My Fair Lady has a Successful Weekend

Written by Samantha Burgess, managing editor

The Bryan College Fine Arts department put on a production of “My Fair Lady” the weekend of April 11-13.

“My Fair Lady,” set in London in the year 1912, follows the story of Eliza Doolittle, played by Sophie Jaeger. Eliza is a working class girl who dreams of owning a flower shop. As she’s milling outside of Covent Garden, Eliza meets Colonel Pickering, played by Austin Marsh and linguist professor Henry Higgins played by Isaac Hendrix.

Driven by Eliza’s thick cockney accent, Higgins makes a bet with the Colonel that he can turn Eliza into a high society lady in six months. At the end of the six months, Higgins would take her to the Embassy Ball to test her abilities.

The abilities of the actors were strong and performances went smoothly, despite a few technical issues with sound. The ending was met with standing ovations. “I think that this was one of the best—if not the best—performances I’ve ever been a part of as a Hilltop Player,” said Austin Marsh. “Everyone had so much energy, and I truly felt alive onstage because of it.”

Photo provided by Alexis Landry

Marsh said that the rehearsal period for the musical was one of the shortest he’d been a part of, which challenged the whole crew. The cast spent one weekend learning all of the choreography, and then a week on music. Marsh sung twice and was in two numbers. But, he felt the ensemble put in much more work. “They’re the real MVPs of this thing,” said Marsh.

Once the cast began normal rehearsals, Marsh said they were encouraged to put their all into every rehearsal, which was difficult when they had barely figured out how to play their characters. Marsh didn’t learn his lines completely until the technical rehearsals and struggled to grasp how to become the Colonel.

Photo provided by Alexis Landry

“In those final rehearsals, characters finally began to form, and I remember watching Hendrix fully become Higgins on stage,” said Marsh. “It took so long for all of us, but on that particular night, I clearly remember the trio of Higgins, Eliza and Pickering having ‘click’ moments where our characters were born.”

Freshman Jasmine Smith, whose roommate played Eliza, recognizes the hard work that the performers put into the production on such short notice. “All of the actors amazed me, including the ensemble,” said Smith. She went on to say that the musical, from the acting to the music and set design, was entertaining and professional.

“My Fair Lady” was the final production for seniors Teagan Hughes, Austin Marsh, Isaac Hendrix and Rebekah Runner.

Samantha Burgess is a junior majoring in communication with an emphasis in digital media and is a managing editor for the Triangle. Her writing interests include profiles and feature articles. Burgess can often be found curled up with a good book, writing, listening to music or watching TV.