Sierra Rep plans loverly opening with ‘My Fair Lady’

When it comes to sure things on stage, musicals don’t come a much fairer bet than this one.

Because there’s no question it’ll be loverly. Or whether you could dance all night. Which is probably why Sierra Repertory Theatre has decided to open its 37th season with “My Fair Lady.”

The show, which opens Saturday, Feb. 27, will also mark the 300th production for the theater company. The Tony Award-winning musical debuted on Broadway in 1956 starring a then little-known actress named Julie Andrews and stage star Rex Harrison as its leads. It was later turned into a popular big-screen musical with Harrison reprising his role and Audrey Hepburn stepping in as the titular lady.

Based on the George Bernard Shaw play “Pygmalion,” “My Fair Lady” is a tale of transformation, a musical of manners and a lyrical love story all wrapped up in one. This will be the second time Sierra Rep has presented the musical; the first was in 2003.

The show has become one of the most beloved musicals of all time, with a score filled with instantly recognizable hits from “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” and “I Could Have Danced All Night” to “Get Me to the Church on Time” and “On the Street Where You Live.”

Sierra Rep co-founder Dennis Jones directs the production, which stars Boston-based performer Russell Garrett as Professor Henry Higgins and Los Angeles-based actress Brittney Bertier as cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle. Once stuffy speech professor Higgins takes “draggle-tailed guttersnipe” Eliza in as his student, the verbal fireworks begin.

The role is Garrett’s first time on stage with Sierra Rep, but not the first time working with the company. The performer has directed a number of productions for the foothills theater, most recently “The Drowsy Chaperone” in October.

“Henry Higgins has been a dream role for me since I was a kid and used to listen to the original Broadway cast album,” he said. “I love that movie; I love that role.”

The challenge in playing snooty Higgins is to make what could seem like an arrogant and unlikable character also engaging and charming, Garrett said.

“He is such an interesting, complicated character,” he said. “Those are the fascinating characters, the ones with different layers to them.”

Bertier’s Eliza has perhaps the opposite problem – she is instantly likable, if not necessarily refined. Like Garrett, the actress said it was a dream to step into the role.

“I grew up watching the movie. I am so honored because I was the biggest Audrey Hepburn fan ever,” she said. “I have huge shoes to fill. So I see her as someone to look to, but I’ll try to do it in my own way. Because there is no way to top Audrey Hepburn.”

The actress said she is particularly relishing the challenge of playing “two sides of the same coin” in her character. First there is the feisty, cockney Eliza, and then there is the graceful, refined Eliza.

“Marrying the two for me has been the biggest challenge,” she said. “I think she is endearing because you can see there is so much potential in her. You really root for her. It’s a story we can all identify with because we all want to see the potential in ourselves.”

Garrett said the Sierra Rep production stays fairly faithful to the Broadway show and its cinematic adaptation. The set has built the set on revolving turntables to accommodate its many settings. The costumes, by designer Ryan Moller, will be traditional and from the Edwardian era.

For Bertier and Garrett, performing such famous roles in an equally well-loved show is about staying true to the story. As an actor and director, Garrett said he puts a lot of stock into the thought and care put in by each show’s creators.

“So the worst thing you can do is disregard that and say, ‘I’m going to do something totally different.’ There is something valid about what they did,” he said. “So you want to bring that humor, heart and integrity to it.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2016 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Sierra Rep plans loverly opening with ‘My Fair Lady’."