by the Head of School, a lady who stands no nonsense. Everybody else was played by everybody else. The musical accompaniment, under Andrew Wright's direction, was impeccable, and John Brown deserves credit for his set: the racecourse scene was particularly effective. Behind the scenes, James Butler flicked switches with well-oiled efficiency, while Kirsten Luckins and Dick Hubbard made sure that everything ran with the slick smoothness of a finely-tuned machine — or at least appeared to. It was a thoroughly enjoyable show, the noholds-barred rendering of "Get me to the Church" being especially memorable. Congratulations to all involved. D. S. Newman
flute oboe clarinet clarinet trumpet trumpet trombone .percussion violin violin violin violin viola cello bass .piano David Spencer
BACKSTAGE John Brown Jean Dench James Butler Chris Hall
set costume lighting props
with the assistance of many other members of the School
ASSISTANT PRODUCER PRODUCER MUSICAL DIRECTOR DIRECTOR
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Kirsten Luckins Dick Hubbard Andrew Wright Ian Lowe
