Poole & Parkstone Productions [P&P Productions] 
Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre For The Arts, Poole
Andrea Pellegrini 
22 May 2025
What an absolute delight this production of My Fair Lady was from start to finish!
The rags to riches story of Eliza Dolittle, the young flower seller who is “pulled out of the gutter” and turned into a lady by Professor Henry Higgins. Made famous in the movie of the same name by Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.
Having seen My Fair Lady in the West End many years ago and it being one of my favourites, I had high expectations and boy, it did not disappoint! This production was not amateur by any means!
The show starts with some wonderful facts and pictures projected onto a backdrop of London back in the 1900s which sets the scene and mood perfectly before the curtain arises onto Eliza in Covent Garden.
Congratulations to the Director and Choreographer Claire Camble-Hutchins for bringing this adaptation of My Fair Lady to life and providing us, the audience, with such a colourful and visually exciting extravaganza. The dances and choreography were very well executed by the whole chorus with not a weak link among them. They obviously put hours and hours of practice in, and it showed!
Chris McDouall the Musical Director should be so proud of the whole cast for their wonderful vocals and harmonies on every single number! And what a delight to have a live Orchestra in the house! They were splendid!
All the main cast were fantastic their roles. I loved the portrayal of Alfred Dolittle by Adrian Lane, his number ‘With A Little Bit Of Luck’ was one of my favourites.
Mrs Pearce played by Catherine Attridge was perfect, I loved her practical but warm portrayal.
Colonel Pickering played by Ian Metcalfe was a delight to watch and great vocals to boot! He played this loveable character perfectly; I wanted to take him home and have a Pickering of my own!
Jamie and Harry – Lewis Baines and Luke Earl – were very enjoyable to watch in their scenes with Dolittle and in the ensemble.
Trae Walsh played the hapless Freddy perfectly and what terrific vocals in ‘On The Streets Where You Live’.
And now we come to the stars of the show, husband and wife Leonie Beck – Eliza Dolittle – and Alexander Beck – Henry Higgins.
From the moment she appeared on stage and opened her mouth I was hooked! Leonie was just excellent as Eliza, her facial expressions, her mannerisms, going from the girl from the gutter to a princess were just perfection. Her vocal range was stunning – what a voice! I really enjoyed her performance; she really lights up the stage and has that definite star quality!
What a performance from Alexander as Professor Higgins, so enjoyable, endearing and so very funny! Alexander captured the essence of Higgins perfectly, kind of pompous but you love him anyway!
Well done to all the cast and crew for an utterly fantastic show, the sets were fabulous as were the costumes – my favourites were the Ascot scene costumes, just gorgeous!
There was a full house this evening, so I’m not sure if there are any tickets left – but if there are, I would urge you to snap them up and get down to the Lighthouse pronto! If you love musicals, you will absolutely love this and not be disappointed!
The show run finishes on Saturday 24 May.
