Interview: MY FAIR LADY's Laird Mackintosh Reigns In Spain All Over The U.S.

The national tour of MY FAIR LADY opens October 7th in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre, running through October 31st, and in Costa Mesa at Segerstrom Center for the Arts January 11th through 23rd. Bartlett Sher directs this timeless story of Professor Henry Higgins' experiment to transform the social standings of Eliza Doolittle, a lowly flower girl, to one fitting comfortably in high society. MY FAIR LADY, brimming with familiar musical standards, stars Laird Mackintosh as Professor Higgins and Shereen Ahmed as Eliza Doolittle.

Had the chance to catch Laird during his offstage time before his evening performance.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Laird! How did opening at the Majestic in San Antonio go?

It went really well! Really Well! Thank you. It's been wonderful. We had a great comeback last week in Houston. The audiences here have been excellent, really enthusiastic, and really with the show laughing and listening. We're all feeling great about it. There really is a probable difference between the pre-COVID audiences and the ones that we have now. People are so happy to be back in the theater. And we are too.

How was it the first time back live on stage in Houston?

Oh, it was great. We put the show up quite quickly. But of course, we have done the show before. There's a great energy in the cast right now and a great feeling out on stage. Everybody is coming back to this with a real sense of gratitude and sense of purpose, being able to take this show around now. We don't take it for granted.

Have you worked with anybody in this touring cast or creatives before?

I work with my wife Polly Baird. She's in the show with me right now. And we did PHANTOM together, although she is actually just leaving the show now. It's been a scheduling situation. COVID has turned everything on its head. But in terms of the creatives, no, I did not. I've never worked with Bart Sher before. I haven't worked with John Bell, our conductor. And I have not worked with Ted Sperling, our music supervisor. My leading lady Shereen is someone I have not worked with either. And every one of them has been a delight and revelation. It's been a real pleasure for me to be working with them. We have a lot of people in the cast who worked together on Broadway, but I wasn't one of them. Because I came from PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. That was my route. I feel so incredibly lucky to be doing this show. I saw MY FAIR LADY at Lincoln Center. And basically just thought I would do anything to do to be in that show. And then, thank you! It worked out.

Did you see the 1964 film My Fair Lady when you were young?

O my God, of course, yes! I've seen it many times. I'm also familiar with the film Pygmalion with Leslie Howard. I grew up being very familiar with the score of My Fair Lady because my father, like so many people, had that score. I think at the time, the recording of My Fair Lady, if I'm not mistaken, was the biggest selling album of all time when it was released. My dad loved the show. As a 12-year-old I was familiar with the score. My dad used to quote Henry Higgins to me.

You know, exactly twenty years ago to the season, I played Freddy up in Stratford at the Stratford Festival. My first introduction to MY FAIR LADY and I never would have imagined that I could play Higgins. But Bartlett has envisioned it twenty years later a slightly younger Henry Higgins. The opportunity just came around. It is great. Good fortune on my part.

Although you played Freddy Eynsford-Hill in 2002, did you have to relearn the entire show from Professor Higgins' perspective?

Oh, yes, of course. It's a monster role for sure. I think it might be possible that this is the biggest in musical theater for a male. I can't think of one that would be bigger than this in terms of the size of the material. It's a gigantic book. So much of it is taken out of Pygmalion, and it's a three-hour show. There's a ton of beautiful dialogue in the show, which is amazing and rare to have this much material to sink your teeth into as an actor in a musical. But yes, I had to learn it. from the ground up for Higgins. I certainly was not off book for that part.

You've also played several different characters in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA.

Yes, that's true. I had a similar thing of playing the young romantic lead in PHANTOM, Raoul back in the 90s. And then I got to revisit that show on Broadway, similarly, twenty years later. I just aged up into the role of Mr. Andre and got to play the Phantom again as well, which I had understudied up in the Toronto production, where I got my start.

Is it more of a challenge for you to relearn a show you've done before as a different character, or to just learn a new show from scratch?

Oh, I think the challenge is probably the same. Although..., in MY FAIR LADY Higgins does not interact in terms of the dialogue with Freddy. In PHANTOM I played Raoul and then I played Andre, and they do have scenes together where they sing together. So occasionally when I was playing Andre, I would hear a line of dialogue or vocal line from Raoul and open my mouth to sing it. I never got in as much difficulty with that as some of the swings on Broadway. At the same time, they play Andre, and they play Raoul, and they play the Phantom. When I played the Phantom, there's a big trio at the end of the show that the Phantom sings with Raoul and Christine. And often I would have the impulse to sing the line that Raoul sings. But didn't quite do it fortunately!

