Сценарий спектакля моя прекрасная леди

1. Сценарий для спектакля по к/ф «Моя прекрасная леди»               (Б. Шоу «Пигмалион»)            
2. Составитель: учитель русского языка и литературы  Ганзенко Л.Т.        

                              Моя прекрасная леди

Сцена 1   (Знать ходит по сцене. Дождь. Зонты. Появляется Элиза, прячась от дождя. Сталкивается с кем-то, роняет корзинку с фиалками).

Эл.    Смотри, куда идёшь, дорогой. Два пучка фиалок втоптаны в грязь.

Кто-то   Мне так жаль!

(Элиза поднимается, садится)

Эл.   Испортил цветы бедной девушке.

                                (Подходит полковник, прячась от дождя)

Полк.   Этот дождь никогда не закончится!

Эл.     Выше нос, капитан! Купи фиалки.

Полк.    Сожалею, у меня нет мелочи.  А, есть монета, возьмите.                  

(Отдаёт,  уходит. Элиза прячет монету под юбку. Появляется проф. Хиггенс, останавливается около Элизы, что-то записывает. Она смотрит  на него, обходит вокруг, начинает кричать.)

Эл.      Ты зачем меня записываешь?! Я не сделала ничего плохого! Он               хочет забрать мои деньги, посадить в полицию.

Проф.     Ну, ну, ну, ну! Кто тебя трогает,  глупая!

Кто-то       Он не полицейский, он учёный.

Эл.            Он плохой. Он обижает женщин. Как ему не стыдно!  (Орёт)

Проф.     Женщина,  прекрати этот рёв, быстро, или иди в другое место.

Эл.          Где хочу, там и сижу.

Проф.    Женщина, издающая такие дикие звуки, не имеет права быть нигде. Не имеет права жить. Запомни, ты человек! У тебя есть душа и дар речи. Нужно говорить красиво.    (Элиза орёт.)     (Проф. капитану) Посмотрите, как плохо она говорит звуки. Придушить бы её! (Эл. орёт) Боже, что за звуки!

Эл.                    Что ты такое говоришь?!

Проф.          Тебе не понять. Ты — мятый капустный лист. Ты – позор для языка!  Я бы мог из тебя сделать королеву.

Эл.                Кхэ-э-э, вы верите в это, капитан?!

Полк.        Всё может быть. Я сам изучаю языки.

Проф.       Может быть, вы знаете полковника Смитта?

Полк.   Это я.

Проф.    О-о-о,  я так хотел с вами познакомиться!

Полк.   А вы кто?

Проф.   Я профессор Хиггенс.

Полк.      Вот так встреча! Я ехал к вам.

Проф.    Идёмте ко мне, поболтаем.  (Идут.  Элиза бежит за ними)

Эл.   Купите цветов, мне нужны деньги на питание.

Проф.       Он дал тебе монету. Лгунья!

Эл.         Чтоб тебе гвоздей наглотаться!

                (Бьёт ногой по корзинке, которая летит в профессора)

                    На, забирай эту чёртову корзину!

(Проф. Сыплет мелочь в корзину. Уходят. Элиза подбегает, подбирает мелочь. Вокруг неё собираются обитатели базарной площади. Эл. считает деньги.)

Кто-то    О!  Ты теперь богатая!  Куда поедешь?  

(Элиза поёт. Танец Эл. и торговцев. Затем ей вручают кочан капусты вместо цветов. Она  мечтательно её обнимает и уходит.)

             Сцена  2               Дулиттл  и двое друзей

Друзья                        Пошли домой!

Дул.            Домой? Что тебе делать дома? Уже пять часов утра. Моя дочь Элиза скоро появится.  Думаю, она не пожалеет денег для отца.

Друзья            Не смеши! Ты не подходил к ней месяцами.

Дул.                Ну и что! я ей так много дал!

Друзья            Что ты ей дал?!  Когда?

Дул.       Что – что?! Я дал ей всё! Я подарил ей жизнь! Я подарил эту планету с чудесами. Солнцем, луной!  Нужны деньги на пиво, ждём Элизу.  

(Появляются  торговцы. Застывают в разных позах, двигаются. Другие появляются. Двигаются. Друзья ждут. Выглядывают Элизу. Музыка. Цветы. Элиза среди цветов. Отец её находит.)

Эл.        Не дам денег на пиво!

Дул.       Мне очень нужно!

Эл.         Ладно! Мне вчера повезло.(Даёт.) Но больше не дам! (Уходит)

Дул.   (Подхватываемый под руки друзьями.)  Пиво-пиво, славное пиво!     (уходят)

(Элиза идет по сцене, задумавшись, говорит вслух.)

Эл.     ОН сказал: «Продавщицей в цветочный магазин, где так важна хорошая речь!»       (Уходит.)

Сцена  3                    В доме профессора

(Хиггенс и профессор распевают  звуки, таблица со звуками. Стучат в дверь.  Элиза. Её впускает Пирс. Элиза, разнаряженная, гордо идёт мимо Пирс.)

Пирс         Вы кто? Как вас зовут?

Эл.          Вас это не касается!

Пирс    Одну минуту. Что вы хотите?

Эл.   Я хочу поговорить с учёным. Это дело личного характера.

Пирс   Одну минуту! (Идёт к проф.) Пришла девушка. Она хочет вас видеть.

Проф.    Девушка! Что ей надо?

Пирс     Это простая девушка. Совсем простая. У неё жуткая речь! Я подумала, может, вы захотите записать её?

Проф.    Хорошо, приведите её.

Пирс    Вот эта девушка.

Эл.    Доброе утро! Можно вас на пару слов?

Проф.   О. нет-нет. Я изучил эту девчонку вчера. Она бесполезна. Проваливай!            

Эл.  Не будь букой! Ты даже не знаешь, зачем я пришла!

Проф.   Мне не интересно!

Эл.        Ой-ой-ой! Я пришла учиться, буду платить деньги. Ну!

Проф.        Ну! И что мне надо сказать?

Эл.        Надо предложить мне сесть! Я же говорю, дело есть!

Проф.   (К полковнику)      Надо предложить этому кульку сесть? Может, просто выкинуть в окно?!

Эл.    Я не кулёк! Я могу заплатить, как порядочная дама! (Вытирает нос рукавом.)

Полк.     Чего ты хочешь, девочка моя?

Эл.    Я хочу продавать цветы в магазине, а не на грязных улицах. Но меня не возьмут, потому что я плохо говорю. А он сказал, что может научить меня говорить. Я знаю, за уроки надо платить.

Проф.     Сколько?

Эл.    А-а! Теперь понял!  А то вчера наболтал!   (Толкает его в бок.)

Проф. (Злой)     Сядь!

Эл.    Если вы меня культурно попросите…

Проф. (Рявкает)   Сидеть!

Пирс   Садись, девочка, делай, что тебе говорят.

Проф.   Я думаю, надо взять с тебя 60 долларов.

Эл.   (Орёт, плачет.)   А_а-а, у меня нет таких денег!   (Вскакивает)

Проф.   Сядь! Не ори!  На, возьми (Даёт носовой платок).

Эл.     Зачем это?  (Вертит платок)

Проф.   Вытри слёзы   и там, где мокро. Запомни:  это платок, а это рукав.

Полк.    Хиггенс, мне стало интересно. Вы хвастались, что сделаете из неё королеву. Если бы вы это сделали, вы были бы лучшим.  Но у вас ничего не получится. Спорим!  Будете её учить, я заплачу за все уроки.

Эл.     Клёво!   Спасибо, капитан!

Проф.  Спорим! Невозможно отказаться! Она так  ужасно грязна, так  неграмотна!

Эл.   Я не грязная! Я помыла лицо и руки.

Проф.  Я принимаю вызов! Я сделаю из этой вонючей девчонки королеву. Начнём сегодня. Сейчас. Уведите её и вымойте. Одежду сожгите и купите новую. Её пока можно завернуть в бумагу.

Эл.    Я хорошая девочка. Знаю я таких как вы, да!

Проф.   Здесь не место для твоего уличного гонора! Ты должна научиться  хорошему поведению. Уведите её, Пирс. Если не будет слушаться, отлупите.

Эл.     Я позвоню в полицию, да.

Пирс      Куда мне её поместить?

Проф.     Куда хотите. Хоть на мусорник.

Пирс    Нельзя так унижать её. Она же не ракушка на пляже!

Проф.   Почему  нельзя?!

Пирс   Как почему!  Вы ничего о ней не знаете. Что с её родителями? Может она замужем!

Эл.  Ещё чего! Кому я нужна!

Проф.  Клянусь! Скоро здесь будет толпа поклонников, убивающих друг друга из-за тебя.

Эл.   (вскакивая)   Я ухожу. Не хочу учиться у полоумного.  (Открывает дверь, чтобы уйти)

Проф.   Возьми шоколадку, Элиза.  (Несёт перед ней коробку, чтобы она вернулась)

Эл.   Я не знаю, что там внутри, может яд.

Проф.   Тогда сделаем так. (Разламывает конфету, половину себе, половину кладёт в рот Элизе.)    У тебя будет много шоколада каждый день. Оставайся.

Полк.     Если она останется, она должна знать, что делает и зачем.

Проф.    Так, Элиза, ты останешься здесь на 6 месяцев. Будешь учиться правильно говорить. Будешь выполнять, что тебе велят. У тебя будет настоящая спальня, много еды, деньги на шоколад. Но, если ты будешь капризничать и лениться, накажу. Будешь сидеть в кладовке с тараканами, а Пирс будет бить тебя метлой. Через 6 месяцев тебя отвезут во дворец в прекрасном платье. Если королева узнает, что ты не леди, полиция отрубит тебе голову. А если не узнает, получишь много денег, будешь продавать цветы в магазине.

Пирс           Совсем запугали. Пойдём со мной, девочка.

Проф.         Правильно. Купать её и привяжите к ванной.

Эл.         Ну, ты и хмырь! Я  не останусь, если не захочу. Я не позволю себя бить. Я всегда была хорошей девочкой.

Проф.      Я сделаю королеву из этого пугала!

                                             Сцена  4              Купание

Эл.                  Я  никогда не купалась.

Пирс                  Мы искупаем тебя.

Эл.     Вы хотите, чтобы я вся намокла. Ну, нет. Всё, я сейчас умру.

Пирс    Ну, хватит.   Раздевайся  давай!  Делай, что говорят. (Обращаясь к служанке)  Помоги мне.

Эл.       Уберите руки. Я хорошая девочка. Это плохо!  Это неприлично!  

 (Борьба, драка  Элизы и служанок. Ширма, за которую утащили Элизу, торчит её голова, испуганные глаза. Служанки выносят одежду на вытянутых руках, брезгливо морщась.)

                       Сцена  5   Танец  Дулиттла и его друзей

(На сцену  вышвыривают двух друзей  Дулиттла и его самого)

Бармен    Пошёл вон! И ты тоже! Иди, Дулиттл, или плати, или не пей!

Дулиттл     Спасибо за угощение.

Друг        Ну, вот. Наверное, пора на работу.

Дулиттл    Работа! Не говори этого слова! Целый день надо работать. Надо что-нибудь придумать.

Друг       Что? Как?

Дулиттл        Как? Как всегда!  Вера, надежда и немного удачи!

                                       (Песня. «Если повезёт чуть-чуть…»    Танец.)

Женщина     Эй, танцор, где твоя дочь?

Дулиттл      Как это, где моя дочь, дома.

Женщина      Ошибаешься, она в доме богатого мужчины.

Дулиттл      Я знал, что ей повезёт!  Жизнь меняется к лучшему! У меня будут деньги!    (Танцуя, уходят.)

                     Сцена 6    Обучение Элизы произношению.

(Она сидит и орёт  звуки, сморкается, вытирает слёзы.  Рядом Пирс,  Хиггинс,  полковник.)

Пирс    Так нельзя мучить девушку. Она с утра до вечера повторяет алфавит, даже во время еды. Когда это закончится?!

(Входит слуга.)

Слуга   Вас спрашивает мусорщик Дулиттл.  Говорит, у вас его дочь.

Проф.   Вот как. Приведите его сюда.

Полк.        У нас могут быть проблемы.

Проф.        Проблемы будут у него.                   (Входит Дулиттл.)

Дулиттл         Здравствуйте, начальник. У вас моя дочь.

Проф.   Как вы узнали, что она здесь?

Дулиттл    Я хочу объяснить! Я могу объяснить! Я готов объяснить!  Мне сказали, что ей не нужна одежда.  Что я мог подумать?!  

(Ржёт в лицо Хиггенса. Тот отпрянул. Вонь. Хиггенс уходит от него, Дулиттл за ним.)

Проф.     Вы пришли забрать свою дочь? Спасти?

Дулиттл         Да.

Проф.   Пирс, отдайте ему его дочь.

Дулиттл     Одну минуту, начальник! Одну минуту!  Вы мне начинаете нравится.    (Дышит в лицо.   Хиггенс  убегает.)  Мы можем договориться.  5 долларов и я ухожу.

Полк.               Дайте ему  10.

Дулиттл          10  много  (Дышит в лицо.) 5  нормально.

       (Берёт деньги,  с достоинством уходит.  Входит Элиза.  Произносит звуки: ка — ка-ка.)

Проф.    Пирс, принесите чаю.

     (Несут столик с чашками на троих, печенье.)     Повтори ещё раз:  ка-ка-как чудесно в долине!

Эл.             Ка-ка-как  чудесно …

Проф.       Нет. Скажи:  Чашка – чашка – чаю – чаю.  

(Водит перед носом у Элизы чашку и печенье. Кусает сам.  Потом кладёт   ей в рот   несколько орехов.)   Читай!

Эл.     Гу  — гу, мгы  — мы –гы – гу…

Полк.   Это очень сложно!

Эл.   Я проглотила один.  (Вытаскивает все орехи изо рта. Сидит, в отчаянии опустив руки.)

Проф.    (Так же в отчаянии кладёт себе на голову пузырь. Ложится. Полковник лежит с газетой на голове. Вдруг Элиза начинает правильно говорить. Хиггенс  снимает пузырь, полковник – газету, поднимаются.)

