Victoria Mack as Eliza Doolittle in PYGMALION. Photo © Gerry Goodstein.

"[Director Bonnie J.] Monte has staged the comedy with an accent on elegance and laughter. Under her guidance, Shaw's brittle humor hits the mark!"
--Variety

PYGMALION is "marvelous!" The cast is "flawless...Theatergoers had best take this chance to see this classic."
-- The Star-Ledger

"'A Star is Born'"
"Victoria Mack, as the fiesty Eliza Doolittle...[gives] a charming, delightful and frequently dazzling performance."
-- The Daily Record

"The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey has outdone itself!"
"Victoria Mack is a superlative Eliza"
--TalkinBroadway.com

"The current staging of George Bernard Shaw's classic at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison stands among the best."
--The Princeton Packet

"When the Professor Met the Flower Girl"
Sunday, September 14, 2003
The New York Times
By Naomi Siegel

MADISON - Anyone imagining a romantically cozy postscript to the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey's meticulously directed, splendidly cast production of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion," better think twice. Bonnie J. Monte, the director, has done her homework, taking to heart Shaw's epilogue ruling out a future m*nage a trois, or even deux, between transformed cockney flower girl, Eliza; her phonetics professor, Henry Higgins; and their sidekick, Colonel Pickering.

To this end, Ms. Monte tweaks the stage directions that end the play. As a newly empowered Eliza storms out the door trailed by an order from her tormentor for a "ham and Stilton cheese and a pair of reindeer gloves, number eights," Shaw describes Higgins as behaving in a "self-satisfied manner."

Self-satisfied, yes, as testified to by the initial smug grin on the face of Paul Niebanck, who plays Higgins. But note the sudden shift from glint to grimace as our formerly clueless professor comes to understand that rather that Eliza spending a lifetime fetching his slippers, her adoring and boring admirer, Freddy Eynsford Hill, will no doubt spend his life fetching hers.

Shaw referred to his play as "intensely and deliberately didactic," given its lengthy monologues on social mobility, relations between men and women, middle class morality and the "undeserving poor." Yet wit and rampant theatrically win out here underscored by bravura performances from the cast.

Victoria Mack is Eliza, "draggle-tailed guttersnipe" turned "duchess;" Jim Mohr is her father Alfred Doolittle; Joseph Costa plays the kind-hearted Colonel Pickering; and Peggy Scott is the housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce. Elizabeth Shepard is a fine Mrs. Higgins.

If you have ever questioned the Shavian quotient in Lerner and Lowe's brilliant musical "My Fair Lady," try reading the "Pygmalion" text for an eye-opener. This is one collaboration in which the primary source remains triumphant!

Excerpted from Variety
By Robert L. Daniels

Bonnie Monte's faithful new mounting of "Pygmalion" at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey is fresh, attractive and spirited. Bernard Shaw's 90-year-old social satire about a cockney lass and a pompous phonetics expert is, of course, most familiar to audiences as the basis for "My Fair Lady." It's impossible not to hear the grand Lerner and Loewe songs spinning in your brain. But even sans songs, the play is a gleeful comic spree.

Monte has found a wonderful Eliza Doolittle in Victoria Mack, a last-minute replacement, as the scruffy flower girl. As Shaw's gutter-snipe, Mack is a appealing and very funny. When transformed into a bogus duchess, she is divinely well poised and elegant. Her feisty performance suggests that Eliza and Higgins are simply playing a wonderful game. Paul Niebanck is a formidable Higgins, who grumbles with the right brittle pomposity...

The plum supporting roles are well played. Peggy Scott, as the no-nonsense housekeeper Mrs. Pearce, lays down the law with such iron-fisted authority that we know Eliza has a caring protector. The Colonel Pickering of Joseph Costa is Eliza's crisply considerate ally, and he wisely avoids the tendency to clown the role. Mrs. Higgins is acted by Elizabeth Shepherd with stately aristocratic grace and a knowing twinkle in her eye. Jim Mohr is the gruffly forthright spokesman for "middle class morality" as Eliza's irascible father, Alfred Doolitte.

Monte has staged the comedy with an accent on elegance and laughter. Under her guidance Shaw's brittle humor hits the mark.

The sets by Charles T. Wittreich Jr., from a Covent Garden portico to Higgins' Wimpole Street laboratory to the elegant drawing room of Mrs. Higgins, boast flavorful atmosphere. Karen A. Ledger's fashionable costumes are an eyeful.

