Not every college student takes a reading day study break to see a play about the science of language — but the unorthodox decision to switch textbooks for a theater ticket was a rewarding experience … And The Classic Center’s showing of “My Fair Lady” actually made linguistic study hilarious to watch.

Actress Aurora Florence played Cockney girl Eliza Doolittle, who longs to be a lady, and did a phenomenal job of butchering the English language — so much so that subtitles would have been a welcome interruption at certain points in the show.

Timing and delivery were spot on for all of the jokes.

However, humor was only a small part of the show’s entertainment factor, which also included a series of set pieces and strong production design that made the show look as good as it sounded.

Fabulous, flashy costumes, elaborate sets (complete with plush furniture and a winding staircase), awesome vocals and lively choreography made for a captivating show.

During a scene at a horse race, enormous hats bedazzled with rhinestones and feathers stole the show until Eliza caused an uproar when she lost her composure over a bet.

The cast’s English accents sounded authentic – not forced – and attention to detail even carried over to the high-water hemlines of the poor people’s pants.

If the show wasn’t a musical riddled with spontaneous singing, audience applause and laughter would have been the only cues indicating that the scenes weren’t real.

But though the show itself was excellent, it wasn’t perfect either.

In one of the opening scenes a lampshade was knocked sideways and left that way for several minutes. Also, during a dance by the townspeople, a chunk of hair dislodged from one woman’s up-do.  And for Georgians un-phased by 70-degree days in December, the theater’s temperature was chilly.

One of the ushers crossed her arms and curled forward to ease her shivering, and no one in the back rows of the floor removed their coats.

Some of these quirks help make live shows special though.

They are constant reminders that the note held for 10 seconds in the last song came from a real person only feet away; it makes the precision of the line dancing in the last scene a really, truly impressive.

And in the song “Get Me to the Church on Time,” actor Arthur Wise (playing Alfred Doolittle) gets drunk and had convincing missteps that had to be improvised.

By the end of the show, the theater was clearly a better study break than living room TV would have been.

For a night where the SLC showed that the Arch wasn’t the only area being occupied, foregoing pencils and notebooks to watch an actress practice her vowels was the right choice to make.