Проф.   Повтори ещё раз!   (Эл. повторяет.)   У неё получилось, получилось!        (Втроём танцуют. Затем Хиггинс и полковник, обнявшись, уходят. Элиза остаётся и поёт. Приходит Пирс.)

Пирс     Хватит. Идите спать. (Элиза поёт:  «Спать, спать…)

               ( Потом к ней присоединяется Пирс, поют и уходят.)

                              Сцена  7        На балу

(Бал. Собирается знать. Входят Элиза с Хиггенсом и полковником. Профессор знакомит  её с кем-то… Играет музыка, объявляют…)

Слуга     Её величество королева Трансильвании и его королевское высочество принц Грэгор.

(Звучит музыка. Все выстраиваются в два ряда, между которыми проходят королева и принц. Королеву ведёт мужчина, принца женщина. Королева подходит к некоторым, приветствует, как бы выделяя их. Подходит и к Элизе. Элиза в реверансе. Королева берёт её за подбородок.)

Королева           Очаровательно! Просто очаровательно!

(Королева с принцем  удаляются к трону на возвышении. Многие гости окружают Элизу, что-то говорят ей. Хиггенс и полковник наблюдают за этим, довольные. Улыбаются. Подходит мужчина, который вёл королеву,  что-то говорит ей и уводит к королеве. Все наблюдают. Элиза в  реверансе.)

Королева   Мой сын хотел бы пригласить вас на танец.

(Принц  подставляет Элизе локоть и выводит на танец.  Все танцуют вальс.  Хиггенс и полковник подмигивают друг другу. Подталкивают. Потом с Элизой танцует Хиггенс, передаёт её другому мужчине. Все начинают шептаться, сплетничать. Хиггенс прислушивается к разговорам, начинает громко хохотать. Уводит Элизу и полковника.)

                            Сцена  8    Обсуждение события

(Все дома, бурно обсуждают происшедшее на балу, не обращая внимания на Элизу.  Она стоит в сторонке.)

Пирс                 Ну как, мистер  Хиггенс?

Полк.    Просто невероятно! Победа!  Хиггенс, неужели вы не волновались?!

Проф.      Я сразу понял, что всё получилось. Мне стало скучно, как медведю в клетке.

(Профессор   развалился в кресле. Вокруг слуги. Полковник    стоит, потом садится.)

Полк.  Я отдаю вам честь, профессор! Сегодня ты это сделал! Ты сказал, что сделаешь и сделал! Я сомневался, но ты справился! Ты сам преодолел все трудности! Тебе положена медаль!

Проф.   Нет, подожди. Скажем честно. Это ты предложил спор. Без тебя ничего бы не было.

Полк.   За этот вечер я постарел. Думал, умру от страха. Все спрашивали, кто она такая. Это была настоящая леди! И это сделал ты.

Проф.   Все говорили: «У Элизы прекрасная речь. У неё точно есть учитель. Она принцесса».

Все слуги    Мы гордимся Вами, мы верим в ваш талант!

Проф.   Спасибо, спасибо! (Всех провожает спать. Все уходят.)

                 Слава Богу, всё закончилось! Можно спокойно спать и не думать, что будет завтра.

Пирс          Спокойной ночи!

Полк.   Я  тоже  иду спать, спокойной ночи! Это было великое событие!

              (Профессор тоже уходит.)

Проф.   Элиза, не забудь выключить свет.

                                   Сцена  9   Элиза уходит на площадь цветов.

(Звучит музыка. Элиза ходит среди цветов, корзин с овощами. Торговцы занимаются подготовкой товара к продаже. Никто её не узнаёт.)

Девушка           Купите цветы, мисс.

Эл.         Да, пожалуйста.

Мужчина       Даме нельзя гулять в такое время. Вызвать такси?

Эл.           Нет, спасибо.

(Вдруг она замечает шумную  толпу.)

Хозяин пивной        Приходите к нам ещё, мистер Дулиттл!

Дулиттл       Спасибо, мой хороший. Иди сюда. Вот возьми.                                                            

(Даёт деньги.)

Эл.     Отец!?

Дулиттл           О, нет! Пришла посмотреть на меня. Да, я  богат теперь. Твой профессор  отдал меня в лапы миллионера, как лучшего оратора Англии. И вот, посмотрите! Я богат, а утром иду в церковь, жениться.

Эл.           Я рада за тебя. Удачи тебе, папа!

Дулиттл     Спасибо, Элиза!   (К  Д. подходят друзья.)  Сколько времени               у  меня осталось до свадьбы?

Друзья          Уже совсем немного.

Дул.            Повеселимся!  (Песня,   массовка.  Пьян. Натягивает белые перчатки. Его выносят на руках. На груди цилиндр, в руках цветок.)

                                      Сцена  10      Переполох

(Дома у Хиггенса переполох. Звонят в полицию, ищут Элизу. Пирс, полковник, Хиггенс.)

Проф.       Утром вместо кофе мне принесли чай. Я не знаю, где лежат мои вещи.  Я не знаю, что у меня на сегодня, какие дела.  Элиза знает!  Смитт, звоните в полицию.  Её надо найти.

Полковник      Я думаю, надо искать на площади.

Проф.           Нет. Я не буду её искать.

Полк.            Упрямый!      (Уходит)

Проф.            (Песня)

(Площадь. Магазин цветов. Элиза руководит сортировкой цветов.)

Эл.      Девушки — девушки, это сюда. Это вот сюда.

Полк.   Элиза!  Вот ты где! Твой магазин.  Исполнилась твоя мечта.

Эл.               Да. Исполнилась.  Но мне очень  грустно!

Полк.      Я знаю, почему. Идём. Он  переживает.  Идём!  (Уводит  её.)

Проф.    (Дома. Мечется туда – сюда по комнате. Появляются полковник с  Элизой)        Элиза!!!  

(Порывается к ней, но останавливается, садится в кресло, вытягивает ноги,   кричит)     Где, чёрт подери, мои тапочки?!

Полк.    Он не исправим!

Эл.         Без него я больше не могу!  

(Садится к нему на подлокотник кресла, склоняет  к нему голову. Полковник созывает всех на  сцену. Участники окружают кресло с Элизой и профессором.)    Музыка.

18

Songs to the play

Wouldn’t it be lovely.

All I want is a room somewhere,

Far away from the cold night air,

With one enormous chair.

Oh, wouldn’t it be lovely?

Lots of chocolate for me to eat,

Lots of coal making lots of heat,

Warm face, warm hands, warm feet,

Wouldn’t it be lovely?

Oh, so lovely sitting

Absolbloominulutely still

I would never budge till spring

Crept over the windowsill.

Someone’s head resting on my knee,

Warm and tender as he can be.

Who takes good care of me.

Oh, wouldn’t it be lovelyLovely, lovely, lovely.

http://theost.ru/1964/my_fair_lady.html

POOR PROFESSOR HIGGINS

Poor Professor Higgins, Poor Professor Higgins

Night and day

He slaves away

Oh, Professor Higgins

All day long on his feet

Up and down until he is numb

Doesn’t rest, doesn’t eat

Doesn’t touch a crumb

Poor Professor Higgins

Poor Professor Higgins

On he plots against all odds

Oh, Poor Professor Higgins

9 pm 10 pm.

Om through midnight every night

1 am 2 am 3 am

1. JUST you wait
2. Just you wait, ‘enry ‘iggins, just you wait!
   You’ll be sorry, but your tears’ll be to late!
   You’ll be broke, and I’ll have money;
   Will I help you? Don’t be funny!
   Just you wait, ‘enry ‘iggins, just you wait!
   Just you wait, ‘enry ‘iggins, till you’re sick,
   And you scream to fetch a doctor double-quick.
   I’ll be off a second later And go straight to the the-ater!
   Oh ho ho, ‘enry ‘iggins, just you wait!
   Ooooooh ‘enry ‘iggins!
   Just you wait until we’re swimmin’ in the sea!
   Ooooooh ‘enry ‘iggins!
   And you get a cramp a little ways from me!
   When you yell you’re going to drown I’ll get dressed
   and go to town! Oh ho ho, ‘enry ‘iggins!
   Oh ho ho, ‘enry ‘iggins! Just you wait!

I COULD HAVE DANCED ALL NIGHT

Bed, bed I couldn’t go to bed

My head is too light to try to set it down.

Sleep, sleep. I couldn’t sleep tonight.

Not for all the jewels in the crown.

I could have danced all night.

I could have danced all night.

And still have begged for more.

I could have spread my wings.

And done a thousand things.

I’ve never done before.

I ‘ll never know what made it so exciting.

Why all at once my heart took flight.

I only know when he.

Began to dance with me.

I could have danced, danced, danced, danced all night

Questions to the first act.

1. What was the girl wearing that day?

2. How much money was she given by Clara’s mother?

3. Where was the girl born?

4. What did Professor Higgins do for living?

5. What was the address of the girl?

Questions for the second act

1. Describe the furniture in Mr. Higgins room

2. How could Eliza get to Mr. Higgins house and why was she so proud?

3. Why did Eliza come to Mr. Higgins house?

4. Why did she want to take lessons?

5. How much was she going to pay?

6. What bet did Mr. Higgins and Mr. Pickering have?

7. What did Eliza’s father do for life?

Questions to the third act

1. What phrases did Eliza practice saying about the weather?

2. Who did among Eliza’s relatives die of the flu?

3. What drink did Eliza’s father give to her aunt?

4. Was it possible to show Eliza in High society? Why or why not?

Questions to the fourth act

1. What did Mr. Higgins look for all the time?

2. Could Eliza win the bet?

3. What was Eliza worried about most of all?

Questions to the fifth act

1. Why did Mr. Higgins phone the police?

2. What was Mr. Doolittle wearing that day?

3. Where was Eliza at that moment?

4. What could Eliza teach other people?

5. What things did Mr. Higgins ask Eliza to buy on the way home?

PART 1

LONDON. TORRENTS OF HEAVY RAIN.

THE DAUHGTER: I am getting chilled to the bone. What can Freddy be doing all this time?

THE MOTHER: Not so long. But he ought to have got us a cab by this.

FREDDY: There are no cabs..

THE MOTHER: Oh, Freddy, there must be one.

THE DAUGHTER: It is too tiresome.

FREDDY: I tell you they are all engaged. The rain was so sudden, but very well, I’ll go and try once more!

Suddenly Freddy сбивает цветочницу.

The flower girl: Nah, then, Freddy, look where you going, dear.

Freddy: Sorry.

The flower girl: There manners. Te-oo banches o voylets trod into the mad. Will you pay me f’them?

The daughter: Do nothing of that sort, mother.

The mother: Please, Clara do you have any pennie?

The flower girl: Thank you kindly, ladyе

Девушка замечает еще одного джентльмена и бросается к нему.

The flower girl : Cheer up, Captain and buy the flower off a poor girl.

The gentleman: I am sorry I haven’t any change. Stop … here is three pence.

The bystander; You, be careful! There is a man taking down every word you are saying.

The flower girl: I aint done nothing wrong by speaking to the gentleman. I ve right to sell flowers. Im e respectable girl.

The note taker: There, there,there, there… Who is hurting you, you silly girl! Do I look like a policeman?

The flower girl; Then what did you take my words down for? Shoe me what you have wrote about me! What’s that? I can’t read that.

The note taker: I can. You were born in Lisson Grove.

The flower girl: Oh, what harm is there in my leaving in Lisson GROVE? I AM A GOOD GIRL. I AM!

The note taker: Stop that noise. Live where you like.

The daughter to the mother: He knows everything.

The note taker: Cambridge, India, Harrow.

The flower girl: frightening people like that!

The gentleman: How do you know it, if I may ask?

The note taker: Simply phonetics. THE SCIENCE OF SPEECH. That’s my profession.

The flower girl: Ought to be ashamed of yourself.

The note taker; Seek the shelter of some other place of worship.

The flower girl: Ive right to be here if I like.

The not taker; THE woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to to be anywhere.

The flower girl: Ah oh ooow! What’s that you say?

The note taker: Yes, you squashed cabbage leaf. I could pass you off as the Queen of Sheba. Do you believe me?

The gentleman: Yes, I do. I am myself a student of Indian dialects.

The note taker; Are you?

The gentleman: I am colonel Pickering and who are you?

The note taker; I AM Henry Higgins.

The gentleman: I came from India to meet you.

Higgins: I was going to India to meet you.

Pickering: Where do you live?

Higgins: 27 Wimpole street. Come and see me!

The flower girl: Buy a flower. I AM SHORT FOR MY LODGINGS

Higgins: Liar!

The flower girl: You ought to be stuffed with nails!

SONG: ALL I WANT IS A ROOM SOMEWHERE

PART two

Higgins: Well, I think that is the whole show.

Pickering: It is really amazing!

Higgins: What’s the matter?

Mrs. Pearce: A young woman wants to see you Sir.

Higgins: What does she want?

Mrs. Pearce: She is quite a common girl.

Higgins: Has she an interesting accent?

Mrs. Pearce: Something dreadful, sir, really!

Higgins: Let’s have her up!

Mrs. Pearce: This is the young woman sir!

Higgins: Oh, she is no use.

Eliza: Don’t be so saucy. I am come to have lessons. I am and I am to pay for it.

Higgins: Shall we ask this baggage to sit down or shall we throw her out of the window?

Eliza: Ah-ah. Oh-oh-oh-oh-ow-ow! I want to be a lady in a flower shop, sted (instead) of selling flowers in the street. I am ready to pay for it. And you treat me zif(as if) I was dirt!

Higgins: How much?

Eliza: Now you are talking!

Higgins: What’s your name?

Eliza: Liza Doolittle: I won’t pay you more tan (then) a shilling. Take it o leave it.

Higgins: That’s the biggest offer I have ever had. If I decide to teach you, I’ll be worse that two fathers to you. Here( gives her a handkerchief)

Eliza: What for?

Higgins: to wipe your eyes! That’s your handkerchief and that’s tour sleeve. Don’t mistake one for another, if you wish to become a lady.

Pickering: Higgins, I am interested. What about the ambassador’s garden party? I’ll say you are the greatest teacher alive if you make that good. I’ll pay for the lessons.

Higgins: It is most irresistible! She is so low, so dirty!

