In the play My Fair Lady, flower-seller Eliza Doolittle is a sassy lady who never loses her street-girl soul. Singing in a theater converted from an old chrome bumper factory would be “loverly” for a girl like Doolittle, who is used to being covered in dirt.
But in a sad turn of events, Doolittle (played by Sally Murphy) will be the last person to sing in the unusual converted garage of Signature Theatre. My Fair Lady will be the last performance at the venue in Arlington, Va., before the company moves to a two-theater, $12.5 million space in the Village at Shirlington in January.
For 16 seasons, Signature’s claim to fame has been scaling down large Broadway productions without losing the essence of the plays.
“We are sensitive to the fact that we don’t want to lose our intimate setting. The new theaters will still be flexible black boxes, but just have wider seating,” says Olivia Haas, director of public relations and marketing at Signature. “The guests won’t be any further from the stage.”
Arlington gave $5.5 million for the building’s exterior, while private donations and ticket sales paid for the $7.6 million needed for inside furnishing. Two black box theaters seating 99 and 299 guests and three dressing rooms will occupy the top three floors of the building, while a branch of the Arlington Public Library will take up the first floor.
Due to the original Signature Theatre’s lack of height – limiting set and lighting changes between scenes – the new theaters will be taller, allowing for catwalks but not affecting the performers or musicians on the stage.
Eric Schaeffer, co-founder and artistic director of Signature, hails from Fleetwood, Pa. He started his artistic career when he was 15 by directing a performance of Oliver.
“The town was so small that half the town was in [Oliver], and half the town came to see it,” Schaeffer says.
Schaeffer spent three years attempting to get the rights for My Fair Lady and originally hoped to perform it in the new theater, before construction timelines altered his plans. But now, Schaeffer is happy to perform it in the original garage, and calls My Fair Lady “one of the best musicals ever written.”
Because of Signature Theatre’s scaled-down aesthetic, Schaeffer’s main dilemma was reducing an elaborate play of exuberant costumes and 44 roles down to 19 cast members, he says.
Murphy, playing Doolittle in the show, is a Broadway actress known for her roles in Fiddler on the Roof and Carousel Doolittle’s love interest, Henry Higgins, is played by Andrew Long, a regular at Shakespeare Theatre who most recently appeared in the play Frozen.
My Fair Lady tells the story of Higgins, a linguistics professor and confirmed bachelor who makes a bet with a friend that he can transform the cocky and spunky Doolittle into a prim-and-proper high-society lady – a premise similar to that of the ’90s teen comedy She’s All That. But My Fair Lady fans will notice that Signature Theatre’s production depicts a much younger Higgins, a choice Schaeffer made to make the play more believable.
“I decided to make Higgins younger to add some sexual tension to the play,” Schaeffer says. “I wanted to bring out the sense of a real relationship between the two and show how they really needed each other.”
As the lights fade and the curtain goes down on Nov. 19, every guest in attendance will say farewell to the old automobile garage.
“The garage was bursting at the seams – we were operating at 97 percent capacity every night,” Schaeffer says. “So many people are in love with the garage, but we are going to carry on that spirit with the new theater.”
My Fair Lady will be at the Signature Theatre from Tuesday to Sunday through Nov. 19. Tickets are $37 to $63.
