Go! review

Maybe it’s because there’s a George Bernard Shaw plot driving it, or maybe it’s because the tunes are memorable and hummable, but there aren’t many musicals that can endure the years as well as “My Fair Lady.”

The current national tour running at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, based on last year’s West End revival, updates the look to give it a darker look that suits the story appropriately, but Christopher Cazenove’s harsh portrayal of Professor Henry Higgins doesn’t fare as well. If we are to believe that Eliza Doolittle would have kind feelings for him at all are lost in his insidious insults and bluster. The point of this production, in fact, is to pay homage to Shaw’s “Pygmalion” by not having a happy romantic ending, but why this Higgins has any friends at all is beyond belief. And it’s hard to believe that someone could be off-key in a talking song.

That said, however, Lisa O’Hare is a delightful Eliza and her transformation from flower girl to princess is remarkable. Tim Jerome brings a comic energy to the part of her father, Alfred Doolittle, that nearly stops the show. His signature number, “With a Little Bit of Luck,” with its “Stomp”-inspired choreography is one of the highlights of the show.

The sets, too, are eye-popping, using a series of arches in creative ways, and Higgins’ study is probably as dense and elaborate as any touring production set ever.

It’s also fun to see Sally Ann Howes as Professor Higgins’ mother. Howes, best known as Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” replaced Julie Andrews in the original Broadway production of “My Fair Lady” in 1958. Her charming advice to Eliza, then, comes off as quite sincere and wise from experience.

• WHAT: “My Fair Lady”
• WHERE: Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut, Cincinnati
• WHEN: Tuesday through Oct. 7
• COST: $30-$60
• MORE INFO: (513) 621-2787; www.cincinnatiarts.org