Eliza: Ah-ah-oh-oh-ow-ow. I ain’t dirty. I washed my face!

Higgins: In 6 months I’ll take her anywhere. We’ll start today! Now! This moment! Take her and clean her!

Eliza: You are no gentleman! I’ll call the police!

Higgins: Put her in the dustbin!

Mrs. Pearce: Be reasonable! You can’t take a girl like this if you picking up a pebble on the beach!

Higgins: Why not?

Mrs. Pearce: You don’t know anything about her and her parents.

Eliza: I have no parents. But I done without them!

Higgins: What’s all this fuss about? You ‘ll have food and clothes. If I give her money, she’ll only drink!

Eliza: You are a brute. It’s a lie. Don’t let him speak about me like this.

Pickering: The girl has some feelings. Doesn’t it occur to you?

Higgins: Oh, no. I don’t think so I’ll have to teach her grammar, not only phonetics.

Eliza: I don’t want to talk grammar. I want to talk like a lady in a flower shop.

Higgins: Eliza, in future you will have a lot of dresses, chocolates, gold and diamonds. You are to live here for 6 months, learning how to speak beautifully, like a lady in a flower shop. At the end of 6 months you shall go to the Buckingham Palace in a carriage, beautifully dressed. Mrs. Pearce, bundle her off to the bathroom.

Mrs. Pearce; dear, come with me.

МУЗЫКА ДЛЯ ПАУЗЫ ПИАНИНО

P a r t 3

MRS. Pearce: If you please, sir, the trouble is beginning already. There is a dustman downstairs, Alfred Doolittle. He wants to see you. He says you have his daughter here. Doolittle, Sir…

Doolittle: Professor Iiggins!

Higgins: Here. Good morning, sit down.

Doolittle: Morning, governor. (he sits down). I come about a very serious matter, governor. I want my daughter, that’s what I want.

Higgins: Take her away at once!

Doolittle: What? Now, now, look here, governor, is this reasonable?

Higgins: So you came here to rescue her from worse than death?

Doolittle: Have I said a word about taking her away? Here is a career opening for her, as you might say, so…. I’d ask fifty.

Higgins: You mean to say that you can sell your daughter for 50 pounds?

Pickering: You have no morals!

Doolittle: Can’t afford them, governor. I’m a poor man. I want a little bit of amusement. I want cheerfulness and song. Isn’t it reasonable? I put it to you.

Doolittle: I suppose I must give him the money.

Pickering: I’m afraid he’ll make a bad use of it.

Doolittle; Not me, governor, help me.

Higgins: Right. (hanging him a note) Here you are!

Doolittle: Thank you, governor. (Eliza enters the room: clean and tidy) Good morning.

Eliza: Garn! Don’t you know your own daughter?

All people: It’s Eliza! What’s that? Bly me!

Eliza: Do I look silly?

Higgins: extremely silly.

Doolittle: I never thought she could be looking so good!

Eliza: It’s easy to clean up here. Cold and hot water on tap, as much as you like, wooly towels.

Doolittle: So long gentlemen.

Eliza: I don’t want never to see him again!

Mrs. Pearce. The new dresses have come for you to try on.

(Eliza rushes out) Don’t rush like that, girl!

Song POOR PROFESSOR HIGGINS

P A R T 4

Higgins: Say your alphabet.

Eliza: I know it. Do you think I know nothing?

Higgins: Say your alphabet!

Eliza: Oh, well: AHJEEE, BOYEE, COYEE, DOYEE…

Higgins: Stop. Listen:

Eliza: But I am saying: AHJEEE, BOYEE, COYEE, DOYEE…

Higgins: Stop! Say: a cup of tea.

Eliza: A CAPPATЭ-ээ !!! I can’t

Higgins: We shall make a duchess of her! Say: TEA

Eliza: TЭЭ. I can’t hear any difference.

Higgins: Say: The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.

Eliza: te rain in Spaind stais mainly. No, I can’t!

Higgins: Stop crying… another lesson at half past four. Away with you.

Eliza:The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!

Henry In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire…?
Eliza: Hurricanes hardly happen.
How kind of you to let me come!

Henry :Now once again, where does it rain?
Eliza On the plain! On the plain!

Henry:And where’s that blasted plain?
Eliza In Spain! In Spain! The three song THE RAIN IN SPAIN
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!

P A R T 5

Mrs. Higgins: Henry! What are you doing here?

You promised not to come. Go home at once.

You offend all my friends. They stop coming wherever they meet you.

Higgins: I have a job for you. I have picked up a girl.

Mrs. Higgins: Oh, really?

Higgins. No, it’s not a love affair.

Mrs. Higgins What a pity! When will you discover that there are a lot of nice-looking your women about?

Higgins: I can’t be bothered with young women. My idea of a lovable woman is somebody as like you as possible.

Mrs. Higgins: Now tell me about this girl.

Higgins: She is coming to see you.

Mrs. Higgins: I didn’t ask her.

Higgins: I asked her.

Mrs. Higgins: Why?

Higgins: She is a common flower girl. But I want to make a lady from her. I tried to teach her to pronounce the words correctly, but she has to keep only to two subjects: the weather and everybody’s health. That will be safe. I have a sort of bet on that. I’ll pass her off as a duchess in 6 months. She has a quick ear.

song I Could HAVE DANCED ALL NIGHT

Pickering: Well Eliza, now for it. Are you ready?

Eliza: Are you nervous, Colonel?

Pickering: Frightfully. I feel exactly as I felt before my first battle.

Eliza: I have done this 50 times. I am in a dream now.

SERVANT: Mrs. And MR Eynford!

Mrs. Eynford: How do you do!

Mrs. Higgins: My son Henry.

Mrs. Eynford: You celebrated son.

Higgins: Delighted.

Mrs. Higgins: My celebrated son has no manners.

Higgins: Have I been rude? Didn’t mean that.

Mrs. Higgins: We want you to meet a friend of ours.

The wife to the servant: Find everything about her.

Servant: Excellency!

P A R T 6

ELIZA ENTERS THE ROOM. ALL PEOPLE SHOCKED. SHE IS CHARMING.

Eliza: How do you do, Mrs. Higgins. Mr. Higgins told me that I might come.

Mrs. Higgins: Quite right. I am very glad to see you.

Mrs. Eynsford: My daughter Clara.

Eliza: How do you do.

Freddy: I have, certainly have the pleasure.

Mrs.Eynford: My son Freddy.

Eliza:How do you do.

Higgins: Will it rain, do you think?

Eliza: The shallow depression in the west of these islands is likely to move slowly in an easterly direction. There are no indications of any great change in the barometrical situation.

Freddy: How awfully funny!

Eliza: What is wrong with that, young man? I bet I got it wright!

Freddy: Killing.

Mrs. Eynsford: Are you sure? I hope it won’t turn cold. There is so much influenza about.

Eliza: My aunt died of influenza.

Mrs. Eynsford. Oh, really?

Eliza: Bur I am sure,it’s my belief that they done the old woman in.

Mrs.Higgins: Done her in?

Eliza: Yeeeeeeees, lord love you! Why should she die of influenza?

Mrs.Eynsford: You surely don’t believe that you aunt was killed, do you?

Eliza. Do I not?

Gin was mother’s milk for her!

Mrs, Higgins: Do you mean she drank. How dreadful for you.

Eliza: Not a bit. She was almost more agreeable when she had a drop in.

Freddy. The new small talk. You do so awfully well

Eliza: Why are you laughing then? Have I said anything I oughtn’t?

Mrs. Higgins: Not at all, Ms Doolittle.

Eliza: Well, I must go! So pleased to have met you. Good-bye!

Freddy: Are you walking across the park, Miss Doolittle?

Eliza: Walk! Not bloody likely! I am going in a taxi!

ELIZA, HIGGINS and PICKERING are leaving the room.

Mrs.Eynsford; I am old fashioned. I can’t get used to the new ways.

Clara: Oh, It’s all right.

Mrs.Eynsford: I do think it’s horrible and unladylike!

Clara: I find the new small talk delightful and innocent/

Mrs.Eynsford: Well. I think it’s time for us to go.

Clara: Good bye, Mrs. Higgins Mr. Pickering. Good-bye Professor Higgins!

Freddy: Goodbye!

Mrs. Higgins Would you like to see Miss Doolittle again?

Freddy: Yes, I should. Thank you. Awfully.

Goodbye!

Servant: (very quietly) She is a fraud.

Wife: A fraud?

Servant: She is not English. She speaks English too perfectly. Can you show me any English woman, who speaks perfectly? Only foreigners.

Wife: She terrified me by the way she said; How do you do?. I had a schoolmistress who talked like that. But if she is not English, what is she?

Servant: Hungarian.

All people: Hungarian?

Servant: Hungarian and of royal blood!

Pickering: Where is Eliza? We must keep an eye on her!

Eliza: I don’t think I can bear much more. The people all stare at me. An old lady has just told me that I speak exactly like Queen Victoria.

P A R T 7

AFTER THE PARTY AT HOME

Higgins: I wonder where the devil my slippers are?

Eliza puts his slippers in front of him

Higgins: Oh’ Lord! What an evening! What a crew! Oh, my slippers. They are here, aren’t they?

Pickering: I feel a bit tired. It’s been a long day. The garden party, the dinner party and the reception! But you have won your bet, Higgins! Eliza did the trick.

Higgins: Thanks God it’s over.

Eliza looks nervous and sad at the same time. Nobody notices her feeling or reaction.

Pickering: Were you nervous? I was. Eliza didn’t seem a bit nervous.

Higgins: She wasn’t nervous/ I knew she’d be all right/. It was interesting enough at first, then I got sick of it.

Pickering: Oh, come on! The garden party was exciting.

Higgins: For the first three minutes. Good night!

Pickering: Good night.

Higgins: Put out the lights, Eliza.

Song: JUST YOU WAIT

Eliza is moving towards the door, but suddenly stops ans sits down inn the armchair. Then she raises and runs to the door with a sharp cry.

Higgins returns to the room. He didn’t hear Eliza crying.

Higgins: What the devil have I done with my slippers?

Eliza: There are your slippers! Take your slippers! Кидает тапки

Higgins: What on earth! What’s wrong with you?

Eliza: Nothing wrong — with you. I have won the bet for you, haven’t I?

Higgins: You won my bet? You? I won it! Why did you throw those slippers at me?

Eliza: Because I wanted to smash your face! I’d like to kill you, your selfish brute! You thank God it’s all over! And now you can throw me back again there?

Higgins: The creature is nervous after all!

Элиза кидается на Хиггинса

Higgins: Claws in, you cat! Sit down and be quiet!

Eliza: What’s to become of me?

Higgins: How devil I know what’s to become of you?

Eliza: You don’t care… I’m nothing to you…

Higgins: Has anyone behaved badly to you?

Eliza: No…

Higgins; Perhaps, you are tired after the strain of the day. Will you have a glass of champagne?

Eliza: No! Oh, God! I wish I were dead!

Higgins: Why? Say your prayers!

Aliza: What am I fit for?

Higgins: You should not worry about this. You might marry, you know, not all men are confirmed old bachelors like me! Most men are the marrying sort (poor devils) and you are not bad looking. It’s quite pleasure to look at you… sometimes – not now, because you are crying and looking as ugly as the very devil! Go to bed and have a good rest.

Eliza: You have made a lady of me! I am not fit to sell anything! What else am I to do?

Higgins: What about your old idea of a florist’s shop? Come. You’ll be all right! I am sleepy. By, the way I have come down for something!

Eliza: Your slippers!

Higgins: Oh, yes, of coarse!

Eliza: Sir, do my clothes belong to me?

Higgins: Why?

Eliza: You might want them for another girl you pick up to experiment on!

Higgins: You may take the whole houseful if you like, except the jewels. They are hired. Will it satisfy you?

Eliza: Will you take these to your room and keep them safe?

This ring you bought me in Brighton. I don’t want it now.

Eliza goes backwards. Higgins is stepping forward.

Eliza: Don’t you hit me?

Higgins: Hit you! You have wounded me to the heart.

Eliza: I am glad! You’d better leave a note for Mrs. Pearce about the coffee, she won’t be told by me!

Higgins: Damn the coffee!!! Damn you!!!!

Eliza is packing her things. She is leaving the house

Freddy: Goodnight darling

Eliza: What are you doing here?

Freddy: Nothing/ I spend most of my nights here/ Her I am happy, Miss Doolittle.

Eliza: Don’t call me Miss Doolittle, do you hear?

Freddy: You are the loveliest, dearest! Where are you going? What’s the matter?

Eliza: Never mind! Here is a taxi!

P A R T 8

Servant: Mr. Henry, madam, is downstairs with Colonel Pickering.

Mrs. Higgins: Show them up!

Servant: They are using the telephone, madam. Telephoning the police.

Mrs. Higgins: What? I suppose he has lost something.

Higgins: Eliza has disappeared!

Mrs. Higgins: You must have frightened her.

Higgins: Nonsense! She left last night. She came in a cab for her things. What am I to do?

Mrs. Higgins: Do without? I am afraid, Henry. The girl has a perfect right to leave if she chooses!

Higgins: But I can’t find anything!

Mrs. Higgins: Have you set the police after Eliza?

Higgins: Of course! What are the police for? We want to find her!

Servant: A gentleman wants to see you.

Mrs. Higgins: Who is it?

Servant: Mr. Doolittle, sir.

Pickering: Doolittle? You mean the dustman?

Higgins: It’s some relative of hers that’s she’s gone to.

Mrs. Higgins: Good morning, Mr. Doolittle! Won’t you sit down?

Doolittle: Thank you!

Higgins: Have you found Eliza?

Doolittle: Have you lost her?

Higgins: Yes.

Doolittle: You have all the luck. She ruined me. I have to live for others and not for myself. I’m broke.

Mrs. Higgins: Well? I am very glad you are not going to do anything foolish, Mr. Doolittle. It solves the problem of Eliza’s future.

Higgins: Nonsense. He can’t provide for her. She doesn’t belong to him

Mrs. Higgins: Henry, don’t be absurd. If you want to know where Eliza is, she is upstairs.

Higgins: Upstairs? Then I’ll fetch her downstairs.

Mrs. Higgins: Henry, be quiet/ Sit down and listen to me.

