STAGE REVIEW : Choreography, Relaxed Orchestra Make Downey ‘My Fair Lady’ Sing

Some musicals depend on brashness to work (“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”), some on sentiment (“Hello, Dolly”).

A few depend on style and elegance. Lerner and Loewe’s “My Fair Lady” is one of those. Downey Civic Light Opera’s production of the classic musical adaptation of G.B. Shaw’s “Pygmalion” generally has elegance and finds some high style in most of the lead performances.

A big chunk of the style is provided by musical director Warren Marsh. He gets out of his orchestra a “Broadway pit band” sound with clarity of musical lines, a brilliance of tone and a relaxed feel even in the most up-tempo numbers. It’s a sound not easy to find outside Times Square. And the orchestra is not amplified, which fortifies its stylishness.

Marsh’s baton also gives a buoyant lift to Lee Martino’s excellent choreography. More use of movement in the Ascot scenes would give them added spark, but when Martino gets her dancers going elsewhere, their elan is refreshing.

Director Gary Gordon’s staging is also stylish, even in the Covent Garden scenes, visually appealing and true to the work. He allows some terribly slow tempos in the non-musical scenes. Moments that should be soft and romantic are often indistinguishable from those that should crackle and pop.

The chemistry in the pairing of Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle is very much in balance. The story of the phonetics professor who accepts a bet to pass a Cockney flower vendor off as a lady in 1910 London society is nicely captured in the casting of the two leads.

Jonathan Wood approaches the professor with a rewarding sense of humor that takes a lot of the sting out of his misogyny. He’s charming, and the rich timbre of his voice suits the “talking-on-pitch” lyrics that Lerner provided.

As Eliza, Tracey Williams has a tendency, in the opening scene, to equate a tightly clamped mouth turned down at the corners with the look of a Cockney street girl, but she drops that erroneous conceit shortly and becomes an Eliza of inner strength and beauty, and her fine soprano voice is as Broadway as the orchestra.

Paul Roberts’ lively Pickering and Fred Derbyshire’s bubbling Doolittle also stand out, particularly Derbyshire’s authentic music-hall leer and stilted walk in his numbers. He has none of the harshness most Doolittles have, and his bouncy lightness is a welcome touch. Margaret Price has just the right graciousness as Mrs. Higgins, but often falls too easily into Gordon’s slow tempos in her scenes.

Also of note is Jerry Eiting’s effervescence as Eliza’s ridiculous suitor Freddy, with a bright tenor voice and no embarrassment at looking as silly as high tenors sometimes do when waxing romantic. Ingrid Nuernberg seems a bit young for Higgins’ housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, but compensates with a sure sense of composure and just a hint of disdain at the carryings-on of her employer, and Bob May and Christopher Sanders are just fine as Doolittle’s Bow Street cronies.

The “Cockney quartet” (David Gillich, Bryan Leder, Dean Hollis and Brandon Irwin) have a unique, sweet blend, and it’s a shame they have so few spots to show it off.

The sets (from Cypress College and Eugene Festival of Musical Theatre) and costumes (San Jose Civic Light Opera) work well, especially for the very large cast of singers, dancers and ensemble members who need all the room they get to give free rein to their enthusiasm.