HHS Theatre Group Rocks the House

What separates a flower girl from a duchess? Why, phonetics, of course. And who better to help flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Eva Mangone) make this astounding transformation? It’s none other than Professor of phonetics, Mr. Henry Higgins (Ivan Lovjer).

Naturally, a wager is involved, as well as a new wardrobe, a garden party ball deadline and an implied romance. While Higgins is victorious in his gamble, Doolittle emerges an emancipated woman.

From the moment the lights go up, H2T2P’s rendition of George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion, is nothing short of stellar. Not only did the actors have to memorize a most challenging script, they had to speak with English accents for the entire production. Accents, incidentally, that could rival any indigenous Brit.

The first rate Harrison High School cast, led by Director Rachel Kaplan, delighted the audience with their delivery of Shaw’s incisive humor, always underscored with moral, political and social considerations. With period costumes, props and references from the day, the audience was transported back in time to the early 1900s in London, England.

H2T2P played to a sold-out house in the Sirius Black Box Planetarium Theater Friday and Saturday.