'My Fair Lady'
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Eliza Doolittle (Maddison Rogers, center) and her friends speculate about how ‘loverly’ it would be to have a castle by the sea in the Basin Community Theatre production of ‘My Fair Lady.’
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Alf Doolittle (Tim Cloyd, left) and his mates try to figure out how to get another drink without actually paying for it in rehearsals for the Basin Community Theatre production of ‘My Fair Lady.’
MOSES LAKE — Tickets go on sale Thursday for the Basin Community Theatre production of the tale of a girl, a guy, and language lessons. “My Fair Lady” opens March 18 at the Moses Lake High School theater, 803 E. Sharon Ave.
“We wanted to do one of the classics,” said BCT producer Marion Wyman. “My Fair Lady” qualifies as a classic – it broke records when it premiered on Broadway in 1956, and ran for more than four years.
“My Fair Lady” follows the fortunes of Eliza Doolittle (Maddison Rogers in the BCT production), a girl who makes a precarious living selling flowers outside Covent Garden in London. One night Eliza catches the eye – or rather the ear – of Henry Higgins (Daren Vernon), a language professor who’s scandalized by her accent.
Professor ’Iggins – or Professor Higgins – bets his friend Colonel Pickering (Ed Backell) that he can teach Eliza to speak the King’s English in six months. Eliza’s just looking for something that will help her get a better job, but the possibilities in the situation attract the attention of her scheming dad Alf (Tim Cloyd).
“I love the music in it, I love the storyline, the costumes – it’s just been one of my favorites for a long time.” Wyman said. Toby Black is director and choreographer. “Toby’s got some great choreography.” Dan Beich will direct the orchestra.
Rehearsals just started on the MLHS stage, so sets and costumes are still in the process of construction. Friday night the cast was still working on the transition to a bigger space, rehearsing songs to nail just the right sound, checking the choreography.
Alf and his friends perform a song congratulating themselves for being calculating bounders (it’s called “With a Little Bit of Luck”). Wyman, assessing the scene from the 10th row or so, said it was boring. That prompted an animated discussion between Black and the actors, looking for ways to make the scene more visually interesting.
That came after Black, in the tradition of Great Directors, pretended to be outraged at the criticism.
“It’s just a real fun storyline,” Wyman said. Cloyd agreed, saying he wanted to play Alf because it gave him a chance at experiences he would never have in real life.
Tickets for “My Fair Lady” go on sale Thursday on the BCT website, www.basincommunitytheatre.org. Tickets are $18 online, $20 at the door. Tickets for senior citizens (65 years of age and older) are $10.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.