PATRICK MARMION theatre review: This fizzing Fair Lady is LOVERLY

My Fair Lady (Curve Theatre, Leicester)

Verdict: Get me to the Curve on time!

The ghosts of Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 film will forever stalk the Lerner and Loewe musical My Fair Lady. So, it always takes something extra special to escape their shadow — and that is exactly what Nikolai Foster’s fizzy, gutsy and festive new production does in Leicester.

The film was pretty much built around Harrison, after Julie Andrews and he starred in the stage show on Broadway and in the West End. For him, at least, it was a Technicolor bespoke suit made from celluloid, in which he had many more songs than his stern character and rigid voice really warranted.

Foster, though, comes at the whole enterprise with a completely fresh eye and gives the show delightful new life.

For starters, in David Seadon-Young, they have a much younger, irascible phonetician, Henry Higgins. He’s less of an old duffer, and more of a nervy control freak, with the discomfiting habit of peering at people to classify them.

And as Covent Garden flower girl Eliza Doolittle, who Higgins attempts to pᴀss off as a duchess for a bet, Molly Lynch gives the show terrific emotional wallop. A girl next door we can all identify with, she wears ’er ’eart on ’er sleeve, and puts ’er soul into every note she sings. What I also loved about her was her wariness — and astonishment at everyone around her: from the maniacal Higgins to her own, proudly dissolute dad Alfred (Steve Furst), to her besotted posh suitor Freddy (Djavan Van De Fliert).

Seadon-Young, meanwhile, bristles with anxious frustration in his songs, complaining about ‘the English’ — and, of course, why women can’t be more like men. And while he drives the action with his febrile energy, Lynch melts our hearts with her dreamy numbers, including Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?

On top of all that, she brings an independent spirit that’s both warm and prickly, startling Higgins with her street-wise defiance.

As her rowdy old man, Furst leads two terrific Cockney knees-ups, in the crowd-pleasing With A Little Bit Of Luck and Get Me To The Church On Time. And he’s never less than a hearty piece of rough trade, doggedly resistant to the onset of middle-class morality when he unexpectedly inherits a small fortune.

The ghosts of Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 film will forever stalk the Lerner and Loewe musical My Fair Lady, writes Patrick Marmion

The film was pretty much built around Harrison, after Julie Andrews and he starred in the stage show on Broadway and in the West End, writes Patrick Marmion

Michael TAYLOR’S set and costumes make a terrific spectacle filling the Curve’s vast stage as we alternate between Covent Garden’s monumental pillars and the interior of Higgins’s Wimpole Street house. And that house is an unusually chaotic curiosity — a lair filled with bric-a-brac, more bohemian than bourgeois, with irregular staircases and a hoarder’s clutter of pictures and Post-it notes.

In contrast to Harrison’s fastidious grooming, this Henry is more deshabillé, serving everyone champagne in tooth mugs when he wins his bet that Eliza will be the belle of the society ball.

And his friendship with Minal Patel, as an Indian Colonel Pickering, not only adds a cosmopolitan angle, it allows Pickering to parade around in a fine set of Eastern silks. There is also a subtle suggestion of a ‘special’ homo-erotic frisson in the relationship between Pickering and Higgins.

But that specialness is never over-played, in a show that refreshes the parts other productions don’t always reach.

And was I just imagining it, or did the orchestra seem to give the gorgeous score a jazzier swing? Either way, I’m getting tickets in the morning… so get me to the Curve on time!

■ Until January 4.

A perky pair of pop-filled pantos with a twist

Napoleon: Un Peтιт Pantomime (Jermyn Street Theatre, London)

Verdict: French fancy

This delightfully daft caper (written and directed by John Savournin) tells a story about Napoleon Bonaparte (played by Matthew Kellett) that has only the barest acquaintance with historical accuracy.

Le plot? Well, with the help of the ghost of Marie Antoinette (Rosie Strobel), Boney’s trying to steal a precious jewel from George III (Elliot Broadfoot), who in turn is trying to prove he’s not mad.

