Synopsis
My Fair Lady is another musical which has its origins in literature. Based on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, it tells the story of a young Cockney flower girl called Eliza Doolittle who is selling flowers to the posh opera patrons waiting in Covent Garden for their taxi's home. She runs into a posh young man called Freddy and shouts at him, making a bit of a scene, when her flowers all spill in the mud. She gets even angrier when she realises there is an older gentleman copying down her speech. He is Professor Henry Higgins and his field of study is phonetics. He is fascinated by Eliza's awful accent and speech and claims that in six months he could turn her into a lady by teaching her to speak properly. Another linguist called Colonel Pickering happens to be in the area (he has just bought one of Eliza's flowers) and Higgins invites him to stay in his London home.
The next day Eliza presents herself at Professor Higgins' house for speech lessons so that she can get a job in a florist's shop. Pickering bets Higgins that he cannot come good on his claim from the night before and volunteers to pay for all the lessons needed. Higgins takes on the challenge and starts immediately with the plan of getting her ready for the Embassy Ball in six months time. Eliza's father hears that Eliza has been taken in by the Professor and thinks that he can make a bit of money out of the situation so storms into the house making accusations about Eliza's virtue being compromised. He agrees to go away if he is paid five pounds, undoubtably a large sum of money for a poor man at the time, so Eliza's lessons can continue. As time goes on Eliza begins to hate Henry and the drills he is constantly making her do. She dreams up ways to kill him (my favourite song in the show - Just You Wait) and just as he is about to give up she miraculously speaks perfectly and Higgins decides to try her out at his mother's royal box at Ascot. Eliza, whilst speaking with a good accent throughout has not lost her Cockney ways and speaks in slang and generally gets things wrong, shocking the posh people she is surrounded by. Freddy, from the opening scene, is charmed by Eliza and whilst he doesn't recognise her he vows to win her heart and says he will wait as long as he needs to when she rejects him.
The real test is at the Embassy Ball where Eliza dances with a Prince and is revealed to be a success. A rival phonetician proudly announced that Eliza has Hungarian origins and is a princess. Higgins is overjoyed by his achievement and celebrates with Pickering, completely ignoring Eliza which annoys her greatly. She decides to leave which both confuses and annoys the men, neither of them understanding why Eliza is being so ungrateful. On the street Freddy is still waiting and she takes him to Covent Garden where her old friends do not recognise her. Eliza's father is there as well, dressed in his best suit and preparing to get married, not that he's entirely happy about it.
The next morning Higgins realises how much he has grown to like having Eliza around and struggles to get by without her there to help. He turns to his mother for help but finds that Eliza is there having tea. They argue whilst pretending to be polite to each other but it is clear that Eliza was very hurt by Henry's attitude and says that he will always see her as a flowergirl and not a lady. As he walks home he is still stubbornly not admitting to himself why he misses having Eliza around but the audience knows it's because he has fallen in love with her. It seems like it will be too late and that Eliza will end up with Freddy but the final scene brings Henry and Eliza back together, even if it's left on a bit of a cliff hanger.
The next day Eliza presents herself at Professor Higgins' house for speech lessons so that she can get a job in a florist's shop. Pickering bets Higgins that he cannot come good on his claim from the night before and volunteers to pay for all the lessons needed. Higgins takes on the challenge and starts immediately with the plan of getting her ready for the Embassy Ball in six months time. Eliza's father hears that Eliza has been taken in by the Professor and thinks that he can make a bit of money out of the situation so storms into the house making accusations about Eliza's virtue being compromised. He agrees to go away if he is paid five pounds, undoubtably a large sum of money for a poor man at the time, so Eliza's lessons can continue. As time goes on Eliza begins to hate Henry and the drills he is constantly making her do. She dreams up ways to kill him (my favourite song in the show - Just You Wait) and just as he is about to give up she miraculously speaks perfectly and Higgins decides to try her out at his mother's royal box at Ascot. Eliza, whilst speaking with a good accent throughout has not lost her Cockney ways and speaks in slang and generally gets things wrong, shocking the posh people she is surrounded by. Freddy, from the opening scene, is charmed by Eliza and whilst he doesn't recognise her he vows to win her heart and says he will wait as long as he needs to when she rejects him.
The real test is at the Embassy Ball where Eliza dances with a Prince and is revealed to be a success. A rival phonetician proudly announced that Eliza has Hungarian origins and is a princess. Higgins is overjoyed by his achievement and celebrates with Pickering, completely ignoring Eliza which annoys her greatly. She decides to leave which both confuses and annoys the men, neither of them understanding why Eliza is being so ungrateful. On the street Freddy is still waiting and she takes him to Covent Garden where her old friends do not recognise her. Eliza's father is there as well, dressed in his best suit and preparing to get married, not that he's entirely happy about it.
The next morning Higgins realises how much he has grown to like having Eliza around and struggles to get by without her there to help. He turns to his mother for help but finds that Eliza is there having tea. They argue whilst pretending to be polite to each other but it is clear that Eliza was very hurt by Henry's attitude and says that he will always see her as a flowergirl and not a lady. As he walks home he is still stubbornly not admitting to himself why he misses having Eliza around but the audience knows it's because he has fallen in love with her. It seems like it will be too late and that Eliza will end up with Freddy but the final scene brings Henry and Eliza back together, even if it's left on a bit of a cliff hanger.
