Interview: Steve Furst, My Fair Lady (Curve Leicester)

Currently playing at the Curve Leicester is their “Absobloominglovely production", My Fair Lady. The classic musical tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower seller, who transforms into a refined lady under the tutelage of phonetics professor Henry Higgins. Steve Furst who stars in the production chats with Theatre and Tonic to tell our readers more about this show.

Hey Steve, welcome to Leicester! What initially drew you to wanting to work on this production of My Fair Lady?
Well, it was the rather tantalising combination of Curve, our director Nikolai and the musical itself.
For those who don’t know a lot about My Fair Lady, can you provide us with a quick synopsis?

It is based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw focusing on Eliza Doolittle, a young flower girl who is plucked from her humble life by a wealthy professor of phonetics who claims that he can transform her into a society Duchess in a matter of weeks. It is a show about class, about the folly of appearances and of course there is a love story too.

Can you tell us about your character Alfred P. Doolittle?
Alfred is Eliza’s father, a proud Cockney loudmouth dustman. His views on parenting are pretty shocking by today’s standards but he is so fantastically entertaining that he kind of gets away with some of his more questionable beliefs. He is life and soul of the party.

My Fair Lady is a classic musical which a lot of audiences will know either from other productions and/or the popular film that starred Audrey Hepburn. How does the Curve production set itself apart from those?

The film and many other productions have always had a disparity of ages between Professor Higgins and Eliza. This production has them both of a similar age and the dynamic of the entire show shifts. 

What has been your favourite moment or memory of working on this production so far?

I would say from a personal perspective it was the first time we performed ‘Get Me To The Church On Time’ in front of an audience. It was such an insanely joyful experience and underlines exactly why I do what I do. 

What part in this production of My Fair Lady is a moment you can’t wait for audiences to see?
See above……there is nothing like coming to a musical to see the stage full of ridiculously talented people of all ages singing and dancing at full pelt. Glorious. 

Finally, why should people book a ticket to see this production? 

I think Nikolai and the entire team at Curve have created something stunning and something that is truly a family show where you can see all the beautiful work from every department on stage. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

My Fair Lady plays at Curve Leicester until 4 January 2025.