My Fair Lady, this year’s Gonville & Caius Music Society production, will be taking place in Hall at 7.30pm on Sunday 16 June 2024. With a full orchestra, talented cast, and hardworking production team, this one-night spectacular is not one to miss! 

Directors: Emily Callow (Soprano in Caius Choir and Postgraduate Admissions Coordinator), Hugo Williamson (Tenor in Caius Choir). 

Musical Director/Producer: Louis Pettitt (Music 2021)

My Fair Lady by Lerner and Loewe tells the story of a young cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle who meets upper-class linguistics professor Henry Higgins. Higgins is adamant that he can teach Eliza how to speak ‘properly’ to mix with the upper classes and get ahead. 

Jasmine Habgood met with Emily Callow and Louis Pettitt to discuss the upcoming GCMS May Week show. 

Why did The Gonville & Caius Music Society choose to do My Fair Lady?

Louis: “I wanted to put on My Fair Lady because it’s been my favourite musical for a long, long time. I remember I used to make my friends watch it when I was about six, and I’d dance (and make them dance) along to all the songs! The music is brilliantly crafted with songs suited to each individual character. I think another reason why I loved it so much is because I knew that Julie Andrews did it originally on Broadway at the age of 20; she was my favourite singer for a long time and made me want to take up singing. So, it's quite a full circle moment!”

Why should people come to watch? 

Emily: “It is such a fun show with so many comedic elements, brilliant music and performed by a very talented cast and orchestra. It also directly addresses how our assumptions of people are affected by class and upbringing in a fun and entertaining way: exaggerating stereotypes of both the ‘very rich’ and the ‘very poor’. We hope to produce a thoroughly entertaining show, whilst leaving the audience with a sense of optimism that people from all walks of life can live harmoniously.”

Louis: “It has some high quality, really fun music. There are some tunes that everyone will know even if you’re not familiar with the show, like ‘I could have danced all night’ and ‘On the street where you live’ which has become a jazz standard, performed by the likes of Nat King Cole. The orchestra is going to be brilliant, and the cast is indescribably talented; everyone's really got into their characters in a way that I couldn't have expected. Plus, with everyone dressed up and interval drinks, it should be a fitting way to kick off May Week!” 

What can the audience expect?

Emily: “The audience should expect to be surprised! We're making excellent use of Caius Hall, integrating as part of the set instead of your traditional staging. The audience will be encompassed by the action; with interval drinks, the orchestra in black tie and our own grand hall, the audience could very well all be guests at the ‘Embassy ball..!’”

Louis: “I don’t want to give too much away! I think the audience can expect to be wowed really; it's such an impressive cast. The chorus has come together in all these different ways because we've managed to pare it down to as few people as possible, so everyone has a really important role, or several! What Emily and Hugo have done with direction is so specific, and they’ve done so much character work so nothing gets missed. It's all very dramatically and musically cohesive.”

How does it feel to be Director/Musical Director & Producer respectively, of the show? 

Emily: “Whenever I’m in a show (whether it’s opera or theatre), I always have such strong opinions about direction, so it’s fun to be the one in charge. It's especially nice to work as co-director alongside Hugo Williamson. Musicals are tricky because often music is prioritised over the acting or more likely, the other way round, but me and Hugo care about both elements equally. We’ve both been in so much theatre, so we really care about the drama: finding details in the dialogue and making things appear genuine. But we’re also musicians: I’m a Music graduate from Fitzwilliam College, Louis and Hugo are both studying Music, and all three of us are in the Choir of Gonville & Caius!”

Louis: “I've been in a few shows, but this is the first one I've done as Producer and Musical Director. It's also the first musical I've done since school: I’ve mainly done opera in Cambridge. There’s nowhere like Cambridge to be able to just decide to do a show that you want and have the people and the resources to put it together. It's also my first time conducting an orchestra which has been so much fun, and we have amazing, talented players. I've learned skills that I will take forward with me and I hope to be able to do this sort of thing again.”

What’s it been like working with the cast? 

Emily: “It’s been so lovely! Everyone takes direction very well, and the relationships between the principal characters are really coming to live. The chorus is so on it: they sound great, they’re all so enthusiastic and they’re remembering the direction they’re given. It means that you have this vision as a director and it works; it comes to life.”

Louis: “Tabitha Tucker, who's playing Eliza, was an immediate port of call, because I've known her since we were four or five, when we used to go around singing these types of songs together, pretending to be Julie Andrews in the playground! It’s been great working with her and she’s really brought Eliza to life. Isaac Jackson has embodied Higgins in a way that I really wanted but hadn't thought possible from a student production. Orlando Oliver (Computer Science 2022) is so talented and has hilarious comic timing as Alfie Doolittle. Harry Elliot (Maths 2021) and Isaac Jackson have developed this incredible chemistry as Pickering and Higgins. I feel very lucky to be working with my friends Emily and Hugo, and two co-producers, Lara Cort (Music 2022) and Laura  Wood (Medicine 2020, Music intercalation 2022) who have been a real help. I'm excited for people to see this show because it's been in the pipeline for a long time and the fact that it's all finally coming together in my last term at Cambridge is really special to me.” 

Tickets are available by clicking on this sentence.

For more information, follow Gonville & Caius Music Society on Facebook and Instagram.

Please note: The show will not be livestreamed, due to licensing protection, so sign up for a ticket.