Phil Mallet & Grace Leslie star in YouTube Movie, directed by OLGC Music Director John Leslie!
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West Boylston residents Phil Mallet and Grace Leslie appear in a Youtube video recording of “PYGMALION”, by George Bernard Shaw. This play was the basis for the musical comedy “My Fair Lady.” Phil plays Henry Higgins’s colleague Colonel Pickering, and Grace plays Henry Higgins’s mother, Mrs. Higgins. Also in the cast is former W. B. music teacher Sally Holden as Eliza Doolittle.
John Leslie, organist at OLGC, directed the cast of nine Massachusetts actors from Saratoga, California, where he is temporarily caring for his 95 year old uncle. Rehearsals and recordings at a 3,000 mile distance were made possible by the great innovation in technology: ZOOM.
The video on YouTube is a recording of a live Zoom reading of the original “Pygmalion” script, prepared by John’s J.E.M.S. Theatre of West Boylston, complete with Opening Credits, music-video excerpts between each of the acts, and Closing Credits with cast bios and bows. The actors are reading their scripts, wearing a semblance of costumes and some props; but they are providing all the vocal and facial expression needed to engage you, the viewers. (The script is in the Public Domain, and has been adapted for Zoom reading by John Leslie.)
The finished video was edited by Allyn Phelps, who was the Music Director for “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” performed at OLGC in the summer 2019.
The link to the YouTube video is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fnq37KuJMw&t=26s
It has been posted on YouTube for all to see, free of charge. Since this is the full-length play, it is almost three hours in length, so you might choose to sit with your favorite movie snacks and beverage to watch it all, or watch a different act at different sittings, depending on your available time. Since the viewing is always free, you can go to watch as often as you need or want.
Although the viewing is free, we all realize that all Arts organizations have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, so we suggest and encourage all watchers to make a contribution to any local Arts Organization.
If you would like to make a contribution to JEMS Theatre, you may send a check payable to JEMS Theater to JEMS Theatre, c/o 21 Applewood Rd., West Boylston, MA. 01583. Or you may make a donation via PayPal at: paypal.me/JEMSWestBoylston
"The show must go on.”
Thank you for reading . . . and for watching!
Pax,
John Leslie