Review: My Fair Lady, Tip Top Productions, Theatr Clwyd

Words: Angela Ferguson. Photos: Angela Ferguson/Jeff Price/Mark Carline.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we were able to escape the current Brexit craziness with a good old fashioned, toe-tapping musical?

Well, Tip Top Productions have us covered – and some. They have staged an epic production of My Fair Lady at Theatr Clwyd in Mold. It’s their big production of the year and it’s evident from start to finish just how much effort the talented folk at Tip Top put in when it comes to staging professional productions.

We loved our little road trip to Mold to watch opening night, with so many beautiful and enchanting songs to help us with that important business of escaping our day to day lives – just for a few blissful hours.

Highlights for us included the simply breathtaking singing and acting from Hannah Thomas as Eliza Doolittle, whose journey from Cockney flower seller to the Ascot-attending and perfectly enunciated ‘lady’ kept our attention throughout. We also loved the mesmerising performance from Mark Shenton, more recently seen behind the scenes with Tip Top, as Henry Higgins. Let’s hope this stupendously good production persuades him to step up on to the stage more often.

And it would be remiss of us not to mention Rob Tolefree, whose charming performance as Eliza’s dad Alfie Doolittle, had the audience in raptures, particularly during his rousing performance of Get Me to the Church on Time. We also loved the charming portrayal of Henry Higgins’s housekeeper Mrs Pearce, from Tip Top and local theatre stalwart Fiona MacSween.

There were numerous other excellent performances, led by uber talented director Phil Cross, including a fab orchestra in the orchestra pit to accompany the wonderful singing.

Cast and crew at Tip Top should be justifiably proud as they head into their final day of the run, with a matinee and evening performance today (Saturday). Please catch it if you can and escape reality for a few blissful hours.

To book tickets, head to https://www.chestertheatre.co.uk/my-fair-lady/432.

It’s a proper knees-up inducing five stars for us for this stupendously entertaining production. We could have danced – or watched – all night.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