My Fair Lady: The Sir Percy Version

Melody: Don't you wish we were all together in real life?

Amy: Of course, we are.

Alexandra: Sure we all are.

~Live chat during the MFL broadcast

I'll admit it.  I'll admit it freely.  I decided to listen to the BBC's live broadcast of My Fair Lady for the sole, simple reason that Anthony Andrews--otherwise known as Sir Percy Blakeney--was playing Professor Henry Higgins.

Of course, the excitement mounted when I found out that Alun Armstrong (Flintwinch in Little Dorrit, Thenardier in Les Miserables) and Jenny Galloway (Madame Thenardier in Les Miserables) would be playing Alfred P. Doolittle and Mrs. Pierce, respectively.  Les Miz meets The Scarlet Pimpernel?  Yes, please!

So at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon, I sat down to tune into BBC Radio 3 with my sister Anne-girl and my friends Alexandra and Melody.  (Let's all remove our hats and have a moment of silence in regret that the show was not televised.)  Is it an understatement to say we had an absolute blast?  We kept a lickety-split commentary running over Gmail chat, which resulted in much talking over each other and complaining of "Hey, I was going to say that!"  Variations on the phrase "This. Is. Amazing." were also repeated ad infinitum.

I should start with Eliza, but I can't leave you all in suspense, so we'll start with Henry Higgins instead.  Since Anthony Andrews was the reason I listened to it in the first place, I was naturally REALLY hoping he would be amazing in the role.  The best Henry Higgins ever. Well, um, obviously.  Rex who?  Rex Harrison?  Never heard of him.

My friends may do something drastic to me for sharing this bit of immaturity on the Internet, but this was our reaction to the first scene (spelling edited for clarity; we were typing very fast):

Alexandra: A BLOKE BEHIND THE PILLAR!!!!

 Melody: Sounds way more like Uncle Frederick than John Dashwood.  [speaking of Colonel Pickering, who was played by James Fleet]

 Amy: I LOVE THE BLOKE!

 Anne: AA!

 Alexandra: HE'S COMING!!!!!

 Melody: SHHH.

 Amy: coming...

 Alexandra: SQQQQQQUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Amy: THERE HE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Melody: Hahahaha.

 Alexandra: SCREAM!!!!!!

 Anne: YAYYAYYYYYSQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

                   Melody: Oh my goodness. You girls.

Melody may now take credit for being the only sane one among us.

It was quite interesting to discover that Henry Higgins' songs actually had tunes and could be sung with the music.  Revolutionary.  Anthony Andrews has a very, very good voice by the way.  He should be in Les Miz. *cowers under Melody's glare*

When Rex Harrison played HH, he made the character incredibly annoying.  And though HH is supposed to be annoying, Anthony Andrews made him likable as well.  With Harrison's portrayal, you got the feeling that he really could get along without Eliza-- it was only his selfishness that wanted her back.  But with Anthony Andrews' portrayal, it seemed that HH was blustering and shouting that he didn't need Eliza, and yet underneath he really did need her very badly indeed, even if he wouldn't admit it.

And yes, I may be biased in that opinion.

Naturally, since The Scarlet Pimpernel himself was starring in this play, manifold TSP jokes flew back and forth.  "Let the others of my sex tie the knot around their necks... I told you he'd stick a cravat in there somewhere!"  And when Eliza shouts, "Ready, aim, fire!" during "Just You Wait", certain members of the party may have mentally shrieked "PERCYYYYYYYY!" in a Marguerite voice. Can't imagine who those people might have been.

Annalene Beechey, who played Eliza, was... well, not great.  It was a truth universally acknowledged that her high notes were a bit shrill and got lost in the orchestra.  Plus, her Cockney accent was a bit unconvincing.  At times she almost sounded American.  Her show-stopper song, "I Could Have Danced All Night" wasn't what we'd hoped for.  Sad, that.

Alexandra: Will she pull this song off?

 Amy: YES.

 Melody: YAY.

 Amy: Hmmmm.... sounding good...

 Anne: Meh. Ok.

 Alexandra: She's ok.

 Melody: It's ... slow.

 Amy: Very light and bright and airy... a little too thin...

 Alexandra: Yeah.  Yeah, too thin on top.

 Anne: Yeah I like fast songs. Like the way guess who? AA sings

 Amy: Like I said, her high notes are getting lost.

 Alexandra: Yep.

 Amy: Let's see how the end is...

 Alexandra: YES.

 Melody: Her voice kinda annoys me.Amy: Come on, hit the note! HIT IT!

 Anne: Loving this!

 Alexandra: So far, so good.  That last "I only know" was too fast for my taste.  Here we go....

 Amy: Uh-uh.

 Alexandra: Nope.

 Amy: Not strong enough.

 Anne: Oh, she almost made it!

 Amy: The music drowned her out.

 Alexandra: Almost. So close.

 Melody: It was tolerable.

 Alexandra: Yes, I agree.

 Amy: *claps politely* But not handsome enough to tempt me.

 Melody: I was waiting for that. :D

  

Plus, she just didn't show enough emotion.  Eliza's famous "aoooowww" was good, but she didn't wail and shriek the way Audrey Hepburn did in the movie, nor did she put enough oomph into "Show Me" or "Just You Wait," Eliza's classic Angry Songs.  And, sadly enough, her iconic line "I'm a good girl, I am" was so un-memorable that I don't even remember it.

Alun Armstrong as Alfred P. Doolittle, however, was all that could be hoped for.  He blew Stanley Holloway out of the park.  Even his singing was better--and before Les Miz, I had no idea that Alun Armstrong even could sing, having only seen him in non-musical movies.  (Is anyone else amused that two of the leads in this musical were played by AA's? Or is it just me?)

