Proctors ‘My Fair Lady’ actor brings empathy to role of Eliza
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. » In today’s world of theater the new hero is the understudy or standby.
That talented actor who, at the last minute, is called to replace the star of the show. It’s not unusual for that performer to win the hearts of the audience because of talent and the sheer courage of facing an audience who paid to see someone else.
Often many of those understudies go on to greater fame than the actor they replaced. A classic example is Shirley MacLaine who was “discovered” when she took the stage as an understudy in “Pajama Game,” performing the lead role when Carol Haney injured her ankle.
There’s a similar feelgood story about the production of “My Fair Lady” that plays Proctors next Tuesday to Sunday.
The lead is Shereen Ahmed who plays Eliza Doolittle in the national tour. Actually, to understand the trajectory of Ahmed’s career, it’s important to point out the full title of the show on tour is “The Lincoln Center Theater Production of Lerner & Lowe’s My Fair Lady.” It opened in 2018 and was praised for its performances, its spectacular set and lavish costumes. Artistically, Bartlett Sher’s direction was lauded for shaping a more feisty Eliza.
Ahmed was in the ensemble when the show opened. Eventually she became Eliza’s understudy performing the role on a regular basis for more than a year. Now she is the lead in the national tour.
In fact, in a recent telephone interview, Ahmed revealed that the Lerner and Lowe estate, several investors and part of the creative team secretly came to see her perform before offering her the role.
Ahmed says she didn’t know for months afterwards that she auditioned for the role without knowing she auditioned.
It’s a given that Ahmed is a terrific singer, a talented actress and a poised performer. But she brings something else to the role of a poor flower girl who becomes the image of a sophisticated woman.
That something else is empathy. Ahmed is the first Egyptian-American to play the role of Eliza. Being raised by immigrant parents taught her what it feels like to be overlooked and even dismissed in a culture different from your own. Perhaps even more important, it taught her the problems of living in two cultures simultaneously. “I know what it feels like not to understand where you fit.”
As for her ethnicity, she jokes that when people hear that this production takes a slightly different take on Eliza and it’s being played by someone with an Arab heritage they tend to think it’s going to be a play about immigration.
She laughs as she reassures, “No, it’s the same ‘My Fair Lady’ that everyone loves.” She adds, “I might be prejudiced, but I think it’s the best musical ever written.”
It is not only her cultural background that offers her an empathetic view of the musical based on class differences. Ahmad holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Towson University. After graduation she had a job with the New York Prison system interviewing prisoners and recording their biographies from birth to incarceration.
She says, “To play the role you can’t forget what Eliza would have become if Henry Higgins didn’t train her and give her the tools to fit into society. Working in the prison system I met so many people who lived in that gray area of life where your environment dictates your choices. It taught me compassion for those who never had the possibility to be who they could be. I bring a lot of that empathy for all those people to my performance.”
Shereen Ahmed sings dances and acts. She has a career in the arts. At 28, she is playing the lead in a very expensive touring musical. In her personal life she has a passion for mental health issues and an understanding of feeling like a foreigner in her own country. I suspect she now knows where she fits — everywhere.
“My Fair Lady” plays at Proctors in Schenectady Tuesday through May 22. For tickets and schedule information go to proctors.org or call (518) 3466204.