The production of "My Fair Lady" that opens in Anchorage on Oct. 20 is not a bus-and-truck touring show. "This is being produced exclusively for the Anchorage Concert Association," said director Andrew Ferrara.
Ferrara was the executive director of last year's Anchorage staging of "Les Miserables," another ACA commission from California-based Plan-B Entertainment, which creates the show, hires and rehearses the performers and delivers the finished product.
There are advantages to such an arrangement, Ferrara said. "(ACA) can choose the title, what it looks like and when to bring it to Alaska," he said.
It also leaves key artistic decisions in the hands of the local sponsor and the Plan-B people. "We're really doing our own take on it," Ferrara said. "We took the flavor of the movie and expanded on it. The costumes are original, but suggested by the designs of the movie. When we go to the Ascot (the horse race scene), those black and white costumes are just beautiful."
Casting options are another plus, he said. "Our star, Maxwell Caulfield, is a little too young and a little too good looking to play the Professor Higgins role. Also, Maxwell can sing; Rex (Harrison, who debuted the role on Broadway in 1956) really couldn't. So he brings a different take to Higgins. It's still the same character, a man who's all about his mother, an eccentric bachelor who's very happy until he suddenly realizes that he's been missing out on things. Maxwell has his own way on how that is happening, a sweeter, gentler way."
"Being British is a great help," said Caulfield. "I don't have to use an accent."
Caulfield has had major theater roles from London to Broadway to Los Angeles in plays such as "The Elephant Man," "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" and "An Inspector Calls." He recently toured Australia in a production of the comedy "Legends!" with his wife, Juliet Mills, and her sister Haley Mills. He's been seen in television shows such as "Murder, She Wrote," "Castle" and "NCIS." His movie credits include "Gettysburg," in which he played Union officer Strong Vincent.
"I was in 'Grease II' opposite Michelle Pfeiffer. That's probably the thing I'm best known for," he said. "It's not as great as the first one, but over time it's proved to be a kind of cult film."
"My Fair Lady" will be his third production this year. He described Higgins as "sort of a benchmark role. His chauvinism, his arrogance, his bombast, these are not obviously appealing qualities. So you have to make him immanently watchable. He's also a brilliant man, which is a mitigating factor. And he does get an education himself by the end of the show."
Caulfield was more lenient in his opinion of Harrison than Ferrara. The role of Higgins does not demand a fine singing voice. "Most of his singing is patter songs, speaking on pitch. You have to maintain very good time and be enunciating from start to finish. In that regard, Harrison was actually very dexterous."
Caulfield's American career began with an acclaimed portrayal of a juvenile delinquent in "Class Enemy." "I wasn't too far off it myself at that time," he said.
Higgins, on the other hand, reflects the kind of classic leading man role that Caulfield said he has long aspired to play. "I'm just now coming into the right age for them," he said. "It helps to have been around the block. Over time you gain experience and discipline, which is not necessarily one of my strong suits." He's nearly the same age as Harrison was when he won an Oscar for his portrayal of Higgins in the 1964 movie version.
An important footnote: Plan-B will be back in April with another made-to-order show for ACA, the Anchorage premiere of the Broadway musical "Peter Pan."
"One of the good things about being a self-producing group like ACA is that it opens the doors for so many other shows," Ferrara said.
My Fair Lady
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 20-25
Where: Atwood Concert Hall, Alaska Center for the Performing Arts
Tickets: $54.75-$96 at centertix.net