"Fresh face gives new life to 'Pygmalion' "
Monday, September 8, 2003
The Star Ledger
By Peter Filichia

So much for the number 13 being unlucky.

Bonnie J. Monte has been artistic director at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey for 13 years, but triskaidekaphobia isn't stopping her from staging a marvelous production of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion."

Or, as it's often been called since 1956, "My Fair Lady" without the songs.

What's more, Monte was operating under a handicap, for just before she began rehearsals, the actress she'd cast as Eliza Doolittle decided to make a television pilot instead. Where was another performer who could enact such a difficult role?

After all, Eliza, under Henry Higgins' tutelage, must first play a guttersnipe, then a young woman who wants more out of life. Later she's a struggling student, then an accomplished one -- all en route her indeed becoming a fair lady. As the backbone of the play, Eliza must be portrayed by an actress who's got a backbone.

Monte went out on a limb and found quite a flower blooming there. Victoria Mack, all of 23 years old, captures every aspect of the character. Eliza may be a flower-seller, but she's feisty and proud, so Mack gives an unmannered snort when she feels she's being patronized. She expects that Professor Higgins will tutor her because she's willing to pay. Money talks, and so will she, she's certain, in much richer tones.

Yet despite Mack's display of considerable street-smarts, Mack exhibits Eliza's considerable vulnerability. She slumps her shoulders forward when wondering, "Who'd marry me?" She has an amusing flat-footed gait, which shows that she and Monte know there's more than just language keeping this parvenu from succeeding. Then comes the best moment -- when she mesmerized by the soft touch of the handkerchief Higgins handed her. The audience feels for this waif who's never before felt anything as rich.

Mack is equally matched by Paul Niebanck's Higgins, an insufferable male chauvinist Pygmalion. How well he demonstrates his character's sense of superiority in the way his casually stands, hands-in-pocket, arching his back, before delivering lines with authority. Later, though, he has a fascinating moment when Mack reaches to scratch his eyes out, and he grabs both of her arms. This is the closest Higgins ever been to Eliza, and Niebanck has the man find within himself feelings he had no idea he had.

Yet Niebanck reverts to little-boy status when he's around his mother, who's beautifully played by Elizabeth Shepherd. She proves that elegance doesn't only involve the way a person acts, but the way she feels, too.

Shepherd is part of the flawless supporting cast that includes Jim Mohr as Eliza's father and Joseph Costa as an upstanding (and outstanding) Colonel Pickering. Mrs. Pearce, Higgins' housekeeper, may only be a minor character, but don't tell that to Peggy Scott. She plays the woman as a force with which to be reckoned, determined to make Henry do right by Eliza.

Charles T. Wittreich, Jr.'s sets are simple but elegant. Karen A. Ledger's costumes are drab when they're supposed to be, and breathtaking when that's called for. Steven Rosen's lighting is wonderfully warm.

There have been productions of "Pygmalion" that aren't able to blow off the dust from this 90-year-old play. Monte's production moves along so speedily and sure-handedly that the dust hasn't got a chance. Theatergoers had best take this chance to see this classic.

"Victoria Mack dazzles in hilarious 'Pygmalion'"
By William Westhoven
The Daily Record

MADISON - Discussions of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" often progress to comparisons with its musical adaptation: "My Fair Lady." After seeing The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's production of "Pygmalion," the title of another popular musical comes to mind: "A Star Is Born."

To be fair, there are many other reasons to praise this "Pygmalion," directed by artistic director Bonnie Monte with her usual flair, eye for subtlety and utmost respect for the classics. But it was Victoria Mack, as the feisty Eliza Dolittle, who claimed the hearts of the opening-night audience with a charming, delightful and frequently dazzling performance.

Only in her second year with the company, Mack has been given a number of advantages in her showcase, not least being surrounded by an experienced and able cast. Paul Niebanck, in his sixth season with the company, never looks like a leading man, but always acts like one, here in the complex role of Professor Henry Higgins.

Higgins serves as a stand-in for Shaw, who loved to poke fun at the privileged classes while enjoying those privileges himself. A linguistics and phonetics expert, Higgins tutors "new" millionaires who wish to be embraced by society "but give themselves away every time they open their mouths."

For the few readers unaware of the story, Higgins, aided by fellow linguist Col. Pickering, makes an experiment of Eliza, a poor Cockney flower girl who speaks in "kurbstone English," of whom he boasts that "in three months I could pass her off as a duchess at an ambassador's garden party," adding, in true Shaw fashion, "I could even get her a place as a lady's maid or shop assistant, which requires better English."

