My Fair Lady at Manchester’s Palace Theatre is “full of sparkling performances, laughter and energy”

I am really excited to visit the Palace Theatre for my first review there with I Love MCR, having previously seen the fantastic productions of Mamma Mia and Grease.

Both were incredible. So expectations are high.

From the curtain raise, the energy on stage is palpable.

It’s infectious, and the audience is loving it immediately.

The audience is packed out for just the second night of this show. People are excited about this and as the show goes on, I can see why.

Charlotte Kennedy is our Eliza Doolittle and oh my what a standout! Kennedy knows how to work with the audience.

She has a way of commanding the stage and the audience all at the same time.

Her common voice has got the crowd going with laughter.

Her costumes are to die for and they still have the Eliza charm despite being so over the top.

A standout for me (And I believe everyone here) has to be Michael D. Xavier who plays Henry Higgins.

His one-liners are delivered with excellence and humour – something hard to do especially on stage.

He holds himself with character and grace. There are so many good moments in this show that he excels in and I always look forward to him coming back out every time he leaves the stage.

The sets are to die for. Higgins’ house has to be my favourite set easily. It rotates to different parts of the house and I love how multi-usage the sets are.

The set of the pub is also multi-use and once turned around, it becomes a church. Michael Yeargan is the mastermind behind these incredible and beautiful set pieces.

The gasps that emerged from the crowd when Higgins’ house was introduced was astounding!

The attention to detail is shown easily with the house looking lived in rather than just a set.

It was the most used set so it makes sense that it was the one that had more physical elements to it.

There are some elements to the story that perhaps miss modern tastes.

The original came out in 1913 with the film coming out in 1964, and because of the time certain things are allowed to be said and certain behaviours excused.

Higgins has two songs that complain about women which got a couple of laughs here and there and not from the women in the audience.

Higgins is also an awful person to Eliza and if you’ve seen the film, you know what happens.

But the whole show on a whole was exceptional, packed with sparkling performances and superb songs.

My Fair Lady was a great night with great music and even greater acting.

The show runs until April 1st.

You can get your tickets by clicking here.