Battle of the Sexes 'My Fair Lady' at the Orpheum

Sheeran Ahmed(Eliza) photography by Joan Marcus

If you’ve been waiting to see My Fair Lady since George Cukor’s film adaptation of the stage musical, then wait no longer.  The musical adaptation My Fair Lady, written by Alan Jay Lerner and directed by Bartlett Sher is playing at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis through March 8th.

The central story revolves around Professor Higgins, (Laird Mackintosh) who comes across a flower girl, Eliza( Shereen Ahmed) whose language is quite common. The professor holds that people are imprisoned by their speech--their class made evident when they open their mouth. Thus if one spoke better, they could fit amongst the higher class. He makes a bet with Colonel Bickering (Kevin Pariseau) that he could pass off Eliza as a duchess.

Michael Yeargan's creative set consists of a rotating house and various English municipal buildings and a pub that Eliza’s father frequents.  Professor Higgins takes Eliza to the Ascot Racecourse. It's complete silence except for the rush of horse hooves which is surprisingly powerful and although it might not be realistic as most horse races consists of yelling at respective horses and jockeys, it seems to work. Much of the cast is in pastels, the women in elaborate merry window hats and men in Edwardian fashion. Everyone moves together in an imaginative horse racing gaze and Eliza shocks everyone when she reverts to foul language. Amongst the damning things she says, "Walk! Not bloody likely, I’m going in a taxi." She captures the heart of Freddy (Sam Simahk) who sings On the Street Where You Live.

photo by Trin Carl

The pacing is moderately fast, but more time could have been spent on emotional scenes that revolve around Eliza’s tutelage under professor Higgins. The acting wasn't dynamic, and the characters had very little chemistry.  Although there were some fun innocent moments, the musical seemed to drag and the rotating scenery was not enough to keep the play in forward motion.

photography by Joan Marcus

Of the cast, Sheeran Ahmed was the standout for sure. Her singing was reminiscent of Rosina’s character from Barber of Seville, which I saw last year at the Ordway. Her commoner’s tongue is so funny it’s almost like a parrot had flown in to say ‘Argh, Polly wants a cracker.’


This adaptation of My Fair Lady offers us this depth of language–and humor and costumes and song after song–suggests why it’s worth reviving, in this moment or any other.