Saffian and Franklin pose as Doolittle and Higgins.

Courtesy | Trinity Bird 

 

When Kelly Franklin turned 40, his wife said he should fulfill his lifelong dream of starring in a musical. At the end of this month, the associate professor of English will take the stage as professor Henry Higgins in a production of “My Fair Lady.” Along with him on stage are Hillsdale sophomore Maggie Saffian as Eliza Doolittle and freshman Alethia Diener as an ensemble member.

“My Fair Lady” premieres Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. at The Sauk, Hillsdale County’s community theater, in Jonesville. The show also runs on Jan. 31 and Feb. 6, 7, and 8 at 8 p.m.; and Feb. 1, 2, and 9 at 3 p.m.

“I had done community theater with my mother when I was a kid, so I got a taste of it there,” Franklin said. “I knew I wanted to do a musical because I like to sing.”

Franklin said he was inspired by his wife’s performance as a nun in “The Sound of Music” at The Sauk in 2023.

“I was jealous the whole time. I was so glad she was doing it but I thought ‘I want to be in a play too,’” Franklin said.

After watching The Sauk’s schedule of upcoming musicals, Franklin finally decided “My Fair Lady” was his show.

The musical tells the story of professor Henry Higgins, who bets a friend that he can turn the low-class Eliza Doolittle into a cultured woman of high society. Higgins and Doolittle form an unlikely friendship as they navigate their new worlds together.

Saffians will play Eliza Doolittle for the second time in her theater career.

She grew up in Brooklyn, New York where she watched a dozen Broadway musicals with her grandmother. Her love of the theater started when she met the cast of “Anastasia” on Broadway. Saffian said she first recognized the magic of the stage when she starred as Eliza Doolittle in her high school’s production of “My Fair Lady.”

She described her audition this time around as a full-circle moment.

“Funnily enough, I went to The Sauk’s version of ‘Anastasia,’ and saw ‘My Fair Lady’ when I was looking at their upcoming shows,” Saffian said. “I thought what are the odds that if I audition, I end up in the same role I played three years ago.”

Saffian was cast as Doolittle and made the decision to stay in Hillsdale over break to rehearse.

“I think Eliza is a little more annoying than she was three years ago,” Saffian said. “But that’s the point. If she’s loud at the beginning, the change becomes more dynamic.”

Saffian also praised her co-star’s grasp on his own character and stage performance in general.

“This is Dr. Franklin’s first show in community theater,” Saffian said. “And you’d never know. So impressive. He’s such a lovely man and he’s been super fun to work with.”

Franklin himself said he had some advantages going into this role.

“In some ways, it felt like type casting,” Franklin said. “I’m an English professor playing an English professor.”

Still, he said, the learning curve has been steep. For one thing, professor Higgins is written as a harsh man. 

“My wife told me I was playing the character a little too nice,” Franklin said. “My director looked at me and said ‘You’re a very nice man… and that’s a problem.’”

Franklin admitted that he does not read music, and he never had any formal one-on-one training, but that changed when he hired a local voice coach to prepare for his audition.

“It’s required me to learn a bunch of crazy, new skills,” Franklin said. “I have found that because I do language and reading for a living, memorizing has come more easily. It’s the dancing that’s the hardest.”

Diener, a Hillsdale native and graduate of Hillsdale Academy, said she first took the stage in fourth grade and has been in 14 performances since.

“I played Ernestine Gilbreth in The Sauk’s performance of ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ in spring of 2022, so when I saw that they were putting on ‘My Fair Lady,’ I knew I had to audition,” Diener said. “It’s been a favorite musical of mine for at least a decade.”

Franklin said the cast is ready to be on stage and show the community what they’ve put together.

“So much goes into a show. I think more goes in than people often realize,” he said. “It’s been such a long process. We’ve put in a ton of hours and we’re ready to tell the story.”