Quick as you can say Audrey Hepburn, the experiment is under way, and Eliza, despite an accent that could peel paint, quickly demonstrates the kind of ability and character not commonly associated with her class. Higgins, despite his education and breeding, indulges in misanthropic manners that force even his mother to shoo him from her parlor.

Stripped of Broadway gloss, Shaw's Higgins is all but completely unsympathetic. Think of him as Simon Cowell from "American Idol," without the warmth. But Niebanck thaws him a bit, finding the driven, idealistic scientist behind the mask. That keeps you in his corner, at least for a while, hoping he'll allow Eliza to finally tap into his humanity. Alas, in Shaw's London, there's no happy ending, at least for him.

Joseph Costa, who debuted with the company in the title role of last year's production of "The Grouch," is a little more civil here as Pickering. Although he follows the lead of Higgins, Pickering is the conscience of the pair, and Costa makes sure his gentlemanly and paternal feelings for Eliza peek through the flawed method of their madness.

Another column of strength for Mack to lean on is Elizabeth Shepherd as Higgins' mother. A veteran of the Broadway and London stages, Shepherd dances a fine line between proper Victorian lady and a mother figure who comforts Eliza in her time of need and dispenses the tough love her son so badly needs. In her own, mannered way, Shepherd gets her fair share of the laughs. So, too, does Jim Mohr as Eliza's father, who prefers the freedom of "the undeserving poor" to the responsibilities of "middle class morality."

Mack, however, makes this her show. A petite, doe-eyed beauty, she is radiant in rags or gowns, but her energy is what draws you in. Early on, she gets a howl out of every fractured sound and syllable, every stumble and double-take, but she is equally enjoyable to watch alone and in silence, particularly when she attempts to compose herself when enraged by the callous treatment she receives from the linguists.

Her metamorphosis from dame to duchess is convincing, although the character, along with the play, loses a little momentum in the second act, which is far more dramatic than the first. Of course, that opens the door for the kind of character development that often gets lost when the audience is rolling in the aisles, as it was from curtain to intermission.

The Princeton Packet writes of Victoria Mack as Eliza Doolittle, "How wonderful it is to welcome a new star to the theatrical heavens!"
By Stuart Duncan
The Princton Packet

One shouldn't launch into a discussion of Pygmalion, the latest production at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison, without bowing to the Greek legend on which George Bernard Shaw drew his riff. Pygmalion was the King of Cyprus and something of a sculptor who, though he claimed to hate women, fell in love with his own ivory statue of the goddess Aphrodite. He even prayed to the goddess who, in turn, gave the statue life and the King married it (her?).

W.S. Gilbert (yes, of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) adapted the legend in his comedy, Pygmalion and Galatea, in 1871. In this version, the sculptor is a married man and his wife, Cynisca, is so jealous that after considerable trouble, the girl voluntarily returns to its original statuesque state.

Shaw drew on both versions. His Galatea is a London flower girl who is transformed by months of hard work into a charming young woman of the world. Remarkably the play is staged infrequently. In fact, there have been fewer than a dozen professional productions in the United States, Canada and London since the celebrated film of 1938, which starred Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller.

The current staging in Madison stands among the best because the overall zest of Bonnie Monte's evening is so deliciously evident. Paul Niebanck, who plays Higgins, has been with the company for six seasons, as well as acting at virtually every major regional theater in the country. He warms nicely to the role ? gentle at first, then with increasing fervor. Clearly it is Shaw himself speaking, warts and all.

Victoria Mack didn't expect to play Eliza; she already had a major role this season (as Margaret in the very fine King John). When the actress assigned to the part received a TV contract that demanded her attention, the role fell to Ms. Mack. She has spent the past two years mostly with the company's touring company in schools throughout the state. Quite simply, she is a superb Eliza, especially in the difficult scene in which, at a garden party, she exhibits just how far she has come from Cockney to ladyship ? and how much is left to travel. Non-theatergoers will never know how wonderful it is to welcome a new star to the theatrical heavens. Opening night in Madison, we did so.

Everyone has to watch their backs when the veteran Peggy Scott is on stage as the housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce. With a sly smile and a voice that winds itself around Shaw's musings like a tentative rubber band, she deviously slides entire scenes under her starched apron and steals them. Joseph Costa plays a very proper, very solicitous Col. Pickering. Jim Mohr handles Alfred Doolittle with ease, especially in the later scenes, when prosperity is forced upon him. (Those who have seen only the musical will have new treats in store.)

