'My Fair Lady' Charms Murfreesboro Audience

By Sarah Cook

            MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Murfreesboro Little Theatre staged the musical “My Fair Lady” on Fridays and Saturdays from Nov. 6-22, charming local audiences with drama and song.

            “My Fair Lady,” with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, is based on George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” and was directed by Melvin C. Spring and Alex DeHoff. The musical tells how phonetics professor Henry Higgins gives speech lessons to Eliza Doolittle so that she can pass as a lady in high society.

            On a whole, the Murfreesboro Little Theatre staging of “My Fair Lady” was extremely impressive. The actual performance area is in a black box theatre, which allows the stage area to be moved and audience area to be configured in whatever way would best suit the show. Although the set was fairly small, it was incredibly detailed and made in a way that each part could serve multiple functions and act as multiple locations.

“Every show is beautiful,” said audience member Amelia Hunt, who has been attending shows at the theatre for many years. “You never see the same set twice.”

They even went as far as to paint individual cobblestones onto the floor where the sidewalk was.

            Just as detailed as the set were the costumes. Nearly every actor had at least two completely different outfits, many with different hairstyles to match, and every one of them was just as impressive as the last. The men’s suits were fitted, ladies hats matched their dresses, and Eliza’s Embassy Ball gown looked like it was sewn onto her.

“Wardrobe changes can be really stressful, especially when you only have a minute or two to get it done,” actress Mary Hutchens said.

            Hutchens also mentioned that learning to do a British accent was very challenging. Since she was playing Eliza Doolittle, she had to master two different accents.

“The Cockney accent was definitely the hardest,” Hutchens said. “Everyone knows what a regular British accent sounds like, but the Cockney one was like learning another language for me.”

Upcoming shows include “My Three Angels,” which starts showing on Dec. 11, and “The Exonerated", which begins on Jan. 15.

Other members of the cast include

Melvin C. Spring/Alex DeHoff – Directors

Andy Ford – Henry Higgins

Perry Poston – Colonel Pickering

Robert DeHoff – Alfred P. Doolittle

Rae Ellyn Kelley – Mrs. Eynsford-Hill/First Cockney Servant

Zach Kelley – Freddy Eynsford-Hill

Raeley Underwood – Mrs. Higgins Maid/Flower Girl 2

Aylee Gardner – Flower Girl

Heather Gardner – Mrs. Higgins/Mrs. Hopkins

Jacob Knight – Jamie

Janice Denson – Mrs. Pierce

Alyssa Brangenberg – Ensemble

More information about the Murfreesboro Little Theatre can be found at www.mltarts.com.

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