Oh, the towering feeling!

I never heard a more enchanting farce / Than the moment when you shouted 'Move your blooming --!'

My Fair Lady at the Mill at Sonning. Photo: Pamela Raith

I was lucky to be part of a press outing to see My Fair Lady at the Mill in Sonning, near Reading, last weekend, and I pushed the boat out with a full five stars. I can’t really remember a time when I didn’t know the story or the songs (ditto The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins). It really is the crème de la crème of Musical Theatre and Joseph Pitcher’s production has so much heart as well as wit and style.

I first saw My Fair Lady on stage in Trevor Nunn’s production at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, with Alex Jennings as Higgins and Joanna Riding as Eliza. Although I was pretty young, I do remember how they had great chemistry and felt plausible as a potential couple. I also remember how Riding’s Cockney Eliza felt authentically rough and deglamourized (most other Elizas follow Audrey Hepburn’s example). She was also so beautiful and elegant post-transformation and I became a devoted fan. I wish I could see her Reverend Mother in The Sound of Music in Leicester but I don’t think my schedule will allow it.

I remember watching the film as a child and asking, ‘So, do they get married?’ Nadim Naaman and Simbi Akande do hint in that direction. I know a lot of people would consider a softer ‘romcom’ interpretation to be a travesty but it worked for me with this production and casting. There’s so much to feel guilty about in this world, so I’m not going to worry too much if this makes me a bad feminist.

The farces and thrillers that the Mill stages throughout the rest of the year aren’t my cup of tea but I do hope to catch next Christmas’s musical offering, whatever it may be. I know none of the broadsheets were there (and they probably would have been more conservative with their ratings if they had been), but I was nevertheless quite proud to get ‘top billing’ in the review round-up (well, WhatsOnStage did).

Also, to give credit where it’s due, a lot of the glory should go to Kevin Wilson, the show’s PR, who escorted us to the Saturday matinee, having done the same trip for the evening show the night before (the evening performances start at 8:15 and finish at past 11 – I suppose nearly everyone drives. It isn’t far from London and yet it’s a world away in many respects). PRs work so hard, especially the ones who are one-man bands and don’t have anyone to whom to delegate. I was supposed to be concluding this unusually busy (for me) week with The Rivals at the Orange Tree tonight but that’s been cancelled due to illness – the run is heavily booked and everyone is so busy just now, and I hope rescheduling isn’t too much of a nightmare for the PR team.

From the enchanting to the execrable in just over 48 hours… I have seen some real duds this year: the AI-themed East is West at Hampstead Theatre; English Touring Theatre’s dreadful Macbeth; the misguided Midnight Cowboy musical at Southwark Playhouse; the dead-on-arrival Jane Austen spinoff Death Comes to Pemberley… yet somehow I gave them a generous two stars each (1.5 would have been more accurate). I hadn’t seen anything under three stars for a while – and then Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson – Apt 2B came up.

It didn’t give me any pleasure to say it as I found it, especially as the Arcola is my local theatre, but I was so glad when my neighbour and I got talking at the interval and were able to let off some steam (quietly, of course). Anyway, much more promisingly, the Arcola will be presenting an adaptation of Barbara Pym’s Quartet in Autumn (one of my favourites of her novels) adapted by Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey in May.

I’m afraid it’s just bad, Zahidf

Thank goodness for Fallen Angels. I’m a bit surprised that it’s mostly received 3-star reviews (someone seemed offended that Coward wrote about people who have servants). And English National Opera’s HMS Pinafore was all right but not especially well directed IMO, and I could have done without Mel Giedroyc’s cameos (a nuisance). It’s been a while since I saw any of them, but I do think that John Savournin’s ‘boutique’ Gilbert and Sullivan productions for Charles Court Opera are considerably better, not least because they make the material so much more immediate (especially when they were in residence at the Rosemary Branch). To really love G&S, I think you probably have to have been brought up on it and it isn’t something I’d choose to listen to for fun, but I do enjoy productions that are done well.

In other news…

The National Theatre is introducing ‘dynamic pricing’. Horrible idea.

The Stage is being relaunched as a monthly magazine instead of a weekly newspaper from January. Nothing surprises me when it comes to cuts in print media but it is the end of an era and, of course, I feel for anyone who might be worried about their job.

Tom Stoppard has died. I remember being so scathing when my class read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead alongside Hamlet for GCSE (even though The Merchant of Venice was our exam text) and would like to apologise for my arrogance. I confess I haven’t read or seen much by him since (I’m sorry I missed Leopoldstadt) but I’m looking forward to seeing Indian Ink soon and hope to become a bit better informed.