My Fair Lady at Theater Latté Da Feels Fresh and New, While Still Retaining its Classic Charms

Usually, when it comes to a long runtime, I secretly wish they’d cut the overture. My thinking is, the show is already long enough, I don’t need a preview of every song I’m about to hear over the next three hours. But here, director Justin Lucero turns the overture into an unexpectedly delightful launchpad.

The entire score is played on two pianos, one musician dressed as an upper-class pianist (Joshua Burniece), the other as a working-class player (Wesley Frye). This establish one of the show’s key themes, class divide right at the top of the show. The playful interaction and energy between them makes the overture feel like a friendly dueling piano act. This was one overture I really enjoyed.

And that’s just the first of many smart choices Lucero makes to pull My Fair Lady into the 21st century. His direction doesn’t ignore the source material’s outdated gender dynamics but he doesn’t let them pass without commenting on them either. In subtle ways he works to undermine them and in doing so makes the show relevant to a modern audience. Perhaps if the producers of Purple Rain had enlisted the services of Lucero, they’d have cracked the code and their Broadway chances would seem more hopeful. The parallels between the two shows, especially in how we now view power, agency, and gender, are striking.

Without question, the heart, soul, and blazing force of this production is Anna Hashizume as Eliza Doolittle. She brings fire, dignity, and grounding to a character who has too often been framed as a fantasy version of compliant womanhood. Hashizume wants no part of that narrative. Her Eliza is sharp, funny, evolving and increasingly unwilling to accept the terms of her transformation.

She’s wonderfully comedic at Ascot, quietly heartbreaking when ignored after her triumph, and electrifying in the final scenes as she claims her autonomy. And, as always, her vocal work is stunning. This role showcases both her classical training and her musical theater skills.

Jon-Michael Reese’s Henry Higgins feels like The Kid from Purple Rain, but this time, the actor has the charisma and nuance to make the character compelling even when he’s insufferable. Reese finds humor and rhythm in Higgins’ arrogance, giving the score a fresh tone without softening who the character fundamentally is. His dynamic with Hashizume feels carefully calibrated, and the result is a very well matched pairing.

Stages of MN favorite, Tod Petersen, brings his inherent goodness, warmth, and perfect comedic timing to Colonel Pickering. His scenes with Norah Long (as Higgins’ mother) are a particular delight. Felix Aguilar Tomlinson rich voice delivers one of the night’s vocal highlights with a powerful performance of “On the Street Where You Live.”

Eli Sherlock’s set is wonderfully ingenious. It consists of two parts, a center column on which the dual pianos are situated with an outer ring that rotates around that stationary center. One side is Henry Higgins’ home with the other side standing in as various locations. Amber Brown’s costumes are exquisite, and when Hashizume appears at the top of the staircase ready to head to the embassy ball her costume takes the entire theater’s breathe away.

Also deserving of praise is the Choreography of Abby Magalee, her work on the song “Wouldn’t it be Loverly” being the standout. Which brings up one baffling thing, I wasn’t sure if I was just hearing it wrong or did they change it from Loverly to lovely? or were they just downplaying that “R”?

My Fair Lady runs through December 28, 2025 at Theater Latté Da in Northeast Minneapolis.
Tickets and info: https://www.latteda.org/my-fair-lady

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