I love
My Fair Lady. Bizarrely, I also consider it horribly flawed in many ways for exactly the same reasons. Henry Higgins in an emotionally stunted, ego centric arse of a man. Eliza is far too good for him and yet we applaud when she returns. In the Golden Age of musicals it had to be and there's a great nostalgia in that. But the source text, George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion may pre-date MFL by 51 years but it is much more modern in its thinking. In any case, in the #metoo world accepting that kind of emotional bastard is not a thing. So I greatly enjoyed Pygmalion by the final year QUT acting students tonight. With the help with some technical wizardry in the light, sound and AV department, this version showed just how contemporary this story is in its own way. I loved it immensely. This is not just a story about Eliza and Henry. In fact, I have always loved Mrs Higgins, Alfred P Doolittle and Col Pickering. These are the big characters in a tale of really big characters. I couldn't help but smile when after the performance our Mrs Higgins Maeve Hook took out the Jennifer Blocksridge memorial award for a final year student. She was great. And as they say in the classics - winners are grinners... that may not have been George Bernard Shaw.
I love My Fair Lady. Bizarrely, I also consider it horribly flawed in many ways for exactly the same reasons. Henry Higgins in an emotionally stunted, ego centric arse of a man. Eliza is far too good for him and yet we applaud when she returns. In the Golden Age of musicals it had to be and there's a great nostalgia in that. But the source text, George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion may pre-date MFL by 51 years but it is much more modern in its thinking. In any case, in the #metoo world accepting that kind of emotional bastard is not a thing. So I greatly enjoyed Pygmalion by the final year QUT acting students tonight. With the help with some technical wizardry in the light, sound and AV department, this version showed just how contemporary this story is in its own way. I loved it immensely. This is not just a story about Eliza and Henry. In fact, I have always loved Mrs Higgins, Alfred P Doolittle and Col Pickering. These are the big characters in a tale of really big characters. I couldn't help but smile when after the performance our Mrs Higgins Maeve Hook took out the Jennifer Blocksridge memorial award for a final year student. She was great. And as they say in the classics - winners are grinners... that may not have been George Bernard Shaw.
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