Higgins: You might have told us this half an hour ago.

Mrs. Higgins: Eliza came to me this morning. She told me of the brutal way you treated her.

Higgins: What??? We hardly said a word to her and then she through my slippers in my face!

Mrs. Higgins: She had come attached to you both. She worked very hard for you. She did everything without making a single mistake. You two sat here and never said a word to her. Then you were surprised because she threw slippers at you! You didn’t thank her or pet her.

Pickering: She is very angry.

Mrs. Higgins: Well, I’m afraid she won’t go back to Wimpole Street, but she is quite willing to meet you on friendly terms.

Higgins: Is she?

Mrs. Higgins: If you promise to behave yourself Henry.

Higgins: All right. Very well.

Mrs. Higgins: Ask Miss Doolittle to come down.

Servant: yes, madam

P A R T 9

Eliza: How do you do, Professor Higgins? Are you quite well&

Higgins: Am I….

Eliza: Of course, you are! Quite chilly this morning, isn’t?

Higgins: Don’t dare try this game on me!

Eliza: I am only a squashed cabbage leaf.

Higgins: Get up and go home, don’t be a fool.

Mrs. Higgins: Very nicely put, Henry. No woman could resist such an invitation!

Higgins: Let her speak for herself. I have created this thing and now she plays the fine lady with me!

Eliza: The experiment is over.

Pickering: You mustn’t think of it as an experiment.

Eliza: I am very thankful to you. You taught me nice manners.

Pickering: But Professor Higgins taught you to speak.

Eliza: That is his profession. But you began my real education, calling me Ms Doolittle. It was the beginning of self-respect for me. Besides you never took your boots in the dining room. Higgins always treated me like a flower girl and always will.

Mrs. Higgins: Don’t grind your teeth, Henry!

Pickering: You are coming to Wimpole street, aren’t you! You’ll forgive Mr. Higgins?

Higgins: Forgive me? Let her go! She will be in a gutter in a week.

Eliza: No, not now. Never again. I have learnt my lesson!

Doolittle: Don’t look at me like that. I am going to St.George’s Hanover Square. Your stepmother is going to marry me!

Eliza: You are going to let yourself down to marry that low common woman. All right, I’ll be back in a moment.

Mrs. Higgins: I’ll order the carriage.

Doolittle: So long everybody! It’s time for us to go

Higgins: Well, Eliza. Have you had enough? Are you going to be reasonable?

Eliza: You want me back onlu to pick up your slippers?

Higgins: If you come back I shall treat you just as I have treated you! But you have never asked if I could do without you. I shall miss you, Eliza!

Eliza: I want a little kindness. I’ll marry Freddy! As soon as I am able to support him.

Higgins: Freddy? That’s young fool?

Eliza: He loves me!

Higgins: If you make one step in his direction, I’ll ring you neck. You and I and Pickering will be three old bachelors.

Eliza: Goodbye then

Higgins: Oh, by the way, Eliza, order ham, cheese and buy a pair of reindeer gloves # 8 and a tie to match that new suit

Eliza: № 8 is too small for you. You have 3 new ties.

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Мюзикл «Моя прекрасная леди»

Мюзикл «Моя прекрасная леди» Фредерика Лоу и Алана Джей Лернера – это романтичная история о перевоплощении простой цветочницы в утонченную и изящную леди, покорившая сердца многих зрителей по всему миру. Уникальность мюзикла заключается в сочетании различного музыкального материала: от сентиментального вальса до испанской хоты.

Краткое содержание мюзикла «Моя прекрасная леди» и множество интересных фактов об этом произведении читайте на нашей странице.

Действующие лица	Описание
Генри Хиггинс	ученый, изучающий фонетику
Пикеринг	военный, увлекающийся изучением индийских диалектов
Элиза Дулиттл	продавщица цветов
Дулиттл Альфред	отец Элизы, мусорщик
Миссис Пирс	уборщица, работающая на Хиггинса
Мадам Эйнсфорд-Хилл	аристократка
Фредди	родственник миссис Эйнсфорд-Хилл, влюбленный в Дулиттл

Краткое содержание 

Светские люди собираются на площади недалеко от знаменитого Королевского театра в Лондоне. На ступеньках сидит цветочница Элиза, ее товар нечаянно задевает благородный юноша Фредди Эйнсфорд-Хилл, цветы рассыпаются и падают. Несмотря на извинения элегантного джентльмена, цветочница выражает свои негодования в крайне грубой форме. Она требует, чтобы Фредди возместил убытки. Вокруг быстро создается толпа зевак, которым интересно, по случаю чего произошел весь сыр-бор. Кто-то замечает, что один человек дословно записывает речь девушки, многие предполагают, что это полицейский, который желает арестовать Элизу за ее хамское поведение. Выясняется, что это известный профессор, изучающий фонетику. Его заинтересовало произношение Элизы, которое было явно далеко от совершенства. Рассуждая о том, что среди англичан не осталось людей, знающих свой родной язык, он ради признания публики без труда определяет место жительства каждого из собеседников. Так он знакомится с военным Пикерингом. Хиггинс решил похвастать новому знакомому и вскользь предложил цветочнице за полгода научить её идеально говорить на английском языке, ведь именно грамотная речь является дорогой в светлое будущее девушки.

На следующий день цветочница Элиза приходит к Хиггинсу, она готова брать у него уроки, так как хочет работать в более оплачиваемом цветочном магазине. В начале Хиггинс смеется над девушкой, которая уже хочет уйти, но Пикеринг предлагает заключить пари. По условиям сделки профессор Хиггинс должен научить ее правильно говорить, чтобы никто из светского общества не смог распознать в ней простушку. Пикеринг обещает оплатить все расходы на содержание. Такой расклад событий устраивает профессора, и он приказывает служанке Пирс позаботиться о мисс Дулиттл. Пикеринг и Хиггинс обсуждают жизнь, и профессор высказывает собственное мнение о браке и женщинах: он не собирается жениться, и считает, что женщины способны только на создание беспорядка.

Отец Элизы, мусорщик Альфред Дулиттл, слышит новости о том, что его дочь переехала жить к профессору Хиггинсу. Тем временем, девушка старательно пытается выучить произношение звуков, но учеба дается ей тяжело. К Хиггинсу приходит Дулиттл и хочет получить за нее денежное вознаграждение. Он преподносит свою философию жизни, которая кажется Хиггинсу весьма оригинальной. Профессор не только дает ему деньги, но и советует Дулиттла американскому миллионеру в качестве блестящего оратора.

Весь день Элиза училась, но безрезультатно. Профессор решает, что раз ругань и упреки не помогают в обучении, то нужно сменить тактику. После милой беседы девушка наконец понимает, что она делала неправильно и безукоризненно читает стих «Того и жди пойдут дожди в Испании». Воодушевленная Элиза поет песню «Я танцевать хочу».

Настал день, когда мисс Дулиттл должна предстать в светском обществе на ипподроме. В начале все складывается как нельзя лучше, но Элиза в порыве счастья начинает рассказывать истории из жизни, добавляя в них просторечья. Этим она пленила сердце Фредди Эйнсфорд-Хилла. Расстроенная Элиза возвращается к Хиггинсу, все понимают, что еще необходима упорная работа над тем, что говорить. Фредди поёт песню, посвященную чувствам, которые он испытывает, но Дулиттл так опечалена, что не желает выходить на улицу.

Прошло полтора месяца, и настало время для еще одного заключительного испытания. На балу Элиза была на высоте. Никто, даже профессор Карпати, не смог распознать в девушке простушку, более того, общество признало ее настоящей принцессой. Хиггинс принимает поздравления в успехе эксперимента, но никого не заботит судьба Элизы. Обиженная и огорченная, она собирает вещи и уходит.

Мисс Дулиттл возвращается в родной район, где ее никто не узнает. Отец разбогател благодаря рекомендации Хиггинса и теперь хочет жениться. Профессор и Пикеринг весьма опечалены тем, что Элиза ушла, они хотят ее найти.

Элиза случайно встречается с профессором. Он признается, что без нее все изменилось, и просит ее вернуться. Дулиттл не желает его слушать, она говорит, что перед ней открыты все двери.

По возвращении домой профессор долго слушал пластинки с записями голоса Элизы. Мисс Дулиттл входит в комнату, незаметно выключая фонограф. Хиггинс, увидев ее, не скрывает радости.

Продолжительность спектакля
I Акт	II Акт
80 мин.	60 мин.

 Фото:

 

 

Интересные факты

• Изначально мюзикл должен носить название «Моя прекрасная Элиза», но позже наименование было изменено на «Моя прекрасная леди».
• Экранизация 1964 года получила премию «Оскар».
• Лернер и Лоу длительное время работали вместе, создавая мюзиклы для Бродвея. Первой, по-настоящему успешной работой, стал мюзикл «Золото Калифорнии».
• Всего в Бродвейском театре спектакль ставился 2717 раз.

• «Моя прекрасная леди» не только была номинирована, но и выиграла почетную музыкальную премию «Тони».
• Сюжет пьесы «Пигмалион», который является основой для создания мюзикла, в течение работы был сильно изменен. Так, в первоначальном источнике Элиза выходит замуж за Фредди и открывает не цветочную лавку, а овощную, как символ неверия в истинную любовь.
• В экранизации роль Элизы получила уже знаменитая Одри Хепберн, многие ценители мюзикла огорчились, так как хотели увидеть на ее месте Джулию Эндрюс, которая являлась бессменной исполнительницей на Бродвее.
• Известные композиторы отказывали продюсеру Габриелю Паскалю, так как не верили в успешность проекта.

История создания

Задумка создать из известнейшей и популярной в те времена пьесы Джорджа Бернарда Шоу музыкальный спектакль всецело принадлежит венгерскому продюсеру Габриелю Паскалю. В 1930 году он приобрел права на некоторые произведения известного драматурга, в том числе и на «Пигмалион». В 1938 году ему удалось экранизировать театральный вариант пьесы. Долгое время Паскаль искал композитора, который бы решился сочинить мюзикл на основе сценария. Работа была предложена таким именитым деятелям искусства, как Ричард Роджерс и Оскар Хаммерстайн II, Леонард Бернстайн, Джан Карло Менноти, Бетти Комден и Адольфу Грину. Но только композитор Фредерик Лоу и либреттист Алан Джей Лернер решили проявить смелость и написать мюзикл, который уже более чем полвека не снимается из репертуара Бродвейского театра.

Первая генеральная репетиция была проведена в театре Шуберта в Нью-Хейвене. Главные роли были поручены Джулии Эндрюс и Рексу Харрисону.

15 марта 1956 года прошла оглушительная премьера спектакля в театре Марка Хеллингера в Нью-Йорке. Затем состоялась постановка в Бродвее, которая продолжалась в течение 6 лет, а затем снова была возобновлена.

В 1964 году вышла экранизация мюзикла. Роль Элизы Дулиттл была отдана Одри Хепберн, замену Рексу Харрисону не удалось найти, так как никто лучше него не мог справиться с ролью профессора Хиггинса. В этом же году кинолента получила кинопремию «Оскар».

В 1960 году этот музыкальный спектакль был поставлен в Советском Союзе, показ проходил в трех городах: в Москве, в Петербурге и Киеве. Зрители были в восторге от увиденного, а песни быстро стали популярными и узнаваемыми.

Мюзикл «Моя прекрасная леди» — это многогранный музыкальный спектакль. Он поражает до глубины души своей простотой и наивностью и вместе с тем удивляет блеском и роскошью. Увидев и услышав единожды это музыкальное творение, зритель навсегда запомнит его причудливые мелодии и яркий антураж.

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 Мюзикл «Моя прекрасная леди»

My Fair Lady
Original Broadway Poster by Al Hirschfeld
Music	Frederick Loewe
Lyrics	Alan Jay Lerner
Book	Alan Jay Lerner
Basis	Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Productions	1956 Broadway 1957 US tour 1958 West End 1976 Broadway 1978 UK tour 1979 West End 1980 US tour 1981 Broadway 1993 US tour 1993 Broadway 2001 West End 2005 UK tour 2007 US tour 2018 Broadway 2019 US tour 2022 West End
Awards	1957 Tony Award for Best Musical 2002 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival

My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion, with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. Despite his cynical nature and difficulty understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her.

The musical’s 1956 Broadway production was a notable critical and popular success, winning six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It set a record for the longest run of any musical on Broadway up to that time and was followed by a hit London production. Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews starred in both productions. Many revivals have followed, and the 1964 film version won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Plot[edit]

Act I[edit]

In Edwardian London, Eliza Doolittle is a flower girl with a thick Cockney accent. The noted phonetician Professor Henry Higgins encounters Eliza at Covent Garden and laments the vulgarity of her dialect («Why Can’t the English?»). Higgins also meets Colonel Pickering, another linguist, and invites him to stay as his houseguest. Eliza and her friends wonder what it would be like to live a comfortable life («Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?»).

Eliza’s father, Alfred P. Doolittle, stops by the next morning searching for money for a drink («With a Little Bit of Luck»). Soon after, Eliza comes to Higgins’s house, seeking elocution lessons so that she can get a job as an assistant in a florist’s shop. Higgins wagers Pickering that, within six months, by teaching Eliza to speak properly, he will enable her to pass for a proper lady.

Eliza becomes part of Higgins’s household. Though Higgins sees himself as a kindhearted man who merely cannot get along with women («I’m an Ordinary Man»), to others he appears self-absorbed and misogynistic. Eliza endures Higgins’s tyrannical speech tutoring. Frustrated, she dreams of different ways to kill him («Just You Wait»). Higgins’s servants lament the stressful atmosphere («The Servants’ Chorus»).

Just as Higgins is about to give up on her, Eliza suddenly recites one of her diction exercises in perfect upper-class style («The Rain in Spain»). Though Mrs Pearce, the housekeeper, insists that Eliza go to bed, she declares she is too excited to sleep («I Could Have Danced All Night»).

For her first public tryout, Higgins takes Eliza to his mother’s box at Ascot Racecourse («Ascot Gavotte»). Though Eliza shocks everyone when she forgets herself while watching a race and reverts to foul language, she does capture the heart of Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Freddy calls on Eliza that evening, and he declares that he will wait for her in the street outside Higgins’ house («On the Street Where You Live»).

