FEBRUARY 20 • 2020 | 39
subversive than he’
s ordinarily
portrayed. Director Bart Sher
has me portraying Doolittle
as more violent and threaten-
ing. He’
s a lowbrow guy with
a political moral code that
makes him a great counterpart
in Edwardian England, which
makes this part so irresistible.
”
The Lincoln Center pro-
duction of My Fair Lady took
home five Outer Critics Circle
Awards and was nominated
for five Drama Desk Awards,
three Drama League Awards
and 10 Tony Awards.
Although My Fair Lady has
been performed since 1956,
it’
s not done very frequently
because it has such a large cast
and it demands a lot from its
leads, Grupper says.
“What I think that people
get a chance to see in this
production is that it has all
the values of a ‘
champagne’
musical — the gorgeous
score, beautiful sets and
sumptuous costumes from
Catherine Zuber, who won
the Tony Award. But Bart Sher
restores elements from George
Bernard Shaw’
s original play,
Pygmalion, that makes it also
about social structure, hierar-
chy and power. So, it’
s much
more thought-provoking.
”
Growing up in Rockland
County, New York, Grupper’
s
family were members of the
New City Jewish Center, where
he had his bar mitzvah and
was shomer Shabbos until he
attended Yale University.
“I still consider my Jewish
identity a very big part of
my life. and I’
ve been able to
combine that with my love of
theater,
” says Grupper,
From 2015-2016, Grupper,
who also plays mohel David
Rosenbaum in Episode 7,
Season 3 of The Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel, reconnected
with Judaism when he played
Tevye in the Broadway revival
of Fiddler on the Roof.
“Life started imitating art
when actors in the show start-
ed asking me about the laws
of Hallachah, which I usually
knew. But sometimes I would
have to consult with a higher
authority — my brother,” he
says with a laugh.
JOAN MARCUS
Adam Grupper as
Alfred P. Doolittle in
My Fair Lady
T ICK E TS: 734. 764. 25 38 —
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— UM S. OR G
WES
T
-
EAST
ERN
DIV
AN
ENSEMBLE
Michael Barenboim, music director and violin
PROGRAM
Tartini
Devil’s Trill Sonata in g minor for Solo Violin
Joel Howell and Linda Samuelson
Wed 2/26
JOAN MARCUS