SHE’S A POOR little flower seller, her thick Cockney accent endemic to the streets of early 20th century London where she was born. He’s an eminent professor of phonetics, of wealthy society-aware stock. She becomes the punt of a bet that he can make her into a lady in speech, manners and dress – the whole bang shoot. The rest is a tale that is redolent of all the great love stories on the stage and silver screen, from George Bernard Shaw’s 1914 Pygmalion to the 1990s film Pretty Woman, with romantic clichés and boy-meets-girl values trotted out impeccably throughout. In the hands of director Steven Stead and designer Greg King, Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady resounds with the fresh energy that it arguably had when it was first released in 1956, effectively taking musical theatre by its lapels, several notches higher. This production at Montecasino until 2 March 2025 is a winner of a show that is completely timeless.

But then there is the cast. With Craig Urbani and Graham Hopkins at the helm as Professor Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering respectively and 23-year-old newcomer Leah Mari between them as Eliza Doolittle, this is a recipe made in musical theatre heaven. But what is a full-scale musical without the shine applied to everything, even – or especially – the cameos? Sandi Dlangalala gives perfection to his moments as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, taking on the monstrous auditorium with a sense of persona, grace and conviction that will have you falling for him, even if you are sitting at the back.

Like Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, staged recently at this theatre complex, the character development is unapologetically what it should be. Urbani gives Prof Higgins the full treatment. He’s pukka English down to his sexism and bad manners. Of course they’re all two-dimensional stereotypes, but they’re the loveliest stereotypes you can imagine, which hit on every button of characterisation necessary: the kind of material that enabled this show, back in the 1950s to enjoy almost 3000 performances.

The work is funny and frisky, socially innocent and rich in sarcasm. With standards throughout its libretto that are so well known, they will have your mouth automatically mouthing the words and your feet dancing by themselves down the aisle. You will be hard-pressed to just watch, rather than be swept body and soul and vocal cords, away. Do it, for the sake of your fellow audience members and your own dignity.

And while there are moments that become gently soporific during the first half, more because of the overall sense of drab in the Edwardian costumes of the ensemble, than anything else, this is refreshed as the work unfolds with strong colour contrast, deliciously over-the-top costumes, and a repartee on the part of performers onstage and in the orchestra pit that keeps this big musical on its toes throughout.

Which brings one to the choreography. It’s perfect. In tandem with the story, the great history of this musical and its sum total, the choreography is spot on, tight and satisfying on the eye, ear and heart.  

The work has a set that with the flick of a handle it rotates to take you inside Professor Higgins’s house, outside to the streets or away to the context of high society London. In their wisdom, the designers responsible for this set have not given it a CGI sheen or one that smoothly hides the presence of the painter’s hand. It feels hand-made. In doing so, it richly adds to the tone of the work, and indeed, to the context of Montecasino itself.

You’ve read all the enthusiasm for this production all over social media. It’s not hype. This is the real thing. The industry will be hard-pressed to equal or top this work, this year – maybe this decade.

• My Fair Lady is based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. With books and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, it is directed by Steven Stead. It features creative input by Kevin Kraak (musical direction), Greg King (production design), Duane Alexander (choreography), Mark Malherbe (sound) Denis Hutchinson (lighting) and Neil Stuart Harris, Maritha Visagie and Andrew Botha (costumes). It is performed by Jason Atherton, Michiel Bester, Gemma Bisseker, Allen Chambers, Danie Conradie, Dean de Klerk, Sandi Dlangalala, Noa Duckitt, Sasha Duffy, Edrien Erasmus, Ryan Flynn, Angellica Hattingh, Graham Hopkins, Dylan Janse van Rensburg, Gabriella Knight, Milli Mangate, Leah Mari, Morgan Marshall, Siphesihle Mdena, Gareth Meijsen, Busisiwe Ngejane, Manyano Ngoma,  Adrienne Pearce, Kirsten Pienaar, Mark Richardson, Lusibalwethu Sesanti, Brittany Smith, Danielle Speckman, Megan Spencer, Micah Stojakovic, Kensiwe Tshabalala, Namhla Tshuka, Craig Urbani, Tjaart van der Walt, James van Helsdingen and Van Wyk Venter, at Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways until 2 March 2025.
• This review is premised on the production’s opening night performance which featured Leah Mari as Eliza.