Can you describe your audition process for your role of Professor Higgins?

Yes. As I said, I saw the show on Broadway. I fell in love with it. I called my agent and said, "If they have any replacements coming up for the Broadway production, any role to get into that show, I would love to do it." And nothing came up for the Broadway production. But my agent called me and said, "I've got something better. They're doing a tour. And you're going to go in for Higgins." So that's how it happened. I went in and met Bart. Did my first audition and I got a callback. I think the callback was about a week later, might have been a bit longer. And at that point I knew that I was in the running for it. I came back and at the audition, there was quite a big panel of people there including representatives of the Lerner and Loewe estates. I just did my material again. I had a few scenes and one of the songs that I learned. Bart worked with me quite a bit. I knew that he was interested in me when we started really working. The auditions were long, which is great. Of course, I was praying the whole time that I would get the role. Very, very, very few things would make me ever consider leaving PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on Broadway. I was so lucky to be a part of that show. And to have that incredible, unusual job to be in a long running show on Broadway. But the chance to play Henry Higgins was irresistible. Especially in such a such a beautiful production.

You started your professional career with the National Ballet of Canada when you were 21. What spurred you on to switch careers from ballet to musical theatre?

I started taking singing lessons when I was quite young. So the singing really came first for me. Then I had a brief five-year, super focused time in my life when I was dancing. But once I was in the company in the National Ballet, which was in Toronto, I just knew that I was still interested in singing and acting. So I didn't stay there. I told the director I'm going to leave and pursue this other path. And that's what I did. In some ways, I wish I had stayed with ballet longer. But it did launch me into the musical theater world. The show that I got into after I left the ballet was PHANTOM in Toronto in '93. There is a role for a male ballet dancer in PHANTOM. But I didn't get that. I got the role of Raoul's understudy. I started in the ensemble and understudied Raoul. I didn't really use my dancing full-out in PHANTOM, but it always was something that that was a great skill for me to have because I did end up using it in many different roles that I played. The ability to move and being comfortable with moving on stage, that's helped me in my career.

With your ballet experience in partnering was it a piece of cake to learn your tango and waltzes with Shereen in "The Rain in Spain" and at the Embassy Ball?

Yes, it wasn't too hard. But you'd be surprised when you don't do something for 25 years, you don't really lose it. I don't consider myself to be a ballet dancer or really any type of dancer anymore. But yes, it has been comfortable doing waltzing. Although sometimes the choreographers are looking at me sideways and going, "You used to be a ballet dancer? Why can't he learn this faster?" Shereen and I had a little quick moment when we do a little tango together in "The Rain in Spain." A few moments to go for a little twirl onstage.

Do you have a song in the show you just love to sing?

I always love singing" I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" at the end of the show. There was such a build and momentum and a climb to that moment in the show when everything becomes clear to Higgins, maybe still not completely clear, because he's still working things out. But I should say when things dawn on Higgins finally, too late. It's a beautiful moment. I think I can feel it for the audience as well, because the song is so gorgeous. The first strains of music of that song. It's famous, that "Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!" Pause. "I've gotten accustomed to her face," and then this gorgeous orchestration comes in. We feel that throughout the entire show because it is one famous, beautiful melody after another. And it's so lovely for audiences to be hearing that. And I think it's a beautiful show for people to return to theater and see after this long absence.

You are truly a Renaissance man. Not only do you dance, sing and act, you also do portraits in paint and in photos. What facial features or attributes do you look to paint or shoot?

I've been thinking about doing pictures of some of my cast mates in costume. I have to admit that part of what interests me is the look that they have in their costumes. I like to paint a certain sartorial. I like the look of clothes, certain types of clothing. Style, that's something I'm interested in. I just tried to go see a John Singer Sargent painting here at the museum in San Antonio. I was highly anticipating seeing this portrait that I'd never seen before. Sargent is my favorite painter, but unfortunately, it's not on display right now because they had a pipe burst in March and they've taken it off display. Despite my attempts to see it, I even wrote a letter to one of the curators, but there's no way I can get in and even see it in storage. But apropos of that, Sergeant was very much interested in the effect of the look of clothing and fabrics, as an exercise trying to render and paint certain fabrics.

Your re-started tour will hit twenty-three cities. Any particular city you're anxious to play in?