Freddy Eynsford-Hill... was annoying.  But he's supposed to be.  At least, IMHO.  So that's a good thing?  I think?  His "On the Street Where You Live" left much to be desired.

Alexandra: His voice is annoying.  That's my final verdict.

 Anne: Yeah, he sounds like a sheep

 Amy: 'Tis indeed. At least it's not [Nick Jonas].

 Alexandra: Baaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.  Very true.

James Fleet as Colonel Pickering was an unfortunate choice, I think.  He sounded tired and depressed most of the time-- more like timid Uncle Frederick in Little Dorrit (another part he's played) than the blustery Colonel Pickering.  His "You Did It" was adequate, but the rest of his performance was most unsatisfactory.

Jenny Galloway, known to all you Miserables as Madame Thenardier, was an okay Mrs. Pierce-- there was nothing technically wrong with her performance, but like the Colonel, she sounded tired for most of the time.  Mrs. Pierce doesn't have much personality to begin with... but eh, I preferred Mona Washburn in the movie.

Zoltan Karpathy... was very strange indeed.  His fake accent was so ridiculous as to be hardly intelligible, (although when Henry Higgins imitated him after the ball during "You Did It", we were all falling off our chairs).  He pronounced Europe as Yow Rupp (not kidding) and basically oozed slime and creepiness.

Alexandra: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!  I'm dyyyyyying.  That shriek AA gave.

 Amy: YOW Rupp?

 Anne: Old Coins!

 Melody: It's Mr. Collins.

 Alexandra: Heheheeeee.

 Amy: [speaking to Zoltan K] You should shave, you look a disgusting object.

  

Anne: He's a creep!

 Melody: GLOWrious?

 Alexandra: He's really creepy.

 Melody: INDUBITABLY.

 Alexandra: Not as funny as the movie IMO.

 Amy: You do not know everyone in Yow Rupp. Sir Percy does.

The Lessons Sequence and The Rain in Spain have always been two of my favorite parts, and their presentation in this production did not disappoint.  I only wish we could have seen the part when Eliza is learning her H's.   According to the commentator who mouthed off for twenty minutes during the intermission, there was a really cool flame-throwing machine doing the candle effects for that sequence.  Oh, BBC, why did you not televise?  Why?  But, as I said, The Rain in Spain was all we could have hoped for.  And you can listen to it here!

Amy: [speaking of Professor Higgins at the beginning of The Rain in Spain] He CLAPPED!

 Anne: Relief!

 Alexandra: BY GEORGE!!!!

 Melody: Yes, Amy. People clap.

 Anne: A TUNE!

 Alexandra: Ok, her singing's ok.

 Amy: FORGET REX HARRISON!

 Alexandra: Forget forever.

 Melody: Who's Rex Harrison?  [this was said in sarcasm, folks--she knows who RH is]

 Alexandra: He never existed.

And the Ascot Races!  The best part, by far, was when the actress playing Mrs. Higgins completely goofed. (I love it when people mess up onstage.  I know, that's mean, but it's so funny.)  She was supposed to say, "Where IS my son?" or something of the sort, but... well... she didn't say "son."  Here's our reaction:

Alexandra:  OOOOPS.

 Amy: YOUR HUSBAND???????

 Melody: HUSBAND???

 Anne: Husband!

 Alexandra: She messed up!!!!!!!! WOWOWOWOWOW.

 Melody: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOODNESS.

 Alexandra: WOW!!!!!  WOWOWOW.

 Amy: She was daydreaming about being married to him....

 Melody: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 Alexandra: That was a maaaajor messup!  OOPS.

 Anne: HUSBAND DUH WHAT!?!?!?!?

 Alexandra: Baaaaad lady.

It was beyond hilarious... and, of course, sparked quite a few jokes later on when Henry Higgins kissed his mother on the cheek.  "She must be swooning after that husband line."  And, of course, when Mrs. Higgins told her son, "You aren't even dressed for this!" and he replied with, "I changed my tie," well, that was another messup.  It was evident that he was supposed to say cravat.  Right?

I wish we could have seen the Embassy Ball.  Wonder what Eliza's dress looked like?

[as it begins]Amy: Happyful sigh

 Melody: GLADSOME. :D

 Anne: Here comes queen Dracula...

 Amy: Humming along...

 Anne: Conducting with hands

 Melody: Eating cookie.....
Alexandra: Um. I am in character as Eliza. I'm so nervous. :-DAmy: I'm in character as Zoltan Karpathy and I'm annoying.Anne: I'm some random guy and my wig itches.Alexandra: Someone whack her (as in Amy as Zoltan) with a bottle.Melody: I'm in character as an extra. But *I* have the best dress.

The near-the-end scene at Mrs. Higgins' house, where Higgins confronts Eliza after she runs away, was superbly done.  However, by then our chat had pretty much deteriorated into exclamation points and repeating everything the characters said (with much laughter), so I won't include it here.  "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" was better than I've ever heard it before (and the beginning word that's repeated four times... y'all know what I'm talking about... well, he said it away from the mike, so you could barely hear it.  Excellent.).

At the end, we all stood and clapped when the cast came on for applause.  At least, Anne-girl and I did.  I assume Melody and Alexandra did too.  "Standing ovation! Scream and hug random strangers!"

Yep.  It was pretty amazing.  Now all we can do is hope that someone smuggled a video camera into the Royal Albert Hall and will put the whole thing up on YouTube.  Because, you know, in this case piracy is our only option.

Did you listen to MFL on Saturday?  What did you think of it?  Do you agree that this was the best interpretation of Henry Higgins the stage and screen has ever seen?  (Say yes to the last one.  Please.)