In this article we're going to review the Broadway production of one of the most popular musicals in the history of Broadway musicals. Actually, My Fair Lady did not originate on Broadway. It was first performed in England in 1956. Since that time though it has been seen all over the world with a number of revivals, the most recent in 2001 at the Lyttelton Theater.
The original play featured Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison in the lead roles as Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins. Unfortunately, when they made the movie in 1965, Andrews was unavailable and Audrey Hepburn was cast in the role of Doolittle. Hepburn was a great actress but was no singer, so the vocals had to be dubbed in.
The story of My Fair Lady actually comes from the play Pygmalion about a professor of English who makes a bet that he can turn an ordinary street girl with the manners of a cat into a lady. Needless to say, Higgins wins the bet and at the end, in spite of a long and rocky road between beginning and end.
But My Fair Lady, as a musical, is more than just the story of street girl Doolittle turned into a woman of breeding. As a musical it featured some of the most beautiful and wonderful songs that ever hit the stage and screen.
The music was written by the very talented Frederick Lowe with the lyrics penned by an equally talented man by the name of Alan Jay Lerner.
The opening overture sets the tone for the play, showcasing bits and pieces of the show's main songs. The first tune, sung by Doolittle, is "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" where she sings about how wonderful life would be just to have a room somewhere, far away from the cold night air. Just one enormous chair. This song sets the tone for how simple a woman Doolittle really was.
Higgins on the other hand was rather pompous and full of himself, which he showcases in songs like "Why Can't The English" where he questions why English people speak so horribly while everyone else in the world (even Hebrews who speak it backward) speak correctly.
Well, Higgins finds Doolittle and takes on his project. Over time she begins to see what a pompous ass he really is and really lets him have it in a powerful song titled "Without You" where she tells Higgins that the world will do quite nicely without him in it.
Eventually, after Doolittle leaves, Higgins realizes how much he misses her with the incomparable "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face."
But at the end Doolittle returns to Higgins when she realizes that she really does love him. The music at the end where the orchestra plays "I Could Have Danced All Night," one of the show stoppers, could just break your heart if you've got one.
My Fair Lady is not just a musical. It's a masterpiece of art that everyone should experience at least once before they leave this world. And there's no need to go to the theater to do so. Just pick up the original London Recording with Harrison and Andrews.
You'll never hear anything like it again.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Entertainment
