Higgins in Harlem

It's set during the Harlem Renaissance - a time when the relatively affluent black society of Sugar Hill found itself at odds with the uneducated blacks of Harlem

Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics, discovers Eliza Doolittle - a homeless, Harlem girl whose speech is nearly unintelligible, outside the Apollo Theatre

Appalled at her slang-filled dialect, Higgins declares that with just six months of phonetics training, he could pass her off as a university-educated African princess!

Intrigued, Eliza shows up at his Sugar Hill home the next day in search of a better life

With the help of Conrad Pickering, Higgins goes about transforming Eliza

And at the end of her six months, she makes her debut at the annual Abyssinian Baptist Church Gala

Her transformation is confirmed when the Minister declares she must indeed be an African princess!

Declaring himself the greatest teacher alive, Higgins abandons Eliza, who seeks refuge from Henry's mother

Mrs. Higgins attempts to make a match between Eliza and Freddie Hill, who is head-over-heels in love with her

But Eliza forgoes the relationship, and, in the end, must choose between a platonic existence with Higgins or a life on her own

Two interior and one exterior set

Runs about 1 hour, 45 minutes

REVIEWS

"Shaw's play on class and language finds a new home in another country, context and time, and it's a surprisingly fine fit creates African-American characters who are believable, relatable and honest" ~ The Hartford Courant

"Higgins in Harlem invites that ever-thorny conversation about race, assimilation, cultural appropriation and America" ~ broadwayworld.com

"Delivers on its promise to be a fresh and entertaining re-invention of a theatrical masterpiece" ~ NBC Connecticut