Eliza’s final test requires her to pass as a lady at the Embassy Ball. After more weeks of preparation, she is ready. («Eliza’s Entrance»). All the ladies and gentlemen at the ball admire her, and the Queen of Transylvania invites her to dance with the prince («Embassy Waltz»). A Hungarian phonetician, Zoltan Karpathy, attempts to discover Eliza’s origins. Higgins allows Karpathy to dance with Eliza.^[1]

Act II[edit]

The ball is a success; Karpathy has declared Eliza to be a Hungarian princess. Pickering and Higgins revel in their triumph («You Did It»), failing to pay attention to Eliza. Eliza is insulted at receiving no credit for her success, packing up and leaving the Higgins house. As she leaves she finds Freddy, who begins to tell her how much he loves her, but she tells him that she has heard enough words; if he really loves her, he should show it («Show Me»).

Eliza and Freddy return to Covent Garden but she finds she no longer feels at home there. Her father is there as well, and he tells her that he has received a surprise bequest from an American millionaire, which has raised him to middle-class respectability, and now must marry his lover. Doolittle and his friends have one last spree before the wedding («Get Me to the Church on Time»).

Higgins awakens the next morning. He finds himself out of sorts without Eliza. He wonders why she left after the triumph at the ball and concludes that men (especially himself) are far superior to women («A Hymn to Him»). Pickering notices the Professor’s lack of consideration, and also leaves the Higgins house.

Higgins despondently visits his mother’s house, where he finds Eliza. Eliza declares she no longer needs Higgins («Without You»). As Higgins walks home, he realizes he’s grown attached to Eliza («I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face»). At home, he sentimentally reviews the recording he made the day Eliza first came to him for lessons, hearing his own harsh words. Eliza suddenly appears in his home. In suppressed joy at their reunion, Professor Higgins scoffs and asks, «Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?»

Characters and original Broadway cast[edit]

The original cast of the Broadway stage production:^[2]

• Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flowerseller – Julie Andrews
• Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics – Rex Harrison
• Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza’s father, a dustman – Stanley Holloway
• Colonel Hugh Pickering, Henry Higgins’s friend and fellow phoneticist – Robert Coote
• Mrs. Higgins, Henry’s socialite mother – Cathleen Nesbitt
• Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young socialite and Eliza’s suitor – John Michael King
• Mrs. Pearce, Higgins’s housekeeper – Philippa Bevans
• Zoltan Karpathy, Henry Higgins’s former student and rival – Christopher Hewett

Musical numbers[edit]

Background[edit]

In the mid-1930s, film producer Gabriel Pascal acquired the rights to produce film versions of several of George Bernard Shaw’s plays, Pygmalion among them. However, Shaw, having had a bad experience with The Chocolate Soldier, a Viennese operetta based on his play Arms and the Man, refused permission for Pygmalion to be adapted into a musical. After Shaw died in 1950, Pascal asked lyricist Alan Jay Lerner to write the musical adaptation. Lerner agreed, and he and his partner Frederick Loewe began work. But they quickly realised that the play violated several key rules for constructing a musical: the main story was not a love story, there was no subplot or secondary love story, and there was no place for an ensemble.^[3] Many people, including Oscar Hammerstein II, who, with Richard Rodgers, had also tried his hand at adapting Pygmalion into a musical and had given up, told Lerner that converting the play to a musical was impossible, so he and Loewe abandoned the project for two years.^[4]

During this time, the collaborators separated and Gabriel Pascal died. Lerner had been trying to musicalize Li’l Abner when he read Pascal’s obituary and found himself thinking about Pygmalion again.^[5] When he and Loewe reunited, everything fell into place. All of the insurmountable obstacles that had stood in their way two years earlier disappeared when the team realised that the play needed few changes apart from (according to Lerner) «adding the action that took place between the acts of the play».^[6] They then excitedly began writing the show. However, Chase Manhattan Bank was in charge of Pascal’s estate, and the musical rights to Pygmalion were sought both by Lerner and Loewe and by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, whose executives called Lerner to discourage him from challenging the studio. Loewe said, «We will write the show without the rights, and when the time comes for them to decide who is to get them, we will be so far ahead of everyone else that they will be forced to give them to us.»^[7] For five months Lerner and Loewe wrote, hired technical designers, and made casting decisions. The bank, in the end, granted them the musical rights.

Various titles were suggested for the musical. Dominic McHugh wrote: «During the autumn of 1955, the show [was] typically referred to as My Lady Liza, and most of the contracts refer to this as the title.»^[8] Lerner preferred My Fair Lady, relating both to one of Shaw’s provisional titles for Pygmalion and to the final line of every verse of the nursery rhyme «London Bridge Is Falling Down». Recalling that the Gershwins’ 1925 musical Tell Me More had been titled My Fair Lady in its out-of-town tryout, and also had a musical number under that title, Lerner made a courtesy call to Ira Gershwin, alerting him to the use of the title for the Lerner and Loewe musical.^{[citation needed]}

Noël Coward was the first to be offered the role of Henry Higgins, but he turned it down, suggesting the producers cast Rex Harrison instead.^[9] After much deliberation, Harrison agreed to accept the part. Mary Martin was an early choice for the role of Eliza Doolittle, but declined the role.^[10] Young actress Julie Andrews was «discovered» and cast as Eliza after the show’s creative team went to see her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend.^[11] Moss Hart agreed to direct after hearing only two songs. The experienced orchestrators Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang were entrusted with the arrangements, and the show quickly went into rehearsal.^{[citation needed]}

The musical’s script used several scenes that Shaw had written especially for the 1938 film version of Pygmalion, including the Embassy Ball sequence and the final scene of the 1938 film rather than the ending for Shaw’s original play.^[12] The montage showing Eliza’s lessons was also expanded, combining both Lerner’s and Shaw’s dialogue. The artwork on the original Broadway poster (and the sleeve of the cast recording) is by Al Hirschfeld, who drew the playwright Shaw as a heavenly puppetmaster pulling the strings on the Henry Higgins character, while Higgins in turn attempts to control Eliza Doolittle.^[13]

Productions[edit]

Original Broadway production[edit]

The musical had its pre-Broadway tryout at New Haven’s Shubert Theatre. At the first preview Rex Harrison, who was unaccustomed to singing in front of a live orchestra, «announced that under no circumstances would he go on that night…with those thirty-two interlopers in the pit».^[14] He locked himself in his dressing room and came out little more than an hour before curtain time. The whole company had been dismissed but were recalled, and opening night was a success.^[15] My Fair Lady then played for four weeks at the Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia, beginning on February 15, 1956.

The musical premiered on Broadway March 15, 1956, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York City. It transferred to the Broadhurst Theatre and then The Broadway Theatre, where it closed on September 29, 1962, after 2,717 performances, a record at the time. Moss Hart directed and Hanya Holm was choreographer. In addition to stars Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway, the original cast included Robert Coote, Cathleen Nesbitt, John Michael King, and Reid Shelton.^[16] Harrison was replaced by Edward Mulhare in November 1957 and Sally Ann Howes replaced Andrews in February 1958.^[17][18] By the start of 1959, it was the biggest grossing Broadway show of all-time with a gross of $10 million.^[19]

The Original Cast Recording, released on April 2, 1956, was the best-selling album in the United States in 1956.^[20]

Original London production[edit]

The West End production, in which Harrison, Andrews, Coote, and Holloway reprised their roles, opened on April 30, 1958, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it ran for five and a half years^[21] (2,281 performances). Edwardian musical comedy star Zena Dare made her last appearance in the musical as Mrs. Higgins.^[22] Leonard Weir played Freddy. Harrison left the London cast in March 1959, followed by Andrews in August 1959 and Holloway in October 1959.

1970s revivals[edit]

The first Broadway revival opened at the St. James Theatre 20 years after the original, on March 25, 1976, and ran there until December 5, 1976; it then transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, running from December 9, 1976, until it closed on February 20, 1977, after a total of 377 performances and 7 previews. The director was Jerry Adler, with choreography by Crandall Diehl, based on the original choreography by Hanya Holm. Ian Richardson starred as Higgins, with Christine Andreas as Eliza, George Rose as Alfred P. Doolittle and Robert Coote recreating his role as Colonel Pickering.^[16] Both Richardson and Rose were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, with the award going to Rose.

A Cameron MacKintosh revival opened at London’s Adelphi Theatre in October 1979, following a national tour. Originated at the Haymarket Theatre Leicester, the production was created under a new agreement with The Arts Council to tour West End standard productions. It featured Tony Britton as Higgins, Liz Robertson as Eliza, Dame Anna Neagle as Higgins’ mother, Peter Bayliss as Doolittle, Richard Caldicot as Pickering and Peter Land as Freddy. It was directed by Robin Midgley,^[23][24][25] with sets by Adrian Vaux, costumes by Tim Goodchild and choreography by Gillian Lynne.^[26] Britton and Robertson were both nominated for Olivier Awards.^[27]

1981 and 1993 Broadway revivals[edit]

The second Broadway revival of the original production opened at the Uris Theatre on August 18, 1981, and closed on November 29, 1981, after 120 performances and 4 previews. Rex Harrison recreated his role as Higgins, with Jack Gwillim as Pickering, Milo O’Shea as Doolittle, and Cathleen Nesbitt, at 93 years old reprising her role as Mrs. Higgins. The revival co-starred Nancy Ringham as Eliza. The director was Patrick Garland, with choreography by Crandall Diehl, recreating the original Hanya Holm dances.^[16][28]

A new revival directed by Howard Davies opened at the Virginia Theatre on December 9, 1993, and closed on May 1, 1994, after 165 performances and 16 previews. The cast starred Richard Chamberlain as Higgins, Melissa Errico as Eliza and Paxton Whitehead as Pickering. Julian Holloway, son of Stanley Holloway, recreated his father’s role of Alfred P. Doolittle. Donald Saddler was the choreographer.^[16][29]

2001 London revival; 2003 Hollywood Bowl production[edit]

Cameron Mackintosh produced a new production on March 15, 2001, at the Royal National Theatre, which transferred to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on July 21. Directed by Trevor Nunn, with choreography by Matthew Bourne, the musical starred Martine McCutcheon as Eliza and Jonathan Pryce as Higgins, with Dennis Waterman as Alfred P. Doolittle. This revival won three Olivier Awards: Outstanding Musical Production, Best Actress in a Musical (Martine McCutcheon) and Best Theatre Choreographer (Matthew Bourne), with Anthony Ward receiving a nomination for Set Design.^[30] In December 2001, Joanna Riding took over the role of Eliza, and in May 2002, Alex Jennings took over as Higgins, both winning Olivier Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical respectively in 2003.^[31] In March 2003, Anthony Andrews and Laura Michelle Kelly took over the roles until the show closed on August 30, 2003.^[32]

A UK tour of this production began September 28, 2005. The production starred Amy Nuttall and Lisa O’Hare as Eliza, Christopher Cazenove as Henry Higgins, Russ Abbot and Gareth Hale as Doolittle, and Honor Blackman^[33] and Hannah Gordon as Mrs. Higgins. The tour ended August 12, 2006.^[34]

In 2003 a production of the musical at the Hollywood Bowl starred John Lithgow as Higgins, Melissa Errico as Eliza, Roger Daltrey as Doolittle, Kevin Earley as Freddy, Lauri Johnson as Mrs. Pearce, Caroline Blakiston as Mrs. Higgins, and Paxton Whitehead as Colonel Pickering.^[35][36]

2018 Broadway and 2022 London revival[edit]

A Broadway revival produced by Lincoln Center Theater and Nederlander Presentations Inc. began previews on March 15, 2018, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and officially opened on April 19, 2018. It was directed by Bartlett Sher with choreography by Christopher Gattelli, scenic design by Michael Yeargan, costume design by Catherine Zuber and lighting design by Donald Holder.^[37] The cast included Lauren Ambrose as Eliza, Harry Hadden-Paton as Professor Henry Higgins, Diana Rigg as Mrs. Higgins, Norbert Leo Butz as Alfred P. Doolittle, Allan Corduner as Colonel Pickering, Jordan Donica as Freddy, and Linda Mugleston as Mrs. Pearce.^[38][39] Replacements included Rosemary Harris as Mrs. Higgins,^[40] Laura Benanti as Eliza,^[41] and Danny Burstein, then Alexander Gemignani, as Alfred P. Doolittle.^[42] The revival closed on July 7, 2019, after 39 previews and 509 regular performances.^[43] A North American tour of the production, starring Shereen Ahmed and Laird Mackintosh as Eliza and Higgins, opened in December 2019.^[44] Performances were suspended in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and resumed in September 2021.^[45] It is scheduled to run through August 2022.^[46]

The production was presented by the English National Opera at the London Coliseum with performances from May 7, 2022, and an official opening on May 18, for a 16-week run until August 27. It starred Amara Okereke as Eliza, with Hadden-Paton reprising the role of Higgins, Stephen K. Amos as Alfred P. Doolittle, Vanessa Redgrave as Mrs. Higgins, Malcolm Sinclair as Colonel Pickering, Maureen Beattie as Mrs. Pearce and Sharif Afifi as Freddy.^[47] Redgrave left the production early after contracting COVID-19.^[48] A UK and Ireland tour began in September 2022 starring Michael Xavier as Higgins, Charlotte Kennedy as Eliza, Adam Woodyatt as Alfred P. Doolittle, John Middleton as Colonel Pickering, Lesley Garrett as Mrs Pearce and Tom Liggins as Freddy.^[49]

Other major productions[edit]

Berlin, 1961[edit]

A German translation of My Fair Lady opened on October 1, 1961, at the Theater des Westens in Berlin, starring Karin Hübner and Paul Hubschmid (and conducted, as was the Broadway opening, by Franz Allers). Coming at the height of Cold War tensions, just weeks after the closing of the East Berlin–West Berlin border and the erection of the Berlin Wall, this was the first staging of a Broadway musical in Berlin since World War II. As such it was seen as a symbol of West Berlin’s cultural renaissance and resistance. Lost attendance from East Berlin (now no longer possible) was partly made up by a «musical air bridge» of flights bringing in patrons from West Germany, and the production was embraced by Berliners, running for two years.^[50][51]

