Whenever I find myself back on Wimpole Street in London, near where I spent some of my childhood, I can never resist breaking into song. This, after all, is where Freddy yearns for Eliza in My Fair Lady, crooning, in what must be one of the most romantic moments in musical history, “I have often walked down this street before”.
Watching My Fair Lady in Sydney thousands of miles away I, too, felt like this was a street I had walked down before. And so it was.
To say that My Fair Lady sticks closely to the original is something of an understatement. Not only do the cast and crew effortlessly transport the audience to Edwardian England (in all its genteel glory and ugly punctiliousness); the show is a near total re-creation of the 1956 original Broadway production that first made it a hit.
At its helm as director is Dame Julie Andrews, who played Eliza Doolittle opposite Rex Harrison’s Henry Higgins for the musical’s debut. It was the role that propelled her to stardom. My Fair Lady became Broadway’s longest running musical to date, racking up 2,717 performances. Despite a disastrous opening night – in which Harrison was hit by a bad attack of stage-fright, refusing to come out of his dressing room until an hour before curtain time – the production won a Tony and its album sold over five million copies. It was the musical that had everything: wit, tunes, courtship, and cutting class commentary.
For its 60th anniversary Andrews has been coopted by Opera Australia to re-create the legendary production, down to its costumes and stage design.
The handsome architectural set replicates 10-time Tony-award winner Oliver Smith’s original, albeit with the transformation of some painted surfaces to three-dimensional. The lighting by Richard Pilbrow, while using modern technology, pays homage to the luminary Abe Feder. And no less than 32 musicians conjure up the magic of the score from the belly of the orchestra pit.
Harking back to a bygone golden era is always dangerous; disappointment is a very real risk. But Andrews has succeeded with verve. Helping her along is a world-class cast. British actor Alex Jennings, who has previously won an Oliver Award for the role in the West End, plays Higgins with aplomb, revealing emotional vulnerability beneath his aristocratic bluster and bumptiousness.
Tony Llewellyn-Jones is perfect as the warm-hearted Colonel Pickering; Deidre Rubenstein is both wry and wise as housekeeper Mrs Pearce; and Australian legend Reg Livermore, now in his 77th year, is uproarious as the raucous rapscallion Alfred P Doolittle.
The most challenging role is perhaps the weakest. It was always going to be a test for any actress to take the place of Andrews as Eliza (not to mention Audrey Hepburn in the film version). Australian soprano Anna O’Byrne gives it her all, gracefully transforming from a poor Cockney flower girl dressed in little more than rags to a lady taking tea in salmon-coloured chiffon.
The costumes help: Eliza’s entrance in a long shimmering ivory dress at the embassy ball is breathtaking. Yet her performance lacks a sense of flamboyance and flourish, an innate vivaciousness, which the part demands.
This is a minor squabble, though, in a production that truly sings. In 1956 tickets were so hard to come by that one popular caricature sketch showed a respectable middle-class woman holding the box office assistant at gunpoint. By putting on such a crowd-pleaser, the Opera House might not be far off that.
• My Fair Lady runs at Sydney Opera House until 4 November
