A Singer’s Notes by Keith Kibler, 11: New Year’s Blessings and my Favorites from ‘09

Kara Cornell as Carmen

The holidays are over in my rural kingdom of music and art, and there were some blessed nights. I enjoyed particularly a cogent and real My Fair Lady

 played at the Capital Rep. This was a show that seemed like it belonged in the same universe with George Bernard Shaw. The speaking in particular was entirely believable. The Professor Higgins (Fred Rose) did not ingratiate. He wasn't charming. He had all the negative aspects of the character connected with a vocal honesty that made us wonder what Eliza could possibly see in him. I felt the tension I think the creators intended. A tough, harsh character who sings. He was in every way the best performer of this part I have seen. The Eliza (Allison Spratt) did not flounce. She didn't overdo the Cockney. One of my favorite moments, since this was a production in which the actors occasionally played their own accompaniment, was seeing Eliza standing between two upright pianos, upstage, while the men were taking credit for her success at the Embassy Ball. She looked lonely, distressed, torn, small. She also suggested, with creative risk, her growing affection for that bounder Higgins. She did this in a way that did not make sense, but still convinced, as love often does. The singing in this show was functional, and I mean that in the best sense of the word. It moved the drama forward, and it had beauty. The pace was refreshingly relaxed. Nobody was trying to sell it. It was fine.
 in the Berkshire Review for the Arts.