2007 New York Philharmonic concert and US tour[edit]

In 2007 the New York Philharmonic held a full-costume concert presentation of the musical. The concert had a four-day engagement lasting from March 7–10 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. It starred Kelsey Grammer as Higgins, Kelli O’Hara as Eliza, Charles Kimbrough as Pickering, and Brian Dennehy as Alfred Doolittle. Marni Nixon played Mrs. Higgins; Nixon had provided the singing voice of Audrey Hepburn in the film version.^[52]

A U.S. tour of Mackintosh’s 2001 West End production ran from September 12, 2007, to June 22, 2008.^[53] The production starred Christopher Cazenove as Higgins, Lisa O’Hare as Eliza, Walter Charles as Pickering, Tim Jerome as Alfred Doolittle^[54] and Nixon as Mrs. Higgins, replacing Sally Ann Howes.^[55]

2008 Australian tour[edit]

An Australian tour produced by Opera Australia commenced in May 2008. The production starred Reg Livermore as Higgins, Taryn Fiebig as Eliza, Robert Grubb as Alfred Doolittle and Judi Connelli as Mrs Pearce. John Wood took the role of Alfred Doolittle in Queensland, and Richard E. Grant played the role of Henry Higgins at the Theatre Royal, Sydney.^[56]

2010 Paris revival[edit]

A new production was staged by Robert Carsen at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for a limited 27-performance run, opening December 9, 2010, and closing January 2, 2011. It was presented in English. The costumes were designed by Anthony Powell and the choreography was by Lynne Page. The cast was as follows: Sarah Gabriel / Christine Arand (Eliza Doolittle), Alex Jennings (Henry Higgins), Margaret Tyzack (Mrs. Higgins), Nicholas Le Prevost (Colonel Pickering), Donald Maxwell (Alfred Doolittle), and Jenny Galloway (Mrs. Pearce).^[57]

2012 Sheffield production[edit]

A new production of My Fair Lady opened at Sheffield Crucible on December 13, 2012. Dominic West played Henry Higgins, and Carly Bawden played Eliza Doolittle. Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Daniel Evans was the director. The production ran until January 26, 2013.^[58][59]

2016 Australian production[edit]

The Gordon Frost Organisation, together with Opera Australia, presented a production at the Sydney Opera House from August 30 to November 5, 2016. It was directed by Julie Andrews and featured the set and costume designs of the original 1956 production by Smith and Beaton.^[60] The production sold more tickets than any other in the history of the Sydney Opera House.^[61] The show’s opening run in Sydney was so successful that in November 2016, ticket pre-sales were released for a re-run in Sydney, with the extra shows scheduled between August 24 and September 10, 2017, at the Capitol Theatre.^[62] In 2017, the show toured to Brisbane from March 12 and Melbourne from May 11.^[63]

The cast featured Alex Jennings as Higgins (Charles Edwards for Brisbane and Melbourne seasons), Anna O’Byrne as Eliza, Reg Livermore as Alfred P. Doolittle, Robyn Nevin as Mrs. Higgins (later Pamela Rabe), Mark Vincent as Freddy, Tony Llewellyn-Jones as Colonel Pickering, Deidre Rubenstein as Mrs. Pearce, and David Whitney as Karpathy.^[62][63][64]

Critical reception[edit]

According to Geoffrey Block, «Opening night critics immediately recognized that My Fair Lady fully measured up to the Rodgers and Hammerstein model of an integrated musical…Robert Coleman…wrote ‘The Lerner-Loewe songs are not only delightful, they advance the action as well. They are ever so much more than interpolations, or interruptions.'»^[65] The musical opened to «unanimously glowing reviews, one of which said ‘Don’t bother reading this review now. You’d better sit right down and send for those tickets…’ Critics praised the thoughtful use of Shaw’s original play, the brilliance of the lyrics, and Loewe’s well-integrated score.»^[66]

A sampling of praise from critics, excerpted from a book form of the musical, published in 1956.^[67]

• «My Fair Lady is wise, witty, and winning. In short, a miraculous musical.» Walter Kerr, New York Herald Tribune.
• «A felicitous blend of intellect, wit, rhythm and high spirits. A masterpiece of musical comedy … a terrific show.» Robert Coleman, New York Daily Mirror.
• «Fine, handsome, melodious, witty and beautifully acted … an exceptional show.» George Jean Nathan, New York Journal American.
• «Everything about My Fair Lady is distinctive and distinguished.» John Chapman, New York Daily News.
• «Wonderfully entertaining and extraordinarily welcomed … meritorious in every department.» Wolcott Gibbs, The New Yorker.
• «One of the ‘loverliest’ shows imaginable … a work of theatre magic.» John Beaufort, The Christian Science Monitor.
• «An irresistible hit.» Variety.
• «One of the best musicals of the century.» Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times.

The reception from Shavians was more mixed, however. Eric Bentley, for instance, called it «a terrible treatment of Mr. Shaw’s play, [undermining] the basic idea [of the play]», even though he acknowledged it as «a delightful show».^[68] My Fair Lady was later called «the perfect musical».^[69]

Principal roles and casting history[edit]

Character	Broadway (1956)[70]	West End (1958)[71]	Broadway (1976)[72]	West End (1979)[73]	Broadway (1981)[74]	Broadway (1993)[75]	West End (2001)[76]	Broadway (2018)[77]	West End (2022)[78]
Eliza Doolittle	Julie Andrews	Christine Andreas	Liz Robertson	Nancy Ringham	Melissa Errico	Martine McCutcheon	Lauren Ambrose	Amara Okereke
Henry Higgins	Rex Harrison	Ian Richardson	Tony Britton	Rex Harrison	Richard Chamberlain	Jonathan Pryce	Harry Hadden-Paton
Alfred P. Doolittle	Stanley Holloway	George Rose	Peter Bayliss[79]	Milo O’Shea	Julian Holloway	Dennis Waterman	Norbert Leo Butz	Stephen K. Amos
Mrs. Higgins	Cathleen Nesbitt	Zena Dare	Brenda Forbes	Anna Neagle	Cathleen Nesbitt	Dolores Sutton	Caroline Blakiston	Diana Rigg	Vanessa Redgrave
Colonel Hugh Pickering	Robert Coote	Richard Caldicot	Jack Gwillim	Paxton Whitehead	Nicholas Le Prevost	Allan Corduner	Malcolm Sinclair
Freddy Eynsford-Hill	John Michael King	Leonard Weir	Jerry Lanning	Peter Land[80]	Nicholas Wyman	Robert Sella	Mark Umbers	Jordan Donica	Sharif Afifi
Mrs. Pearce	Philippa Bevans	Betty Woolfe	Sylvia O’Brien	Betty Paul[81]	Marian Baer	Glynis Bell	Patsy Rowlands	Linda Mugleston	Maureen Beattie
Zoltan Karpathy	Christopher Hewett	Max Oldaker	John Clarkson	Kalman Glass	Jack Sevier	James Young	Sevan Stephan	Manu Narayan	Carl Patrick

Notable replacements[edit]

Broadway (1956–1962)

• Henry Higgins: Michael Allinson, Bramwell Fletcher, Tom Hellmore, Larry Keith, Edward Mulhare
• Eliza: Sally Ann Howes
• Pickering: Melville Cooper, Reginald Denny

West End (1958–1963)

• Henry Higgins: Alec Clunes, Charles Stapley
• Eliza: Anne Rogers
• Doolittle: James Hayter

Broadway revival (2018–2019)

• Eliza: Laura Benanti
• Doolittle: Danny Burstein, Alexander Gemignani
• Mrs. Higgins: Rosemary Harris

Awards and nominations[edit]

Original Broadway production[edit]

Sources: BroadwayWorld^[82] TheatreWorldAwards^[83]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1956	Theatre World Award	Outstanding New York City Stage Debut Performance	John Michael King	Won
1957	Tony Award	Best Musical	Won
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Rex Harrison	Won
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical	Julie Andrews	Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Robert Coote	Nominated
Stanley Holloway	Nominated
Best Direction of a Musical	Moss Hart	Won
Best Choreography	Hanya Holm	Nominated
Best Scenic Design	Oliver Smith	Won
Best Costume Design	Cecil Beaton	Won
Best Conductor and Musical Director	Franz Allers	Won

1976 Broadway revival[edit]

Sources: BroadwayWorld^[84] Drama Desk^[85]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1976	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Ian Richardson	Nominated
George Rose	Won
Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Revival of a Musical	Nominated
Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Ian Richardson	Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical	George Rose	Won
Outstanding Director of a Musical	Jerry Adler	Nominated

1979 London revival[edit]

Source: Olivier Awards^[86]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1979	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Tony Britton	Nominated
Best Actress in a Musical	Liz Robertson	Nominated

1981 Broadway revival[edit]

Source: BroadwayWorld^[87]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1982	Tony Award	Best Revival	Nominated

1993 Broadway revival[edit]

Source: Drama Desk^[88]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1993	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Revival of a Musical	Nominated
Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Melissa Errico	Nominated
Outstanding Costume Design	Patricia Zipprodt	Nominated

2001 London revival[edit]

Source: Olivier Awards^[89]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
2002	Laurence Olivier Award	Outstanding Musical Production	Won
Best Actor in a Musical	Jonathan Pryce	Nominated
Best Actress in a Musical	Martine McCutcheon	Won
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical	Nicholas Le Prevost	Nominated
Best Theatre Choreographer	Matthew Bourne	Won
Best Set Design	Anthony Ward	Nominated
Best Costume Design	Nominated
Best Lighting Design	David Hersey	Nominated
2003	Best Actor in a Musical	Alex Jennings	Won
Best Actress in a Musical	Joanna Riding	Won

2018 Broadway revival[edit]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
2018	Tony Award	Best Revival of a Musical	Nominated
Best Actor in a Musical	Harry Hadden-Paton	Nominated
Best Actress in a Musical	Lauren Ambrose	Nominated
Best Featured Actor in a Musical	Norbert Leo Butz	Nominated
Best Featured Actress in a Musical	Diana Rigg	Nominated
Best Direction of a Musical	Bartlett Sher	Nominated
Best Choreography	Christopher Gattelli	Nominated
Best Scenic Design in a Musical	Michael Yeargan	Nominated
Best Lighting Design in a Musical	Donald Holder	Nominated
Best Costume Design in a Musical	Catherine Zuber	Won
Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Revival of a Musical	Won
Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Harry Hadden-Paton	Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical	Diana Rigg	Nominated
Outstanding Director of a Musical	Bartlett Sher	Nominated
Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical	Catherine Zuber	Won
Drama League Award	Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical	Won
Distinguished Performance Award[90]	Lauren Ambrose	Nominated
Harry Hadden-Paton	Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Revival of a Musical	Won
Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Harry Hadden-Paton	Nominated
Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Lauren Ambrose	Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical	Norbert Leo Butz	Won
Outstanding Director of a Musical	Bartlett Sher	Won[91]
Outstanding Choreography	Christopher Gattelli	Nominated
Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical)	Michael Yeagan	Nominated
Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical)	Catherine Zuber	Won
Outstanding Sound Design (Play or Musical)	Marc Salzberg	Nominated
2019	Grammy Awards	Best Musical Theater Album	Nominated

Adaptations[edit]

1964 film[edit]

George Cukor directed the 1964 film adaptation, with Harrison returning in the role of Higgins. The casting of Audrey Hepburn as Eliza created controversy among theatregoers, both because Andrews was regarded perfect in the part, and Hepburn’s singing voice was dubbed (by Marni Nixon). Jack L. Warner, the head of Warner Bros., wanted «a star with a great deal of name recognition», but since Andrews did not have any film experience, he deemed success more likely with a movie star.^[92] (Andrews went on to star in Mary Poppins that same year for which she won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actress.) Lerner in particular disliked the film version of the musical, thinking it did not live up to the standards of Moss Hart’s original direction. He was also unhappy with the casting of Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle and that the film was shot in its entirety at the Warner Bros. studio rather than, as he would have preferred, in London.^[93] Despite the controversy, My Fair Lady was considered a major critical and box-office success, and won eight Oscars, including Best Picture of the Year, Best Actor for Rex Harrison, and Best Director for George Cukor.

Cancelled 2008 film[edit]

Columbia Pictures planned a new adaptation in 2008.^[94] By 2011, John Madden had been signed to direct the film, and Emma Thompson had written a new screenplay, and by 2014 the studio had shelved it.^[95][96]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Citron, David (1995). The Wordsmiths: Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508386-5
• Garebian, Keith (1998). The Making of My Fair Lady, Mosaic Press. ISBN 0-88962-653-7
• Green, Benny, Editor (1987). A Hymn to Him : The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner, Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0-87910-109-1
• Jablonski, Edward (1996). Alan Jay Lerner: A Biography, Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0-8050-4076-5
• Lees, Gene (2005). The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe, Bison Books. ISBN 0-8032-8040-8
• Lerner, Alan Jay (1985). The Street Where I Live, Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80602-9
• McHugh, Dominic. Loverly: The Life and Times of «My Fair Lady» (Oxford University Press; 2012) 265 pages; uses unpublished documents to study the five-year process of the original production.
• Shapiro, Doris (1989). We Danced All Night: My Life Behind the Scenes With Alan Jay Lerner, Barricade Books. ISBN 0-942637-98-4

External links[edit]

• ​My Fair Lady​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lincoln Center production
• Ovrtur Page

My Fair Lady
Original Broadway Poster by Al Hirschfeld
Music	Frederick Loewe
Lyrics	Alan Jay Lerner
Book	Alan Jay Lerner
Basis	Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw
Productions	1956 Broadway 1957 US tour 1958 West End 1976 Broadway 1978 UK tour 1979 West End 1980 US tour 1981 Broadway 1993 US tour 1993 Broadway 2001 West End 2005 UK tour 2007 US tour 2018 Broadway 2019 US tour 2022 West End
Awards	1957 Tony Award for Best Musical 2002 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival

My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion, with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. Despite his cynical nature and difficulty understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her.

