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Speak The Speech, I Pray Thee

"Great fun," is actor Chris Vettel's summary of his role as Professor Henry Higgins in the Cardinal Stage Company's production of My Fair Lady.

Vettel , a New York based actor, is a veteran of plays and musicals. "This is the second time that I've played the role of the Professor. When I think about the part, I always come back to the dialogue. Frankly, in most musicals the dialogue is just something that comes between the songs. In My Fair Lady it's often directly from George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion. He was one of our greatest playwrights. Really, the speeches that he gives Higgins and Liza is word music."

Chloe Sabin is also a New York-based actor in town for the production. According to Twitter, in between sessions of hard work on the show she's been "frolicking around Bloomington." Elaborating vocally, she says, "I have been looking into the shops, especially the vintage clothing boutiques. In addition, I've enjoyed a few of the bars and of course walking on campus. I went to college in an urban school just a big building-and IU is quite a treat.

Like Vettel, Sabin has high praise for Shaw's 'word music.' In the audio of this interview, you can hear Sabin doing Liza's different accents, before and after her training by Higgins, and even Vettel imitating the early Liza.

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