I'm really looking forward to Los Angeles. I have friends in Los Angeles. I have friends who are coming to the show. Of course, if you're in the business like we are, I think you love L.A. I have never lived there. But I have been tempted to live in L.A. I'm fascinated by Los Angeles, so I can't wait to get there.

I love it where we are right now here in San Antonio. I am very much looking forward to going back to Chicago, which has a soft spot in my heart. When I first came down from Canada ten or twelve years ago to start working here in the States, I was doing MARY POPPINS. We rehearsed and launched the show to tour in Chicago, so that we were there for a long time. Chicago is burned in my heart. Actually, I have a Chicago phone number still. And I've got the Chicago Cubs on my credit card. Those are the places I'm looking forward to. I like every city we go to. I've toured now two or three times to most of these places. It's kind of fun to come back and go into the theaters and try and find the show tags. All the touring shows do this in all the theaters, the old theaters anyway. They do these show tags on the walls where we will paint our poster on the wall, and then everybody signs it. I'm finding these posters. My favorite MARY POPPINS tag in San Antonio is painted on a great big round pipe in the basement. I had to really look and find that one, but it's been fun.

I've never played the Dolby in Los Angeles before. I've been at the Ahmanson a couple times and I've been at the Pantages. But I've never played in the Dolby. So that'll be cool, too.

On your off-stage time, what do you like to explore in a new city?

I like to do I think what most people do. I like to go find some nice restaurants. I like to go to the museums, for sure. That's my number one thing as I'm a real museum goer. I like to find a good bookstore, or coffee shop, those kinds of things. I spend a lot of time just resting and hydrating and eating. For this, I cannot eat too crazy. I'm living kind of a monk's existence these days. The vocal demands are very high in this show. I know that Shereen feels the same way. We just are living for the show right now. But you know, the further we get along, we might get into a rhythm where we can spend a little bit more time out exploring the cities.

What's the first thing you unpack to place on your dressing room table?

The first thing that I unpacked to place on my dressing room table - my water bottles. That's the number one for Henry Higgins, my water bottles and pomade. Ricolas. Gatorade.

Any touring tips you can pass on to touring newbies?

Pack light. That would be my biggest tip. And that is not a tip that I adhere to myself.

Your tour has dates booked through July 2022. Too soon to plan the latter half of 2022?

I don't know if it's been announced tonight, but I think we do have dates beyond that, maybe August. Dates that haven't been announced yet. For me it is a little bit too early to plan, although I would like to be planning what I'm doing. But we're going to get a full year out of it, more than year if you consider what we already played three months, a year and a half ago. We had year-long contracts, but actually, it's going to end up being more like thirteen months.

Fortunately for us, now that we've come back, I think they added some cities. I mean, it's incredible. I think they really take the best part of the year to line up these tours in the best of times. But with the pandemic, everything just got dashed. And they really had to scramble to line up all the new cities, but I think we got some new cities out of it. So no, I would love to be planning. I'm thinking ahead. I don't have anything lined up after the tour yet, but it's probably too far off yet.

Your tour began in December 2019. What city were you in when the lockdown occurred?

We were in Columbus, Ohio.

Talking to you right now, I don't hear any trace of a Canadian accent. Is it easy for you to switch from Canadian to British to an American accent?

Yeah, it's easy for me to do a British accent now. The Canadian accent, some people say that they hear me say it 'abute' and 'ute-side,' once in a while. I think from living down here and working in the theater. I had to play some American roles when I was up in Canada. We're up at Stratford, so I had to become aware of what the Canadian sounds were. I probably tend to say 'about' or 'outside' now, or something in between. I don't say 'abute' or 'ute-side' anymore. I've got a bit of a hybrid accent now. I have softened it a bit now... Although, when I'd speak to my mom on the phone up in Canada, or my brother, I hear their accents. I go, "Oh, my God! My mom sounds Canadian!" Of course, you're never aware that you have an accent. You think everybody else does.

Thank you again, Laird. I look forward to meeting your Professor Higgins.

Thank you, Gil. We are very excited to come to L.A. I hope you have a great time at the show. We're up there just working our butts off. It's a beautiful production, we're really, really proud of it. I hope you enjoy it.

For tickets to the live performances of MY FAIR LADY in Los Angeles through October 31, 2021; in Costa Mesa at Segerstrom Center for the Arts January 11-23, 2022; as well as for other tour cities; log onto www.myfairladyontour.com