1910: on a cold March evening in Covent Garden, the overbearing Henry Higgins, a Professor of Phonetics, encounters a young flower seller, Eliza Doolittle. Whilst appalled by Eliza’s strangled vowels and missing consonants, Higgins opines that it is only her mangled English and coarse manners that separate her from the so-called Upper Classes... Read more …
And so results an outrageous wager between Higgins and the amiable Colonel Pickering: in just six months, Higgins promises to transform Eliza so completely that she will pass for a Duchess at the lavish Embassy Ball. But Eliza’s gradual metamorphosis under Higgins’s relentless tuition comes at a terrible price. Too eloquent for a flower girl, yet without the breeding and education of the aristocracy, what will become of her when the wager is over?
Lerner and Loewe’s bewitching tale of a flower girl’s transformation into the toast of London society is one of the greatest musicals of all time. Featuring unforgettable songs such as I Could Have Danced All Night, On The Street Where You Live, Get Me To The Church On Time and many others, this much-loved musical is sure to be a sell-out!
Featuring a large cast of actor-musicians, sumptuous costumes and a spectacular stage design, this will be a perfectly ‘loverly’ way for you to celebrate 60 years of magic at the Theatre in the Hills.
The Festival Theatre has begun its 60th anniversary year with a triumph...While Eliza struggles with her vowels, John Durnin’s production earns a capital V -for Vitality.
It’s difficult to imagine any audience member with a heart, a soul, a sense of humour, or an eye for an elegant dress, failing to enjoy this gorgeous evening of theatre, lifted by the performances of an eighteen-strong company who clearly love what they’re doing, and want the audience to love it too.
It’s the way Lee and Quinnell hold the audience rapt in the final scenes, where the love that has been growing beneath the lessons emerges blinking shyly into the limelight, that convinces you that this thoroughly enjoyable production is one of real quality.
Much hangs on the central roles and, in Kate Quinnell's Eliza Doolittle, Dougal Lee's Henry Higgins and Robin Harvey Edwards's Colonel Pickering, there are three performances which hit the fine balance between obstinacy and attractiveness that makes this such a fascinatingly unsentimental musical.
A production that is as thought-provoking as it is contagiously enjoyable.
Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Pitlochry from Wednesday June 1, 2011, until Saturday October 15, 2011. Check the website for specific performance times.. More info: www.pitlochry.org.uk