THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 25, 1995 TAG: 9511250264
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EDENTON LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
``My Fair Lady'' was on Broadway for 2,717 performances. It will be at the Swain Auditorium for two performances - so act fast.
The reason for the abbreviated presentation is simple economics.
``Royalties are so high. Two nights cost us about $1,500,'' said John Becker.
He should know. He is a professor: Professor Henry Higgins, the diction freak who decides to transform a cockney lass into a lady - a fair one.
The far-more-than-fair production will be presented Friday and Saturday at Swain Auditorium, a co-production of the Edenton Little Theatre and the Chowan Arts Council.
``This is the most ambitious project the Edenton Little Theatre has taken on in its entire history,'' said producer Joe Conger.
It is a project that lured Ross Inglis from a 20-year retirement, after many active years with the theater.
``It bought me out because it's an accurate reflection of George Bernard Shaw's view of life,'' he said. ``I'm crazy about Shaw.''
The musical is an adaptation of that esteemed British playwright's ``Pygmalion.''
Both Inglis and Becker come from areas near London.
Becker is an old ``My Fair Lady'' hand, having put himself in Higgins' shoes 20 years ago at College of the Albemarle, during a production in Plymouth, and another in Middleburg, Va.
He is also an experienced Noel Coward performer. ``Blithe Spirit three times,'' he said.
On the other hand, his co-star, Ann Dale, has minimal experience.
An Edenton resident who home-schools her two children, Dale thanks her husband, Worth, for rehearsal tolerance.
``My Fair Lady'' is a lengthy, demanding play.
It is the first play in 13 years for Dale, who portrays lovable Eliza Doolittle.
``I always thought My Fair Lady was so funny and so much fun to do,'' she said, ``but I tried out because Ross is directing, Rosalind MacEnulty is music director, Joe Conger is producing and Wanda Rossman is doing the choreography.''
She is working closely with all of them, paying particular attention to Rossman ``because this is my first time dancing onstage.''
On that Swain stage the Cockney accents fly thick and fast in front of a set created and painted by Becker and his wife, Carol.
He explains the reasons for his involvement with the Lerner-Loewe musical.
``It's a very interesting show,'' Becker said, ``and it weathers well.''
The Broadway-Hollywood smash features such songs as ``Get Me To the Church On Time,'' ``I Could Have Danced All Night'' and ``On the Street Where You Live.'' by CNB