‘My Fair Lady’ is a gem you don’t want to miss

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Andrea Prestinario plays Eliza Doolittle opposite Nathan M. Hosner as Professor Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady.”

Updated: November 10, 2011 12:37PM

By all rights, the phenomenal production of “My Fair Lady” now inaugurating the homegrown, grandly ambitious Broadway Series at Aurora’s historic 1,888-seat Paramount Theatre, should move straight to New York. Barring that, it should be transferred downtown to one of the grand Loop houses, where it easily would outshine nearly every touring production that has come this way in recent years.

Yes, this production of the peerless Lerner and Loewe musical that so ideally channels George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion” is that good. By every parameter it is emblematic of Broadway at its strongest — in its overall scale and concept, in the depth of talent of its cast, in the lustrous sound of its orchestra (led by musical director Shawn Stengel), in the beauty and cleverness of its design, and above all in the exhilarating, gorgeously detailed work of Jim Corti, its director and choreographer, who seems to have even set designer Jim Dardenne’s puzzle-box scenery dancing.

Corti, who earlier this year was named artistic director of the Paramount (an Art Deco beauty not entirely unlike Chicago’s Civic Opera House), has, on the powerful evidence of this show alone, worked what might be called “the miracle on East Galena Boulevard.”

So now you have a choice in Aurora. You can lose your money at the Hollywood Casino just across the riverwalk from the theater, or you can get the finest bang for your Broadway buck at the Paramount. It’s a no-brainer.

While they may not be celebrity names, Andrea Prestinario, who plays Eliza Doolittle, the irrepressible Cockney flower girl who morphs into a princess, and Nathan M. Hosner, as Professor Henry Higgins, the misogynistic bachelor and phonetics master who bets his reputation on his ability to transform her speech and status, are stars by any measure. Ideally cast, they are wholly fresh and passionate in their interpretations of these classic roles.

Prestinario is a petite, fiery actress with a superb, bell-clear soprano streaked with a uniquely golden warmth, and, in the best “Ascot Gavotte” scene ever (enhanced by Melissa Torchia’s fabulous costumes), she is hilarious. Hosner, who brings a wonderfully arrogant cluelessness to Higgins, has an unusually strong voice that moves easily from speech to song. The pair’s crucially ambivalent final scene is played to marvelous effect.

But every role here brings out the star quality in performers who easily outshine much of what you see on Broadway.

Andrew J. Lupp, who has been dancing up a storm on Chicago stages for decades, is a show-stopping sensation as Eliza’s reprobate dad, Alfred P. Doolittle, who eventually must deal with middle class success. Backed by a terrific, highly individualistic ensemble of singer-dancers, he brings an inebriated, rubbery-legged feel (and galvanic voice) to “With a Little Bit of Luck” and “Get Me to the Church on Time.”

Mary Ernster is perfection as Higgins’ urbane, easily aristocratic mother, as are John Reeger (as that gentlemanly bachelor, Colonel Pickering) and James Lee Glatz (as the hopelessly lovelorn Freddy Eynsford-Hill). And in this intensely verbal musical, the diction and overall sound (credit Ray Nardelli) is razor sharp.

True, the theater (which has more than 10,000 subscribers already) is not intimate, but the energy and lavishness of this production easily compensate. This “My Fair Lady” will be a very tough act to follow.