The musical’s 1956 Broadway production was a notable critical and popular success, winning six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It set a record for the longest run of any musical on Broadway up to that time and was followed by a hit London production. Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews starred in both productions. Many revivals have followed, and the 1964 film version won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Plot[edit]

Act I[edit]

In Edwardian London, Eliza Doolittle is a flower girl with a thick Cockney accent. The noted phonetician Professor Henry Higgins encounters Eliza at Covent Garden and laments the vulgarity of her dialect («Why Can’t the English?»). Higgins also meets Colonel Pickering, another linguist, and invites him to stay as his houseguest. Eliza and her friends wonder what it would be like to live a comfortable life («Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?»).

Eliza’s father, Alfred P. Doolittle, stops by the next morning searching for money for a drink («With a Little Bit of Luck»). Soon after, Eliza comes to Higgins’s house, seeking elocution lessons so that she can get a job as an assistant in a florist’s shop. Higgins wagers Pickering that, within six months, by teaching Eliza to speak properly, he will enable her to pass for a proper lady.

Eliza becomes part of Higgins’s household. Though Higgins sees himself as a kindhearted man who merely cannot get along with women («I’m an Ordinary Man»), to others he appears self-absorbed and misogynistic. Eliza endures Higgins’s tyrannical speech tutoring. Frustrated, she dreams of different ways to kill him («Just You Wait»). Higgins’s servants lament the stressful atmosphere («The Servants’ Chorus»).

Just as Higgins is about to give up on her, Eliza suddenly recites one of her diction exercises in perfect upper-class style («The Rain in Spain»). Though Mrs Pearce, the housekeeper, insists that Eliza go to bed, she declares she is too excited to sleep («I Could Have Danced All Night»).

For her first public tryout, Higgins takes Eliza to his mother’s box at Ascot Racecourse («Ascot Gavotte»). Though Eliza shocks everyone when she forgets herself while watching a race and reverts to foul language, she does capture the heart of Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Freddy calls on Eliza that evening, and he declares that he will wait for her in the street outside Higgins’ house («On the Street Where You Live»).

Eliza’s final test requires her to pass as a lady at the Embassy Ball. After more weeks of preparation, she is ready. («Eliza’s Entrance»). All the ladies and gentlemen at the ball admire her, and the Queen of Transylvania invites her to dance with the prince («Embassy Waltz»). A Hungarian phonetician, Zoltan Karpathy, attempts to discover Eliza’s origins. Higgins allows Karpathy to dance with Eliza.^[1]

Act II[edit]

The ball is a success; Karpathy has declared Eliza to be a Hungarian princess. Pickering and Higgins revel in their triumph («You Did It»), failing to pay attention to Eliza. Eliza is insulted at receiving no credit for her success, packing up and leaving the Higgins house. As she leaves she finds Freddy, who begins to tell her how much he loves her, but she tells him that she has heard enough words; if he really loves her, he should show it («Show Me»).

Eliza and Freddy return to Covent Garden but she finds she no longer feels at home there. Her father is there as well, and he tells her that he has received a surprise bequest from an American millionaire, which has raised him to middle-class respectability, and now must marry his lover. Doolittle and his friends have one last spree before the wedding («Get Me to the Church on Time»).

Higgins awakens the next morning. He finds himself out of sorts without Eliza. He wonders why she left after the triumph at the ball and concludes that men (especially himself) are far superior to women («A Hymn to Him»). Pickering notices the Professor’s lack of consideration, and also leaves the Higgins house.

Higgins despondently visits his mother’s house, where he finds Eliza. Eliza declares she no longer needs Higgins («Without You»). As Higgins walks home, he realizes he’s grown attached to Eliza («I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face»). At home, he sentimentally reviews the recording he made the day Eliza first came to him for lessons, hearing his own harsh words. Eliza suddenly appears in his home. In suppressed joy at their reunion, Professor Higgins scoffs and asks, «Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?»

Characters and original Broadway cast[edit]

The original cast of the Broadway stage production:^[2]

• Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flowerseller – Julie Andrews
• Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics – Rex Harrison
• Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza’s father, a dustman – Stanley Holloway
• Colonel Hugh Pickering, Henry Higgins’s friend and fellow phoneticist – Robert Coote
• Mrs. Higgins, Henry’s socialite mother – Cathleen Nesbitt
• Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young socialite and Eliza’s suitor – John Michael King
• Mrs. Pearce, Higgins’s housekeeper – Philippa Bevans
• Zoltan Karpathy, Henry Higgins’s former student and rival – Christopher Hewett

Musical numbers[edit]

Background[edit]

In the mid-1930s, film producer Gabriel Pascal acquired the rights to produce film versions of several of George Bernard Shaw’s plays, Pygmalion among them. However, Shaw, having had a bad experience with The Chocolate Soldier, a Viennese operetta based on his play Arms and the Man, refused permission for Pygmalion to be adapted into a musical. After Shaw died in 1950, Pascal asked lyricist Alan Jay Lerner to write the musical adaptation. Lerner agreed, and he and his partner Frederick Loewe began work. But they quickly realised that the play violated several key rules for constructing a musical: the main story was not a love story, there was no subplot or secondary love story, and there was no place for an ensemble.^[3] Many people, including Oscar Hammerstein II, who, with Richard Rodgers, had also tried his hand at adapting Pygmalion into a musical and had given up, told Lerner that converting the play to a musical was impossible, so he and Loewe abandoned the project for two years.^[4]

During this time, the collaborators separated and Gabriel Pascal died. Lerner had been trying to musicalize Li’l Abner when he read Pascal’s obituary and found himself thinking about Pygmalion again.^[5] When he and Loewe reunited, everything fell into place. All of the insurmountable obstacles that had stood in their way two years earlier disappeared when the team realised that the play needed few changes apart from (according to Lerner) «adding the action that took place between the acts of the play».^[6] They then excitedly began writing the show. However, Chase Manhattan Bank was in charge of Pascal’s estate, and the musical rights to Pygmalion were sought both by Lerner and Loewe and by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, whose executives called Lerner to discourage him from challenging the studio. Loewe said, «We will write the show without the rights, and when the time comes for them to decide who is to get them, we will be so far ahead of everyone else that they will be forced to give them to us.»^[7] For five months Lerner and Loewe wrote, hired technical designers, and made casting decisions. The bank, in the end, granted them the musical rights.

Various titles were suggested for the musical. Dominic McHugh wrote: «During the autumn of 1955, the show [was] typically referred to as My Lady Liza, and most of the contracts refer to this as the title.»^[8] Lerner preferred My Fair Lady, relating both to one of Shaw’s provisional titles for Pygmalion and to the final line of every verse of the nursery rhyme «London Bridge Is Falling Down». Recalling that the Gershwins’ 1925 musical Tell Me More had been titled My Fair Lady in its out-of-town tryout, and also had a musical number under that title, Lerner made a courtesy call to Ira Gershwin, alerting him to the use of the title for the Lerner and Loewe musical.^{[citation needed]}

Noël Coward was the first to be offered the role of Henry Higgins, but he turned it down, suggesting the producers cast Rex Harrison instead.^[9] After much deliberation, Harrison agreed to accept the part. Mary Martin was an early choice for the role of Eliza Doolittle, but declined the role.^[10] Young actress Julie Andrews was «discovered» and cast as Eliza after the show’s creative team went to see her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend.^[11] Moss Hart agreed to direct after hearing only two songs. The experienced orchestrators Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang were entrusted with the arrangements, and the show quickly went into rehearsal.^{[citation needed]}

The musical’s script used several scenes that Shaw had written especially for the 1938 film version of Pygmalion, including the Embassy Ball sequence and the final scene of the 1938 film rather than the ending for Shaw’s original play.^[12] The montage showing Eliza’s lessons was also expanded, combining both Lerner’s and Shaw’s dialogue. The artwork on the original Broadway poster (and the sleeve of the cast recording) is by Al Hirschfeld, who drew the playwright Shaw as a heavenly puppetmaster pulling the strings on the Henry Higgins character, while Higgins in turn attempts to control Eliza Doolittle.^[13]

Productions[edit]

Original Broadway production[edit]

The musical had its pre-Broadway tryout at New Haven’s Shubert Theatre. At the first preview Rex Harrison, who was unaccustomed to singing in front of a live orchestra, «announced that under no circumstances would he go on that night…with those thirty-two interlopers in the pit».^[14] He locked himself in his dressing room and came out little more than an hour before curtain time. The whole company had been dismissed but were recalled, and opening night was a success.^[15] My Fair Lady then played for four weeks at the Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia, beginning on February 15, 1956.

The musical premiered on Broadway March 15, 1956, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York City. It transferred to the Broadhurst Theatre and then The Broadway Theatre, where it closed on September 29, 1962, after 2,717 performances, a record at the time. Moss Hart directed and Hanya Holm was choreographer. In addition to stars Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway, the original cast included Robert Coote, Cathleen Nesbitt, John Michael King, and Reid Shelton.^[16] Harrison was replaced by Edward Mulhare in November 1957 and Sally Ann Howes replaced Andrews in February 1958.^[17][18] By the start of 1959, it was the biggest grossing Broadway show of all-time with a gross of $10 million.^[19]

The Original Cast Recording, released on April 2, 1956, was the best-selling album in the United States in 1956.^[20]

Original London production[edit]

The West End production, in which Harrison, Andrews, Coote, and Holloway reprised their roles, opened on April 30, 1958, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it ran for five and a half years^[21] (2,281 performances). Edwardian musical comedy star Zena Dare made her last appearance in the musical as Mrs. Higgins.^[22] Leonard Weir played Freddy. Harrison left the London cast in March 1959, followed by Andrews in August 1959 and Holloway in October 1959.

1970s revivals[edit]

The first Broadway revival opened at the St. James Theatre 20 years after the original, on March 25, 1976, and ran there until December 5, 1976; it then transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, running from December 9, 1976, until it closed on February 20, 1977, after a total of 377 performances and 7 previews. The director was Jerry Adler, with choreography by Crandall Diehl, based on the original choreography by Hanya Holm. Ian Richardson starred as Higgins, with Christine Andreas as Eliza, George Rose as Alfred P. Doolittle and Robert Coote recreating his role as Colonel Pickering.^[16] Both Richardson and Rose were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, with the award going to Rose.

A Cameron MacKintosh revival opened at London’s Adelphi Theatre in October 1979, following a national tour. Originated at the Haymarket Theatre Leicester, the production was created under a new agreement with The Arts Council to tour West End standard productions. It featured Tony Britton as Higgins, Liz Robertson as Eliza, Dame Anna Neagle as Higgins’ mother, Peter Bayliss as Doolittle, Richard Caldicot as Pickering and Peter Land as Freddy. It was directed by Robin Midgley,^[23][24][25] with sets by Adrian Vaux, costumes by Tim Goodchild and choreography by Gillian Lynne.^[26] Britton and Robertson were both nominated for Olivier Awards.^[27]

1981 and 1993 Broadway revivals[edit]

The second Broadway revival of the original production opened at the Uris Theatre on August 18, 1981, and closed on November 29, 1981, after 120 performances and 4 previews. Rex Harrison recreated his role as Higgins, with Jack Gwillim as Pickering, Milo O’Shea as Doolittle, and Cathleen Nesbitt, at 93 years old reprising her role as Mrs. Higgins. The revival co-starred Nancy Ringham as Eliza. The director was Patrick Garland, with choreography by Crandall Diehl, recreating the original Hanya Holm dances.^[16][28]

A new revival directed by Howard Davies opened at the Virginia Theatre on December 9, 1993, and closed on May 1, 1994, after 165 performances and 16 previews. The cast starred Richard Chamberlain as Higgins, Melissa Errico as Eliza and Paxton Whitehead as Pickering. Julian Holloway, son of Stanley Holloway, recreated his father’s role of Alfred P. Doolittle. Donald Saddler was the choreographer.^[16][29]

2001 London revival; 2003 Hollywood Bowl production[edit]

Cameron Mackintosh produced a new production on March 15, 2001, at the Royal National Theatre, which transferred to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on July 21. Directed by Trevor Nunn, with choreography by Matthew Bourne, the musical starred Martine McCutcheon as Eliza and Jonathan Pryce as Higgins, with Dennis Waterman as Alfred P. Doolittle. This revival won three Olivier Awards: Outstanding Musical Production, Best Actress in a Musical (Martine McCutcheon) and Best Theatre Choreographer (Matthew Bourne), with Anthony Ward receiving a nomination for Set Design.^[30] In December 2001, Joanna Riding took over the role of Eliza, and in May 2002, Alex Jennings took over as Higgins, both winning Olivier Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical respectively in 2003.^[31] In March 2003, Anthony Andrews and Laura Michelle Kelly took over the roles until the show closed on August 30, 2003.^[32]

A UK tour of this production began September 28, 2005. The production starred Amy Nuttall and Lisa O’Hare as Eliza, Christopher Cazenove as Henry Higgins, Russ Abbot and Gareth Hale as Doolittle, and Honor Blackman^[33] and Hannah Gordon as Mrs. Higgins. The tour ended August 12, 2006.^[34]

In 2003 a production of the musical at the Hollywood Bowl starred John Lithgow as Higgins, Melissa Errico as Eliza, Roger Daltrey as Doolittle, Kevin Earley as Freddy, Lauri Johnson as Mrs. Pearce, Caroline Blakiston as Mrs. Higgins, and Paxton Whitehead as Colonel Pickering.^[35][36]

2018 Broadway and 2022 London revival[edit]

A Broadway revival produced by Lincoln Center Theater and Nederlander Presentations Inc. began previews on March 15, 2018, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and officially opened on April 19, 2018. It was directed by Bartlett Sher with choreography by Christopher Gattelli, scenic design by Michael Yeargan, costume design by Catherine Zuber and lighting design by Donald Holder.^[37] The cast included Lauren Ambrose as Eliza, Harry Hadden-Paton as Professor Henry Higgins, Diana Rigg as Mrs. Higgins, Norbert Leo Butz as Alfred P. Doolittle, Allan Corduner as Colonel Pickering, Jordan Donica as Freddy, and Linda Mugleston as Mrs. Pearce.^[38][39] Replacements included Rosemary Harris as Mrs. Higgins,^[40] Laura Benanti as Eliza,^[41] and Danny Burstein, then Alexander Gemignani, as Alfred P. Doolittle.^[42] The revival closed on July 7, 2019, after 39 previews and 509 regular performances.^[43] A North American tour of the production, starring Shereen Ahmed and Laird Mackintosh as Eliza and Higgins, opened in December 2019.^[44] Performances were suspended in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and resumed in September 2021.^[45] It is scheduled to run through August 2022.^[46]

