My Fair Lady takes the stage at SSU

Oct. 14, 2011

Comedy, drama, and a celebration of the power of music are all on full display in this musical which seeks to examine class distinctions, society's prejudices, the gender divide, identity and personal transformation.

The stage is set. The place is London; the year 1912.The Professor Henry Higgins devotes himself to the transformation of Eliza Doolittle, from a Cockney flower girl to high society debutante, and in the course of things, falls in love.

Professor Higgins won't be the only one falling in love with Eliza in this Lerner and Loewe adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion." With musical pieces like "Wouldn't it be loverly," "The Rain in Spain," and "I Could Have Danced All Night," audiences will be captivated by the musical styles, the characters, and the drama that My Fair Lady has used to win a total of five Laurence Olivier Awards, including "Outstanding Musical Production" and "Best Theatre Choreographer" Matthew Bourne, and in 2002 it also received The Hilton Award for "Outstanding Musical Production."

The musical's 1956 Broadway production set a record for the longest run of any major musical theater production in history with Rex Harrison as Professor Higgins and Julie Andrews as Eliza. The production closed in 1962 after 2,717 performances and has had several revivals since then. It has been called "the perfect musical."

My Fair Lady will be presented on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Shawnee State University's Vern Riffe Center for the Arts. Tickets for the performance are from $35 to $48. To purchase tickets, contact the McKinley Box Office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (740) 351-3600, through www.Ticketmaster.com or find out more at boxoffice@sopaa.org.