“My Fair Lady”
Book and lyrics, Alan Jay Lerner; music by Frederick Loewe; director, Stuart Maunder; set designer, Richard Roberts; costume designer, Roger Kirk; choreographer, Elizabeth Hill. Presented by Opera Australia.
Canberra Theatre until August 23.
Reviewed by Bill Stephens

OPERA Australia has unveiled its sumptuous new production of “My Fair Lady” to a cheering, appreciative opening-night audience in the Canberra Theatre.
From the opening bars of the familiar overture, the audience found itself swept up in the story of the Cockney flower girl who undergoes a make over by taking speech lessons from a misogynist linguistics professor to allow her to pass as a lady. It is a story that remains as relevant, and as entertaining, as ever.
This production positively bristles with clever directorial touches to intrigue and delight those already familiar with the show. For those experiencing “My Fair Lady” for the first time, there is the magical combination of brilliant performances, extravagant sets and costumes and, of course, the glorious music that on opening night was given a delightfully crisp performance by the Canberra Symphony, conducted by Stephen Mould, to clearly demonstrate what makes this musical a masterpiece.
In the central role, as the feisty flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, Taryn Fiebig is superb. Not only does she sing gloriously, and look lovely in her costumes, she also brings to her Eliza exactly the right degree of intelligence and animal cunning to make convincing the combatant relationship between Eliza and Professor Higgins.
Reg Livermore, on the other hand, brings welcome warmth to his Professor Higgins, a person completely pre-occupied and delighted with the challenges Eliza offers him, only to be absolutely baffled, and ultimately, devastated by her apparent ingratitude. His masterly performance of “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” is a revelation.
Rhys McConnochie as Colonel Pickering, and Adele Johnson as Mrs Pearce, are both excellent, while the gorgeously gowned Nancye Hayes, as Mrs Higgins, effortlessly commands the stage on every appearance. Matthew Robinson, perfectly cast as the handsome, gormless, Freddy Eynsford Hill, brings the house down with his singing of “On the Street Where You Live”, while Robert Grubb is a joyfully unrepentant Alfred P.Doolittle. All are given terrific support by the energetic, all-singing, all-dancing ensemble that performs Elizabeth Hill’s well-staged production numbers with great gusto.
Roger Kirk’s extraordinary costumes are quite wonderful, particularly for the Ascot scene and the Embassy Ball, and Richard Robert’s impressively substantial settings, sensitively lit by Trudy Dalgleish, make good use of a huge revolve to allow the show to flow seamlessly from scene to scene.
It will be a long time before the Canberra Theatre again houses a production of “My Fair Lady” to rival this one, so don’t miss it.