My heart was beating with giddy anticipation as my friend and I settled into our second-row seats at Stephens Friday night. I smiled to myself at the sight of the pre-set – a basket of flowers under a spotlight.

“My Fair Lady” is one of my all-time favorite movies, so excuse me if I discuss it with a degree of familiarity. You’re reading a review from a girl who’s pranced around her kitchen singing “Wouldn’t it be Loverly,” catching glimpses of her silly self in the mirror between twirls and leaps.

Anyway, I was impressed with Stars Over VEISHEA’s interpretation of my beloved musical. I appreciated the attention to detail in the costumes and set – the bustles, brooches, parasols, top hats and knickers did a good job of transporting me from my world into that of Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins.

The story of “My Fair Lady” has a universal rags-to-riches theme, but what brings Eliza up from her rags is unique to the musical. Professor Higgins teaches Eliza how to speak English correctly. That’s it. OK, so he and his friend Colonel Pickering also deck her out in jewels and lace – those are mere trimmings, however. Her physical beauty does become an important factor, but later on. The miracle moment in the play isn’t really when Eliza descends the staircase in her ball attire. It’s the moment she first says, “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain,” slowly and deliberately, resulting in a nonsensical frolic with Higgins and Pickering.

I must say that although no one can surpass Audrey Hepburn for me, Sarah Thompson’s pristine voice certainly carried Eliza’s feisty spirit flawlessly in song. The character I found the most delightful, however, was Pickering. As I watched him caper around the stage with bobble-headed awkwardness, I kept feeling a question rise up in me – “What on earth happened to Colonel Pickering?”

Whatever it was, however, I liked it. He was certainly different from the portly, gentle old man who didn’t stir up much trouble in the movie. This Pickering was much more boisterous, but he also carried himself with a posture that reminded me of the scarecrow from “The Wizard of Oz.” It was bizarre but irresistible. Pickering’s character is meant to contrast Higgins because he treats Eliza with polite respect, protecting her from Higgins’s snobbery and ruthless coaching techniques. This Pickering defended Eliza, but he always looked adorably ridiculous when he did it – his eyebrows would shoot up and his voice would boom. His voice was about as threatening – and laughable – as Daffy Duck’s.

Higgins’s character was also more entertaining in the Stars Over VEISHEA performance. Rex Harrison always had a complicated furrow in his brow and he was, all in all, more whiny than Micah Morgan’s interpretation of Higgins. And, of course, Morgan sang beautifully, and singing didn’t seem to be Harrison’s forte.

The chemistry between Higgins and Doolittle was much more pronounced in Stars Over VEISHEA’s version, also. I found that refreshing. The movie’s ambiguous ending always bothered me, but Morgan and Thompson were definitely gazing into each other’s eyes in a way that answered my question once and for all of what was really going on between those two characters.

So, Stars Over VEISHEA, congratulations. You won my heart and my applause.

I didn’t hesitate for long before rising to my feet Friday night. I think you earned the standing ovation you got, down to each clap and whistle.

– Virginia Zantow is a sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication from Boone. She is a Daily Staff Writer.