Goldstar Member Tips

• Goldstar Member on Where to Park
  We took BART to Montgomery Station, then enjoyed a short walk.
• Goldstar Member on What to Wear
  We dressed casually, as did many in the audience.

18 Goldstar Member Reviews

Rodney A.

The show needs more energy. They need an actor who can make the role of Higgins his own, not do an impression of Rex Harrison. Every Higgings I've ever seen is always doing Rex.

Written on Aug 17 2009

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Mark Freeman

Never saw the play before, only the film, and was looking forward to seeing Geoff Hoyle, a brilliant clown. Unfortunately, his hijinks were out of place, and the place itself was prosaic. The Henry Higgins could not project his songs or his personality. The Eliza was good, but not until the 2nd act did she have any personality. And the first act was bloody two hours long. I should mention that I slept through long portions of it, so I may have missed something brilliant. Maybe.

Written on Aug 17 2009

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Leslie

Overall, we enjoyed this production very much. Great orchestra. Acting and singing were wonderful. Choreography was good for group numbers but was lacking a bit on solos and smaller group numbers. The sets and costumes were at the professional level. However, the sound was disappointing--- it was difficult to hear song lyrics and dialogue at times, but luckily it was not bad enough to ruin this otherwise great production. It was opening night so perhaps they will make adjustments for future performances.
We had balcony seats (side section and almost the last row) and we could see the stage just fine. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a balcony seat at this theater again. This show was definitely worth the Goldstar price!

Written on Aug 17 2009

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Natasha

Good music, costumes and most performers. Geoffrey Hoyle was the best one of the bunch, very animated and entertaining, just what the part called for. Some of the singing though was sub-par. We were surprised because we have seen many Lamplight shows and were always so impressed with the professionalism of the group. But maybe this just wasn't their forte.

Written on Aug 19 2009

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More Information About My Fair Lady

Description

A delightful blend of intellect, wit, rhythm, and high spirits, My Fair Lady was a raving success from the moment it opened on March 15, 1956. Greats such as Noël Coward, Cole Porter, and Rodgers & Hammerstein had all turned down the opportunity to transform George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion to musical form on the grounds that Shaw's play was too perfect to tamper with. When Lerner & Loewe finally accepted the challenge they began in 1952 and worked on it for six months before giving it up as impossible - the play violated several key rules for constructing a musical: the main story was not a love story, there was no subplot or secondary love story, and there was no place for an ensemble.  But in 1954 they took another go at it, and this time stuck with it until completion. And oh, what a show it was!  

The Lamplighters' production of My Fair Lady features Sharon Rietkerk as Eliza, Tom Reardon as Higgins, and special guest Geoff Hoyle as Alfred Doolittle.

Professor Higgins - a brilliant, crotchety expert in phonetics - bets his house guest, fellow linguist Colonel Pickering, that he can turn Eliza Doolittle, a cockney flower girl with a horrendous accent, into a refined lady in 6 months, simply by teaching her to speak properly (Why Can’t the English?)  Eliza, who wishes to better herself (Wouldn’t It Be Loverly), moves in and begins her difficult tutoring. Her good-for-nothing father, Alfred (With a Little Bit of Luck), finds out that she is living in Higgins’ house and shows up looking for a hand-out.  Higgins, fascinated by Alfred’s earthy philosophy, gladly obliges.

The grueling training in speech continues, and with Higgins viewing Eliza not as a person, but rather as raw material on which to experiment (I’m an Ordinary Man); she soon begins to dream of different ways in which he might meet an untimely demise (Just You Wait). Progress is slow (The Servants Chorus) but - just as they are about to give up - Eliza has a burst of eloquence and they realize she has broken through (The Rain in Spain, I Could Have Danced All Night).   

Next, Higgins decides to test Eliza’s progress by taking her to Ascot (Ascot Gavotte) - a leading racecourse associated with the British Royal Family due to its close proximity to Windsor Castle.  Instructed to stick to the topics of the weather and everyone’s health, Eliza impresses the upper-crust crowd with her polite manners and eloquence but shocks with her cockney attitude and slang.  She does, however, win the heart of Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a fatuous young aristocrat who falls head-over-heels for her (On The Street Where You Live).  

After more unending hours of coaching, the final test is the night of the Embassy Ball (Embassy Waltz). Exquisitely attired, and in every sense the well-groomed lady, Eliza carries herself with the utmost poise, and even Higgins has to admit she is more beautiful than he could have imagined.  At the ball the triumph becomes complete as the guests, including rival linguist, Zoltan Karpathy, are convinced she is a Hungarian princess. 

Back home everyone praises Higgins for his success and he basks, self-satisfied in his achievement (You Did It).  Eliza, angry that she is not being given credit for her part in the success (Just You Wait reprise), runs out of the house and into Freddy’s arms (On The Street Where You Live reprise). He begins to tell her how much he loves her, but she cuts him off saying she has heard enough words; if he really loves her, he must show it (Show Me).  They return to the flower market of her upbringing where nobody recognizes her, including her father, who is drunk and dressed to the nines.  When he does finally realize who she is Doolittle confesses that, during her training, Higgins had referred all his speaking engagements to him, and now that he is a wealthy and respectable man he is forced to marry Eliza’s “stepmother”, the woman he has been living with for many years (Get Me To The Church On Time).  

Higgins is disturbed that Eliza has run off and, concluding that men (especially himself) are far superior to women (A Hymn to Him), he ventures to seek advice from his mother - only to find Eliza there seeking warmth and sympathy.  Again, they exchange words and Eliza runs out threatening to marry Freddy, declaring that she was foolish to think that she needed Higgins (Without You).  Mrs. Higgins imparts some advice about love and women and for once Higgins is inclined to listen.  He returns home, cursing Eliza’s ingratitude, but, admitting that he is lonely (I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face), plays some early recordings of her voice to cheer himself up.  Suddenly the voice is live; Eliza has returned.

About the Ticket Supplier: Lamplighters

Lamplighters Music Theatre is one of the oldest continuously performing theatres in the Bay Area, and the only year-round musical theatre company in San Francisco. Since the company's founding in 1952, they have produced the entire Gilbert and Sullivan canon as well as other light opera and musical theatre classics.