Opening tonight at the University of Regina Theatre is this Regina Summer Stage production of the famous Lerner & Loewe musical that is surely among the most popular shows ever to run on Broadway. It’s based, of course, on a 1912 play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw called Pygmalion.
I know casual readers of prairie dog sometimes rip us for injecting a political element into virtually everything we write. Maybe on occasion we do get a little carried away, but whether we like it or not politics permeates virtually every aspect of our society. In the case of Shaw (1856-1950), he was what would be described today as a radical socialist who was a member of the Fabian society.
If you take a good hard look at his play Pygmalion, it’s chockful of satire and criticism of the British class system and the desperate measures that people resorted to to climb the social ladder. During his life, Shaw fought hard to ensure the integrity of his play whenever theatre impressarios tried to soften its satiric bite. The Lerner & Loewe musical, which debuted six years after his death, and the subsequent 1964 Hollywood movie starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, both present highly romanticized versions of his tale.
This Regina Summer Stage production runs at University Theatre July 8-10 at 8 p.m., July 11 at 2 p.m. and July 13-16 at 8 p.m. Adult tix are $25, Student $15. For more info call 522-9078. To set the stage, so to speak, here’s a combination trailer/mini-documentary for the hit 1964 movie.
Musicwise today, at noon the Red Shells are playing on the F.W. Hill Mall as part of Regina Downtown’s Summer Concer Series. Tonight, Winnipeg indie rockers Royal Canoe are at O’Hanlon’s Pub. Taylor Almond is at the Club. And at Rickards Live at Rock Creek it’s Tiger Suit.
