Players enjoy reign in Spain
The Jávea Players enjoyed a road trip to Rojales with hit musical My Fair Lady and enjoyed the applause of a new audience appreciating the rags to riches story of flower girl Eliza Doolittle.
The Capitol Theatre holds 600; and while the ‘one night only’ performance was not a sell out like the week long run in Gata de Gorgos, there was a large audience laughing and clapping “in all the right places”.
There was also an opportunity for Javea Players’ chairman Tony Cabban to present a cheque for €1,000 to local MABS representative Ken Payne, to help the good work carried out by the cancer charity in the Torrevieja area.
Gillian Ashworth, press officer for the theatre group, said: “Most of the audience hadn’t heard of us, so it was rewarding that they appreciated our talent. Comments overheard included ‘super’, ‘fantastic show’, ‘amazing’. Cherry Cabban, our director, can be rightly proud of the show, cast and crew.
“The logistics of moving all the scenery, props, costumes, programmes and equipment all went remarkably smoothly. The ‘man with the van’ got it down there in the early morning and it the stage was struck immediately after the show so that he could drive home again. Most of us stayed the night”.
My Fair Lady in Rojales
A review by Suzanne Stokes The Javea Players brought their current production of My Fair Lady to Rojales Theatre on Saturday night – and what a treat it was.
Nothing amateur about this company – it was professional, top quality entertainment from first to last.
Because people tend to forget to say ‘well done’ to those they don’t see on stage, but upon whom everything depends, I will start by saying the production was excellent. A simple, but ingenious set, clever lighting, dazzling costumes and the sound quality in a large theatre worked very well. Direction by Cherry Caban, musical direction be Aileen Lightfoot and choreography by Graciela Kaplan brought the whole thing together. The musicians, Heather Butcher, Kirsty Glen and Paul Kears were excellent, and it was lovely to have live music for the show rather than recordings. The ensemble acting and singing by the maids, bystanders and crowds at Covent Garden was seamless. The show was produced by Tony Cabban.
And so to the cast. All of them deserve an accolade because they worked so well together. The production had humour, pathos, and an underlying message about the attitudes to class and to women in Victorian England. But of course it’s remembered for the wonderful music by Lerner and Loewe based on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. I’m sure Shaw would have been delighted to see his characters so beautifully brought to life.
Cath Reid-Martin as Eliza Doolittle was sublime. Professionally trained, she brought so much to the character, both in terms of acting and singing (what a voice!), moving from the flower girl with the hideous vowels to the confused young woman at the end, who could speak perfectly, but couldn’t work out what her new role in life might be.
Henry Higgins (Roger Brown) was equally brilliant as the phonetics expert who transforms Eliza from gutter snipe to a lady - trampling so badly on her feelings along the way. He had the character absolutely nailed – and the songs were SO difficult but he never a missed word.
Colonel Pickering wonderfully played by Robin Baxter, was a foil to the brash and thoughtless Higgins – a kinder, benevolent ‘gentleman’ – an observer and the voice of reason.
Alfred Doolittle, Eliza’s father was a delight. Played by Tony Sim, you had to love the scruffy individual – a Del Boy of his day, but with an honesty that eventually pays off when he comes into money – but then he doesn’t know what to do with it!
Alistair Wallace as the handsome but feckless Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Rosemary Brown as Mrs Pearce, Jane Dye as Mrs Higgins, Pauline McGough as Mrs Eynsford-Hill and Professor Zoltan Karpathy played by Mike Harvey all deserve great praise for completing the cast.
The Javea Players have been rehearsing the show for six months and it sold out in their local theatre. I’m sure they’re glad of a rest now, but we hope they’ll soon be back in Rojales!