In truth, this show is a musical comedy, with some audience participation and a rather half-hearted attempt at call and response to justify the word ‘pantomime’ in the тιтle, writes Patrick Marmion

The King’s daughter Georgiana (Amy J. Payne) and the Duke of Wellington (Jennie Jacobs) come to the rescue in a mad adventure involving disguises, the severed hand of Lord Nelson and a vault underneath a public loo in London.

In truth, this show is a musical comedy, with some audience participation and a rather half-hearted attempt at call and response to justify the word ‘pantomime’ in the тιтle. But it’s no less fun for that, with its high gag count.

Lucy Fowler’s design makes great use of the tiny space, while David Eaton’s clever reworking of pop songs adds to the fun, and the singing by the talented cast is top-notch.

Aladdin (Lyric Hammersmith, London)

Verdict: Poppy fun

The Lyric has a reputation for reworking pantos with a local twist, and this year’s — written by Sonia Jalaly and directed by Nicholai La Barrie — is no exception. It’s set in Shepherd’s Bush Market, where Widow Twerkey has a laundry — and her son Aladdin meets Princess Jasmine (Aleyna Mohanraj), escaping from her castle to see what real life is like.

With a reworked storyline (Abanazaar, for instance, is Jasmine’s wicked stepfather), traditional panto it ain’t. It’s more a musical drama, with opportunities for the audience to sing along to tunes by Olivia Rodrigo and Cardi B.

Andre Antonio as Aladdin is a strong lead, Andrew Pepper is a suitably horrible Abanazaar, while Emmanuel Akwafo sashays nicely as Widow Twerkey.

The Dame’s frocks (costume and set design by Good Teeth) are a highlight, with her first outfit — a fluffy white mᴀss to suggest soap suds, with two washing machine doors on her derriere — particularly fetching.

The script doesn’t sparkle but the music, under the direction of Adam Gerber, does.

■ Until January 5.

Veronica Lee

Ring in the season with two circus spectaculars

La Clique (Leicester Square Spiegeltent, London)

Verdict: Be a part of it

Thursford Christmas Spectacular 2024 (Thursford, Norfolk)

Verdict: All the trimmings

Christmas in London is an intense affair. At least it is with La Clique, an unpredictable cabaret born at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004 and now performing a festive run for their 20th anniversary at Leicester Square’s Spiegeltent.

Inside this magical little pop-up theatre the bustle of the square drops away, replaced by the thrum of circus music. A 90-minute rollercoaster of a show takes off from there, with everything from skating acrobatics to flaming-ladder climbing to readings from erotic fiction — you can never be sure where or how far La Clique will go.

Evolving out of a steam engine museum and first staged in 1977, it’s a variety musical extravaganza inside a converted barn with a cast of 130, hosted by comedian Lloyd Hollett

It’s cheeky, it’s glamorous and it’s funny but, above all, it feels dangerous — if you’re in the front row, there’s very little between you and those flames. This is Christmas with a wink, delivered like a sH๏τ of spirits from an exciting stranger.

Christmas in the country is a different proposition. In Norfolk, nestled near the village of Little Snoring, lies the Thursford Christmas Spectacular. Evolving out of a steam engine museum and first staged in 1977, it’s a variety musical extravaganza inside a converted barn with a cast of 130, hosted by comedian Lloyd Hollett.

There’s no danger here — aside from the mountain bikes in the aisles during one act. Instead, there is an invitation to leave your troubles at the door. The West End-style show spreads over three hours, with a first half that includes Christmas music, comedy and bike stunts. The second goes straight for the Christmas jugular, with the 32-piece orchestra on stage for a dazzling song-and-dance blend of carols and hits from musicals.

Outside, festive activities continue the illusion it’s Christmas Eve; you may want a festive playlist handy to extend that feeling beyond the car park.

■ La Clique runs until January 5; Thursford Christmas Spectacular until December 23.

Robin Wiggs