Director Dominic Missimi enjoys his steady role at Marriott theater
In his career, director Dominic Missimi had done three other productions of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "My Fair Lady," the classic 1956 musical about a cranky professor and the flower girl he turns into a lady. But he is most pleased with the one he is working on now, for Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.
"The other productions were for opera companies," Missimi says. "And although the singing was strong in those productions, it is wonderful to work with people who are comfortable with delivering lines. And this show has some wonderful lines."
How could it not? The book to the musical is based on George Bernard Shaw's exceptionally witty play, "Pygmalion." And Missimi has packed his production with musical theater actors who know how to sing and deliver their lines with the perfect comic zing: Kevin Gudahl, David Lively, Ann Whitney and Heidi Kettenring as Eliza Doolittle, the role that launched Julie Andrews back in the day.
"One of the glories of working at the Marriott is being able to work repeatedly (in show after show) with the same talented people," Missimi says.
In recent years it has become popular to stage stripped-down versions of this show, with a minimal cast and two pianos instead of an orchestra. Missimi's version will be a return to a more traditional Broadway-style show, with a chorus of actors (used to great effect in group scenes, such as the Ascot Race Track scene at the end of the first act) and "as large an orchestra as that Marriott space will allow."
Missimi has been directing shows at the Marriott since the early '80s. At the time the Marriott Theatre was known for doing comedies starring once very hot actors, now doing the regional theater circuit. "I did a production of 'Scapino' with Rita Moreno," Missimi says.
"Another of the glories of the Marriott is that I have such a long-standing relationship with it," he says, adding that his tight bond with the staff and his familiarity with the theater's working methods result in tight, focused, well-honed work.
"Not every theater can do a turnaround like we do," Missimi says, noting the theater's famously short rehearsal periods. "You know who you are going to work with, and how they think. You don't have to get to know the people you work with during the rehearsal process."
When Missimi isn't directing, he can be found at Northwestern University, where he teaches music theater. One of his favorite shows to teach? "My Fair Lady."
"I always tell my students, I do believe that it is a perfectly constructed musical," Missimi says. "The book holds up the score, and the score fits the book. All of the characters are perfectly drawn. It is wonderful craftsmanship.
"And it is one of the great unusual love stories, the love affair between Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle," he adds. "They seem to be oil and water. Higgins is constantly putting her down. And then at the last minute they end up together."
• "My Fair Lady" runs through Feb. 14 at The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire. For tickets call (847) 634-0200 or visit www.marriotttheatre.com.