Theater Review : Lightness Overshadows Depth of ‘Pygmalion’

Fury, thy name was George Bernard Shaw when even the idea of “Pygmalion” as a musical came up. “I absolutely forbid any such outrage,” he wrote of the proposed blasphemy, noting that his play already was lush with “its own verbal music.”

Shaw’s protests eventually were drowned out and, as everybody knows, “Pygmalion” did become a musical, and a very good and popular one at that. Indeed, most people probably know of phonetics professor Henry Higgins and that “squashed cabbage” of a flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, from “My Fair Lady” and not from “Pygmalion.”

With that in mind, almost any production of Shaw’s play is welcome, especially in Orange County, where “Pygmalion” stagings are as rare as a balanced budget. Saddleback College has mounted a nice-looking, rather lighthearted version; it feels inspired as much by the musical’s breeziness as by the play’s more pointed concerns.

Clearly, Shaw wasn’t out to create a somber, slouching provocateur with “Pygmalion,” but his forward-thinking ideas--about the nature of men and women, how they relate to each other and how society views them--were supposed to be firmly linked to the entertainment. The brainy qualities are there in director Lynn Wells’ version, but you have to look hard to find them.

The pluses in this production are the mostly capable performances by David Martin as Higgins and Kim Helms as Eliza.

Helms, who alternates with Courtney McColl, played Eliza on opening night and infused her with the squawking spunk this gutter-wise heroine requires. She had trouble conveying the depth of Eliza’s compulsion to improve herself and the romantic confusion that arises when she considers Higgins. Helms is best at eliciting sympathy for this true underdog of a character. Eliza is a fighter, and that comes across.

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Martin is more layered as Higgins. When he bellows that Eliza is “deliciously low, horribly dirty,” he clearly has reduced her to an object, the focus of his experiment, to see if he can mold someone in his own image. This Higgins is thoroughly self-assured as a scientist, but Martin also communicates the character’s doubts about the bigger question--of whether he’s a decent person.

In key supporting roles, the performance level slips. With his comical Dr. Watson British accent, Paul A. Del Pizzo’s Col. Pickering is just a caricature. He should be more than a blustery foil or sidekick. And Richard Cast as Eliza’s father, Alfred, is even more disappointing. Shaw gave Alfred some fine lines; Cast clownishly milks the good humor right out of them.

* “Pygmalion,” McKinney Theatre, Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. Ends Sunday. $7 and $8. (714) 582-4656. Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes.

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David Martin: Henry Higgins

Kim Helms, alternating with Courtney McColl: Eliza Doolittle

Paul A. Del Pizzo: Col. Pickering

Teri Ciranna: Mrs. Higgins

Richard Cast: Alfred Doolittle

Barbara Hollis: Mrs. Eynsford-Hill

Christina Lovejoy: Clara Eynsford-Hill

Joshua L. Kroll: Freddy Eynsford-Hill

Latife Warshawsky: Mrs. Pearce

A Saddleback College production of a play by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Lynn Wells. Set design: Walter B. Huntoon. Costumes: Charles M. Castagno. Lighting and sound: Kevin A. Cook.