Shaw, in a customary cynical moment, once said about Pygmalion: "There must be something radically wrong with the play if it pleases everybody but, at the moment, I cannot find what it is." Neither can I; I just thoroughly enjoyed it.

"An Exemplary Pygmalion Opens NJ Fall Theatre Season"
By Bob Rendell
TalkinBroadway.com

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, which has provided audiences with a series of commendable productions throughout the summer, has outdone itself with an exceptionally splendid presentation of George Bernard Shaw's scintillating "romance" Pygmalion to open its fall season.

Labeled a "romance" by Shaw, a designation which he may well have come to rue, Pygmalion is a stylish, perceptive, wry and witty comedy of manners with just the right amount of heart.

Few will be able to approach this Shaw classic without mentally noting that it is the basis for the spectacularly successful musical, My Fair Lady. However, it would be a major mistake to think that if you have seen the latter, it would be redundant to see Pygmalion. Each work has brilliant virtues all its own.

Shaw drew his inspiration from the story in Ovid's Metamorphoses, which tells of sculptor and King of Cyprus Pygmalion, who fell in love with his own statue of Aphrodite. Aphrodite brought life to the statue in the form of Galatea. Pygmalion married her.

One of the joys of this play is that it enables viewers to draw upon their own feelings and analyses to decide the course of the relationship between Henry Higgins and his Galatea, Eliza Doolittle, after the fall of the final curtain. The breadth of Shaw's writing is such that it provides a great deal of leeway for actors and director to interpret the roles of Higgins and Eliza in ways which are emotionally and intellectually valid to them.

Therefore, while there can never be definitive interpretations of these roles, it is necessary that they be played with great nuance and humanity (as well as comedic dexterity and timing) for any production of Pygmalion to fully succeed.

Victoria Mack is a superlative Eliza, effortlessly allowing the emergence of qualities which Miss Doolittle develops over the course of her six-month tutelage. She mines all the humor from her Cockney speech, reaches heights of hilarity when she mixes her newly acquired pronunciation with her unlettered words, and brings forth the humanity and vulnerability which carry the play over and beyond the finish line.

Alongside her every step of the way is her Henry Higgins, Paul Niebanck. Though appearing slightly more youthful than Shaw intended, Niebanck is a totally convincing Henry Higgins. He manages to convey Higgins' smug and overbearing personality while remaining likeable. As his limitations and vulnerabilities emerge, Niebanck allows us to see them while maintaining the façade which he has erected for himself.

Both Ms. Mack and Niebanck convey all of Shaw's character-based humor without overplaying or descending into caricature. Niebanck draws the evening's biggest laugh with his response to the announcement of the arrival of Freddy just after being introduced to Freddy's mother and sister.

In this production of the play, in grand ensemble style, we are presented with a gallery of richly amusing and often moving individuals from differing social classes. Each is amazingly well drawn by Shaw, and the performances evoke the richness in the writing.

Elizabeth Shepherd is a wise and winning Mrs. Higgins (Henry's mother). Richly amusing are Mary Dierson and Mandy Olsen as impoverished socialite mother and daughter. Jim Mohr as Eliza's father, Alfred Doolittle, is fully amusing without ruffling the ensemble tone. Similarly praiseworthy are Joseph Costa as Colonel Pickering, Peggy Scott as Mrs. Pearce, and Steve Wilson as the Eliza smitten Freddy.

The costumes by Karen A. Ledger are attractive and suitable. Scenic design by Charles T. Wittreich, Jr. is serviceable. When the entire cast nails a classic play as this one has, it is clear that the director had a clear and effective vision and was able to put that vision on stage.

Will Henry Higgins and his fair Eliza get married? Or will they be fellow bachelors? Or will Eliza hitch up with nice, but lightweight Freddy? Or will Eliza go off .... Well, Bernard Shaw did provide some pretty strong answers in an epilogue-essay, published about three years after Pygmalion was first produced. However, he may be wrong. Just maybe, his essay was just a misguided reaction to public perceptions about the play which rubbed him the wrong way. However, before checking out his epilogue, you had best get over to the Shakespeare Theatre in Madison and, with the help of Bonnie J. Monte and her exceptional cast, decide for yourself. For very good measure, you will almost surely have a delightful time.

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