Characters
- Eliza Doolittle - Cockney flower girl who dreams of working as an assistant in a florist shop.
- Henry Higgins - A Professor of phonetics who is clueless about the opposite sex.
- Colonel Pickering - Equally clueless about women, a phoneticist.
- Freddy Eynsford-Hill - Falls in love with Eliza.
- Alfred P. Doolittle - Eliza's father, dustman by trade.
- Mrs Higgins - Henry's mother, a socialite.
- Mrs Pearce - Henry's housekeeper.
Popular Songs
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Eliza in full Cockney mode at the beginning of the film singing "Wouldn't it be loverly" before she is 'discovered' and becomes a lady.
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Creators
Music by Frederick Loewe
Born Friedrich Lowe in June 1901 in Berlin, Germanny. His father was a famous Jewish operetta star who performed in tours across Europe and America. Loewe learnt to play piano by ear at an early age and helped his father rehearse. He began composing his own songs aged seven. At 13 he became the youngerst every piano soloist to appear with the Berlin Philharmonic. He travelled to New York with his father and had a dream to write for Broadway although things didn't go smoothly. He had to take many other jobs including accompanying silent films in movie theatres but also gold mining, prize fighting and cattle punching. He met Alan Jay Lerner in 1942 and the pair created a very successful partnership. Loewe died in 1988 and is buried in California, having spent his final years in retirement in Palm Springs.
Born Friedrich Lowe in June 1901 in Berlin, Germanny. His father was a famous Jewish operetta star who performed in tours across Europe and America. Loewe learnt to play piano by ear at an early age and helped his father rehearse. He began composing his own songs aged seven. At 13 he became the youngerst every piano soloist to appear with the Berlin Philharmonic. He travelled to New York with his father and had a dream to write for Broadway although things didn't go smoothly. He had to take many other jobs including accompanying silent films in movie theatres but also gold mining, prize fighting and cattle punching. He met Alan Jay Lerner in 1942 and the pair created a very successful partnership. Loewe died in 1988 and is buried in California, having spent his final years in retirement in Palm Springs.
Lyrics and Book by Alan Jay Lerner
Alan was born in New York and was educated in England, Conneticut and Harvard. He was a classmate of John F. Kennedy and worked with him to create a school yearbook. His career in musical theatre began when he wrote for the annual Harvard Hasty Puddings musicals. He later studied composition at Juliard. An accident during a boxing match meant he lost sight in his left eye and as a result he could not serve in the Second World War. He spent the war instead writing radio scripts before he was introduced to Loewe. Together they wrote Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot. when Loewe retired Lerner continued to write with inconsistent success. For more than 20 year he battled an amphetamine addiction although he still found time to marry eight times. He died of lung cancer at the age of 67.
Alan was born in New York and was educated in England, Conneticut and Harvard. He was a classmate of John F. Kennedy and worked with him to create a school yearbook. His career in musical theatre began when he wrote for the annual Harvard Hasty Puddings musicals. He later studied composition at Juliard. An accident during a boxing match meant he lost sight in his left eye and as a result he could not serve in the Second World War. He spent the war instead writing radio scripts before he was introduced to Loewe. Together they wrote Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot. when Loewe retired Lerner continued to write with inconsistent success. For more than 20 year he battled an amphetamine addiction although he still found time to marry eight times. He died of lung cancer at the age of 67.
Notable Productions
My Fair Lady premiered on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 15th, 1956. it transferred to the Broadhurst Theatre and then later the Bradway Theatre. It closed after 2717 performances which was a record at the time.
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Rex Harrison played Henry Higgins in the orginal broadway cast and reprised his role in the film version of the musical. Eliza Doolittle was originally played by Julie Andrews but controversially was not given the role in the film. These two both also played in the original West End Production which opened in 1958 and ran for five and a half years.
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The film version was released in November 1964 staring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. It won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Direction. The order of the musical numbers is very faithful to the stage production although the intermission is moved to be before the Embassy ball rather than afterwards.
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Several revivals and touring productions of My Fair Lady have had success in the years since the original runs. The 2001 London Revival won five Olivier Awards including Outstanding Musical Production and Best Actress in a Musical which was won by Martine McCutcheon. It was nominated for five further awards.
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Interesting Facts
- A widely known, but still interesting fact about the film version is that Audrey Hepburn didn't sing the songs and had to be dubbed by Marni Nixon. The only song which wasn't dubbed was "Just You Wait" where her harsher tones in the chorus fitted well although the more tuneful sections were still dubbed.
- On the opening night in it's pre-Broadway run Rex Harrison got a little freaked by having a live orchestra and locked himself in his dressing room announcing that "under no circumstances would he go on that night... with those thirty-two interlopers in the pit". He eventually came out an hour before curtain up and the show was a great success.
- "Say a Prayer for me Tonight" which features in the musical Gigi was originally in My Fair Lady but dropped early on.
Am Dram Corner
The amateur rights for this musical are not currently available (which usually means it's about to start a new run in the West End or a tour is in the offing) so sadly I've not been able to be in My Fair Lady or see an amateur production for quite some time. I was lucky enough to be a street urchin and maid in a production when I was about 14 years old and though there are no videos I have a few pictures to share with you.
Sources