Becoming Eliza REVIEW 26 Aug 2023 ***1/2

MUSICAL THEATRE

Written & performed by Anna O’Byrne

Comedy Theatre, 26 August, one performance only

 Reviewed by Kate Herbert

This review was published in The Age Arts online on Sunday 27 Aug and in print on Monday 28 August 2023. I will also talk about it on Arts Weekly on 3MBS radio on Sat 2 Sept 2023. KH

BECOMING ELIZA _L-R-Michael Tyack, Anna O'Byrne_photo Jeff Busby

Anna O’Byrne boasts a stellar international career spanning opera and musicals and has become Australian musical theatre royalty having played Christine Daaé in Love Never Dies and in Phantom of the Opera in the West End. But it is her becoming Eliza Doolittle in Opera Australia’s 2016 production of My Fair Lady, directed by the original Eliza, Dame Julie Andrews, that is the substance of this solo, self-narrated musical journey.

 

Dressed in a simple, loose-fitting, purple pants suit – a stark contrast to the exquisite Cecil Beaton gowns that she wore in My Fair Lady – O’Byrne addresses her doting audience directly, charming and enthralling them with evocative descriptions of her career with all its soaring successes and some soul-destroying failures.

 

The simple but effectively constructed, chronological narration, written by O’Byrne, is peppered with backstage anecdotes and coloured with vivid, often lyrical language. She interweaves excerpts of songs from My Fair Lady and other musicals between true tales from her long, chequered and arduous path to playing Eliza: the audition process, the waiting, the crushing initial rejection call, meeting the warm and generous Julie Andrews again, then the unexpected offer to play Eliza that was both exhilarating and terrifying.

 

What follows is the gruelling rehearsal process with all its ups and downs and self-doubt, and O’Byrne describes how, on her path to becoming the character of Eliza, she experiences the fictional Eliza becoming her real and constant companion. This type of confessional, revelatory solo performance could veer into the mawkish or self-indulgent, but O’Byrne thankfully avoids that by remaining down to earth and relatable.

 

O’Byrne’s soprano has a thrilling upper register and a fine vibrato. Her voice can be bold and powerful, warm and enchanting or sweetly delicate, making it perfectly suited to the repertoire of songs that includes favourites such as I Could Have Danced All Night, Wouldn’t It Be Loverley?, My Favourite Things, In My Own Little Corner and I Have Confidence.

 

Sharon Millerchip, a doyen of musical theatre herself, directs the show unobtrusively, with outstanding musical accompaniment on piano by celebrated musical director, Michael Tyack, with violinist Roy Theaker, cellist Kalina Krusteva and Katri Tuomennoro on double bass. The musicians not only play the tunes but underscore the narration, establishing atmosphere for each episode of O’Byrne’s story.

 

Becoming Eliza is a backstage musical story without the actual musical, and O’Byrne captivates the audience with her revealing personal stories, impeccable voice and her convivial onstage presence. It is a show for O’Byrne fans and aficionados of classic musicals.

 

by Kate Herbert 

 

Anna O’Byrne – performer & writer

 

Sharon Millerchip – director

Michael Tyack  – musical director, & piano

Roy Theaker – violin

Kalina Krusteva – cello

Katri Tuomennoro – double bass

 

Enda Markey – producer