Two return in production of ‘Fair Lady’

ELLSWORTH – He did it in 1994. Then again in 2002. And now, he’s back this spring in the third local production in fewer than 10 years of George Bernard Shaw’s story about a high-strung professor who shapes a flower girl from the street into a lady fit for a ball.

Who?

Take your pick of actor Steve Robbins or director Ken Stack, both of whom can’t seem to get their fill – lucky for us – of Shaw’s stage play “Pygmalion” or the 1956 Lerner and Loewe hit “My Fair Lady.” For the community production of the musical version, running through next weekend at The Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth, Robbins friskily reprises the role of Alfred Doolittle, and Stack makes a triumphant return as director and ever-clever set designer.

Pretty soon, we won’t be able to picture anyone else in either of these fine-tuned positions.

Douglas Meswarb, in his second recent performance as Henry Higgins, is swiftly joining ranks with his fellow theater cronies. Last summer, he created the fusty professor for Acadia Repertory Company production of “Pygmalion” (director: Stack; Doolittle: Robbins). He returns this time to sing the role and to offer a light-spirited but no less effective Higgins.

You might think that all this would add up to a hackneyed, tired production. Nothing could be further from the truth. You’ll find the cast – including Jennifer Stanton Smith as Eliza, Peter Carriveau as Pickering, and Missy Babineau as Mrs. Pearce – entirely energized and energizing. You may be so entertained with the story that the actors deliver so delightfully, you might not even notice a few lines getting lost in the uneven miking, a note slightly beyond the vocal grasp of a singer, or that nearly all of designer Anne Bahr’s costumes – perfectly lovely in their own right – are unflattering to the women.

It may even slip your notice that the show clocks in at more than three hours. Partially, the responsibility for that falls to the baton of music director Jason Wilkes, who takes the first hour of the show at a sluggish pace. And partially that’s Ken Stack the purist, who would rather trim his arm than trim a scene. But the fun picks up in the middle of the first half and you’re likely to find yourself whistling your way out of the theater and into the next day.

The central core of this cast – Meswarb, Carriveau, Robbins, Babineau and Smith – embody their roles with such certainty that they do much to bring the rest of the cast to a high level. It’s a testament to the importance of excellent primary casting. The quiet star of the show, however, is onstage far too little. Ben Layman, as Freddy, is the darling of the cast, with a melting tenor and congenial presence. You know he’s going to lose the girl but you root for him nevertheless.

By the way, Shaw wanted Higgins to lose the girl, too, but Lerner and Loewe knew the musical would flop if Higgins and Eliza did not end up together. Stack, in another brush stroke of carefulness, tips his hat to Shaw by not allowing the two leads as much as a peck on the cheek in the last scene. They’re more of a team than a couple. Clearly, they won’t ever have to worry about getting to the church on time.

“My Fair Lady” will be performed April 10-13 at The Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth. For more information and tickets, call 667-9500.