- Byron Taylor
- “My Fair Lady” runs through Aug. 13 at The Weekend Theater.
‘My Fair Lady’
July 22, Weekend Theater
“My Fair Lady” is an old-fashioned Broadway musical that, by all rights, must be a devilish work to stage. It has accents! It has costumes! It has complicated set changes (from a horse track to a fancy ball to a book-filled flat)!
The fact that The Weekend Theater, the seemingly indefatigable troupe of volunteers, is putting “My Fair Lady” on stage — and in July no less — is a testament to how deeply the group loves theater. There are probably few theaters in country — professional or otherwise — who do what this company does, both in the diversity of works selected and number of shows done in a year. It is easy to take The Weekend Theater for granted.
What The Weekend Theater’s “My Fair Lady” lacks in professional polish, it makes up for in energy. The production, directed by Allison Pace, is blessed with a striking performance of Eliza Doolittle by Memory Apata, a junior at UALR. But it would seem that the true star here can be found off stage, in the person of musical director Lori Isner, who seems to pull out wonderful vocal performances from practically the entire cast. This being The Weekend Theater, the orchestra consists of a piano and a few other instruments, but you won’t leave this production feeling you’ve been cheated out of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s melodically rich score.