Whenever I find myself back on Wimpole Street in London, near where I spent some of my childhood, I can never resist breaking into song. This, after all, is where Freddy yearns for Eliza in My Fair Lady, crooning, in what must be one of the most romantic moments in musical history, "I have often walked down this street before".
Watching My Fair Lady in Sydney thousands of miles away I, too, felt like this was a street I had walked down before. And so it was.
To say that My Fair Lady sticks closely to the original is something of an understatement. Not only do the cast and crew effortlessly transport the audience to Edwardian England (in all its genteel glory and ugly punctiliousness); the show is a near total re-creation of the 1956 original Broadway production that first made it a hit.
At its helm as director is Dame Julie Andrews, who played Eliza Doolittle opposite Rex Harrison's Henry Higgins for the musical's debut. It was the role that propelled her to stardom. My Fair Lady became Broadway's longest running musical to date, racking up 2,717 performances. Despite a disastrous opening night - in which Harrison was hit by a bad attack of stage-fright, refusing to come out of his dressing room until an hour before curtain time - the production won a Tony and its album sold over five million copies. It was the musical that had everything: wit, tunes, courtship, and cutting class commentary.
For its 60th anniversary Andrews has been coopted by Opera Australia to re-create the legendary production, down to its costumes and stage design.