At about the time Jesus of Nasareth walked the earth, the Roman poet Ovid wrote of the mythopoeic sculptor Pygmalion, who carved a virginal heroine out of ivory, and--in the process--fell in love with his beautiful statue. He pleads to the gods for her to come to life, and Cupid answers the call. Approximately 1912 years later, Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw wrote Pygmalion: A Romance In Five Acts. That story was considered by many Broadway producers before Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe wrote the book and music for My Fair Lady in 1956, a show that proceeded to have the longest Broadway run in history, and which was lauded by at least one critic as "The Perfect Musical." The show opens as the spring musical tonight at 7:00 in the Norris Family Theater.

 

On a street corner, a flower girl is monitored for her local "Cockney" style by a professor of phonetics, Henry Higgins, who simultaneous meets a noted linguist, Colonel Pickering. Higgins and Pickering negotiate a wager: Higgins claims he can pass off Eliza Doolittle as a proper lady in high society, despite her current lower-class speaking syntax and accent.

 

"A" not "aye," "O" not "Ouw...."



The cast and crew pull off something very special in the Norris Family Theater Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00.  As Terry Stoecker observes, "Teenagers experiment with roles....Who am I? What behaviors advance my goals? This ancient story asks us to reflect on authenticity, on being true to oneself."

  

Once again, Proctor Theater has the legs to blend new talent with three and four-year veterans of the stage to pull off a triumphant production. When you see this show, you'll immediately appreciate the team effort involved: tech crew, costuming and a loving cast. 



Seating is reserved: email Alex Estin for seats.