The production was presented by the English National Opera at the London Coliseum with performances from May 7, 2022, and an official opening on May 18, for a 16-week run until August 27. It starred Amara Okereke as Eliza, with Hadden-Paton reprising the role of Higgins, Stephen K. Amos as Alfred P. Doolittle, Vanessa Redgrave as Mrs. Higgins, Malcolm Sinclair as Colonel Pickering, Maureen Beattie as Mrs. Pearce and Sharif Afifi as Freddy.^[47] Redgrave left the production early after contracting COVID-19.^[48] A UK and Ireland tour began in September 2022 starring Michael Xavier as Higgins, Charlotte Kennedy as Eliza, Adam Woodyatt as Alfred P. Doolittle, John Middleton as Colonel Pickering, Lesley Garrett as Mrs Pearce and Tom Liggins as Freddy.^[49]

Other major productions[edit]

Berlin, 1961[edit]

A German translation of My Fair Lady opened on October 1, 1961, at the Theater des Westens in Berlin, starring Karin Hübner and Paul Hubschmid (and conducted, as was the Broadway opening, by Franz Allers). Coming at the height of Cold War tensions, just weeks after the closing of the East Berlin–West Berlin border and the erection of the Berlin Wall, this was the first staging of a Broadway musical in Berlin since World War II. As such it was seen as a symbol of West Berlin’s cultural renaissance and resistance. Lost attendance from East Berlin (now no longer possible) was partly made up by a «musical air bridge» of flights bringing in patrons from West Germany, and the production was embraced by Berliners, running for two years.^[50][51]

2007 New York Philharmonic concert and US tour[edit]

In 2007 the New York Philharmonic held a full-costume concert presentation of the musical. The concert had a four-day engagement lasting from March 7–10 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. It starred Kelsey Grammer as Higgins, Kelli O’Hara as Eliza, Charles Kimbrough as Pickering, and Brian Dennehy as Alfred Doolittle. Marni Nixon played Mrs. Higgins; Nixon had provided the singing voice of Audrey Hepburn in the film version.^[52]

A U.S. tour of Mackintosh’s 2001 West End production ran from September 12, 2007, to June 22, 2008.^[53] The production starred Christopher Cazenove as Higgins, Lisa O’Hare as Eliza, Walter Charles as Pickering, Tim Jerome as Alfred Doolittle^[54] and Nixon as Mrs. Higgins, replacing Sally Ann Howes.^[55]

2008 Australian tour[edit]

An Australian tour produced by Opera Australia commenced in May 2008. The production starred Reg Livermore as Higgins, Taryn Fiebig as Eliza, Robert Grubb as Alfred Doolittle and Judi Connelli as Mrs Pearce. John Wood took the role of Alfred Doolittle in Queensland, and Richard E. Grant played the role of Henry Higgins at the Theatre Royal, Sydney.^[56]

2010 Paris revival[edit]

A new production was staged by Robert Carsen at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for a limited 27-performance run, opening December 9, 2010, and closing January 2, 2011. It was presented in English. The costumes were designed by Anthony Powell and the choreography was by Lynne Page. The cast was as follows: Sarah Gabriel / Christine Arand (Eliza Doolittle), Alex Jennings (Henry Higgins), Margaret Tyzack (Mrs. Higgins), Nicholas Le Prevost (Colonel Pickering), Donald Maxwell (Alfred Doolittle), and Jenny Galloway (Mrs. Pearce).^[57]

2012 Sheffield production[edit]

A new production of My Fair Lady opened at Sheffield Crucible on December 13, 2012. Dominic West played Henry Higgins, and Carly Bawden played Eliza Doolittle. Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Daniel Evans was the director. The production ran until January 26, 2013.^[58][59]

2016 Australian production[edit]

The Gordon Frost Organisation, together with Opera Australia, presented a production at the Sydney Opera House from August 30 to November 5, 2016. It was directed by Julie Andrews and featured the set and costume designs of the original 1956 production by Smith and Beaton.^[60] The production sold more tickets than any other in the history of the Sydney Opera House.^[61] The show’s opening run in Sydney was so successful that in November 2016, ticket pre-sales were released for a re-run in Sydney, with the extra shows scheduled between August 24 and September 10, 2017, at the Capitol Theatre.^[62] In 2017, the show toured to Brisbane from March 12 and Melbourne from May 11.^[63]

The cast featured Alex Jennings as Higgins (Charles Edwards for Brisbane and Melbourne seasons), Anna O’Byrne as Eliza, Reg Livermore as Alfred P. Doolittle, Robyn Nevin as Mrs. Higgins (later Pamela Rabe), Mark Vincent as Freddy, Tony Llewellyn-Jones as Colonel Pickering, Deidre Rubenstein as Mrs. Pearce, and David Whitney as Karpathy.^[62][63][64]

Critical reception[edit]

According to Geoffrey Block, «Opening night critics immediately recognized that My Fair Lady fully measured up to the Rodgers and Hammerstein model of an integrated musical…Robert Coleman…wrote ‘The Lerner-Loewe songs are not only delightful, they advance the action as well. They are ever so much more than interpolations, or interruptions.'»^[65] The musical opened to «unanimously glowing reviews, one of which said ‘Don’t bother reading this review now. You’d better sit right down and send for those tickets…’ Critics praised the thoughtful use of Shaw’s original play, the brilliance of the lyrics, and Loewe’s well-integrated score.»^[66]

A sampling of praise from critics, excerpted from a book form of the musical, published in 1956.^[67]

• «My Fair Lady is wise, witty, and winning. In short, a miraculous musical.» Walter Kerr, New York Herald Tribune.
• «A felicitous blend of intellect, wit, rhythm and high spirits. A masterpiece of musical comedy … a terrific show.» Robert Coleman, New York Daily Mirror.
• «Fine, handsome, melodious, witty and beautifully acted … an exceptional show.» George Jean Nathan, New York Journal American.
• «Everything about My Fair Lady is distinctive and distinguished.» John Chapman, New York Daily News.
• «Wonderfully entertaining and extraordinarily welcomed … meritorious in every department.» Wolcott Gibbs, The New Yorker.
• «One of the ‘loverliest’ shows imaginable … a work of theatre magic.» John Beaufort, The Christian Science Monitor.
• «An irresistible hit.» Variety.
• «One of the best musicals of the century.» Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times.

The reception from Shavians was more mixed, however. Eric Bentley, for instance, called it «a terrible treatment of Mr. Shaw’s play, [undermining] the basic idea [of the play]», even though he acknowledged it as «a delightful show».^[68] My Fair Lady was later called «the perfect musical».^[69]

Principal roles and casting history[edit]

Character	Broadway (1956)[70]	West End (1958)[71]	Broadway (1976)[72]	West End (1979)[73]	Broadway (1981)[74]	Broadway (1993)[75]	West End (2001)[76]	Broadway (2018)[77]	West End (2022)[78]
Eliza Doolittle	Julie Andrews	Christine Andreas	Liz Robertson	Nancy Ringham	Melissa Errico	Martine McCutcheon	Lauren Ambrose	Amara Okereke
Henry Higgins	Rex Harrison	Ian Richardson	Tony Britton	Rex Harrison	Richard Chamberlain	Jonathan Pryce	Harry Hadden-Paton
Alfred P. Doolittle	Stanley Holloway	George Rose	Peter Bayliss[79]	Milo O’Shea	Julian Holloway	Dennis Waterman	Norbert Leo Butz	Stephen K. Amos
Mrs. Higgins	Cathleen Nesbitt	Zena Dare	Brenda Forbes	Anna Neagle	Cathleen Nesbitt	Dolores Sutton	Caroline Blakiston	Diana Rigg	Vanessa Redgrave
Colonel Hugh Pickering	Robert Coote	Richard Caldicot	Jack Gwillim	Paxton Whitehead	Nicholas Le Prevost	Allan Corduner	Malcolm Sinclair
Freddy Eynsford-Hill	John Michael King	Leonard Weir	Jerry Lanning	Peter Land[80]	Nicholas Wyman	Robert Sella	Mark Umbers	Jordan Donica	Sharif Afifi
Mrs. Pearce	Philippa Bevans	Betty Woolfe	Sylvia O’Brien	Betty Paul[81]	Marian Baer	Glynis Bell	Patsy Rowlands	Linda Mugleston	Maureen Beattie
Zoltan Karpathy	Christopher Hewett	Max Oldaker	John Clarkson	Kalman Glass	Jack Sevier	James Young	Sevan Stephan	Manu Narayan	Carl Patrick

Notable replacements[edit]

Broadway (1956–1962)

• Henry Higgins: Michael Allinson, Bramwell Fletcher, Tom Hellmore, Larry Keith, Edward Mulhare
• Eliza: Sally Ann Howes
• Pickering: Melville Cooper, Reginald Denny

West End (1958–1963)

• Henry Higgins: Alec Clunes, Charles Stapley
• Eliza: Anne Rogers
• Doolittle: James Hayter

Broadway revival (2018–2019)

• Eliza: Laura Benanti
• Doolittle: Danny Burstein, Alexander Gemignani
• Mrs. Higgins: Rosemary Harris

Awards and nominations[edit]

Original Broadway production[edit]

Sources: BroadwayWorld^[82] TheatreWorldAwards^[83]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1956	Theatre World Award	Outstanding New York City Stage Debut Performance	John Michael King	Won
1957	Tony Award	Best Musical	Won
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Rex Harrison	Won
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical	Julie Andrews	Nominated
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Robert Coote	Nominated
Stanley Holloway	Nominated
Best Direction of a Musical	Moss Hart	Won
Best Choreography	Hanya Holm	Nominated
Best Scenic Design	Oliver Smith	Won
Best Costume Design	Cecil Beaton	Won
Best Conductor and Musical Director	Franz Allers	Won

1976 Broadway revival[edit]

Sources: BroadwayWorld^[84] Drama Desk^[85]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1976	Tony Award	Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Ian Richardson	Nominated
George Rose	Won
Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Revival of a Musical	Nominated
Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Ian Richardson	Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical	George Rose	Won
Outstanding Director of a Musical	Jerry Adler	Nominated

1979 London revival[edit]

Source: Olivier Awards^[86]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1979	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Tony Britton	Nominated
Best Actress in a Musical	Liz Robertson	Nominated

1981 Broadway revival[edit]

Source: BroadwayWorld^[87]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1982	Tony Award	Best Revival	Nominated

1993 Broadway revival[edit]

Source: Drama Desk^[88]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
1993	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Revival of a Musical	Nominated
Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Melissa Errico	Nominated
Outstanding Costume Design	Patricia Zipprodt	Nominated

2001 London revival[edit]

Source: Olivier Awards^[89]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
2002	Laurence Olivier Award	Outstanding Musical Production	Won
Best Actor in a Musical	Jonathan Pryce	Nominated
Best Actress in a Musical	Martine McCutcheon	Won
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical	Nicholas Le Prevost	Nominated
Best Theatre Choreographer	Matthew Bourne	Won
Best Set Design	Anthony Ward	Nominated
Best Costume Design	Nominated
Best Lighting Design	David Hersey	Nominated
2003	Best Actor in a Musical	Alex Jennings	Won
Best Actress in a Musical	Joanna Riding	Won

2018 Broadway revival[edit]

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result
2018	Tony Award	Best Revival of a Musical	Nominated
Best Actor in a Musical	Harry Hadden-Paton	Nominated
Best Actress in a Musical	Lauren Ambrose	Nominated
Best Featured Actor in a Musical	Norbert Leo Butz	Nominated
Best Featured Actress in a Musical	Diana Rigg	Nominated
Best Direction of a Musical	Bartlett Sher	Nominated
Best Choreography	Christopher Gattelli	Nominated
Best Scenic Design in a Musical	Michael Yeargan	Nominated
Best Lighting Design in a Musical	Donald Holder	Nominated
Best Costume Design in a Musical	Catherine Zuber	Won
Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Revival of a Musical	Won
Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Harry Hadden-Paton	Nominated
Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical	Diana Rigg	Nominated
Outstanding Director of a Musical	Bartlett Sher	Nominated
Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical	Catherine Zuber	Won
Drama League Award	Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical	Won
Distinguished Performance Award[90]	Lauren Ambrose	Nominated
Harry Hadden-Paton	Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Revival of a Musical	Won
Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Harry Hadden-Paton	Nominated
Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Lauren Ambrose	Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical	Norbert Leo Butz	Won
Outstanding Director of a Musical	Bartlett Sher	Won[91]
Outstanding Choreography	Christopher Gattelli	Nominated
Outstanding Set Design (Play or Musical)	Michael Yeagan	Nominated
Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical)	Catherine Zuber	Won
Outstanding Sound Design (Play or Musical)	Marc Salzberg	Nominated
2019	Grammy Awards	Best Musical Theater Album	Nominated

Adaptations[edit]

1964 film[edit]

George Cukor directed the 1964 film adaptation, with Harrison returning in the role of Higgins. The casting of Audrey Hepburn as Eliza created controversy among theatregoers, both because Andrews was regarded perfect in the part, and Hepburn’s singing voice was dubbed (by Marni Nixon). Jack L. Warner, the head of Warner Bros., wanted «a star with a great deal of name recognition», but since Andrews did not have any film experience, he deemed success more likely with a movie star.^[92] (Andrews went on to star in Mary Poppins that same year for which she won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actress.) Lerner in particular disliked the film version of the musical, thinking it did not live up to the standards of Moss Hart’s original direction. He was also unhappy with the casting of Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle and that the film was shot in its entirety at the Warner Bros. studio rather than, as he would have preferred, in London.^[93] Despite the controversy, My Fair Lady was considered a major critical and box-office success, and won eight Oscars, including Best Picture of the Year, Best Actor for Rex Harrison, and Best Director for George Cukor.

Cancelled 2008 film[edit]

Columbia Pictures planned a new adaptation in 2008.^[94] By 2011, John Madden had been signed to direct the film, and Emma Thompson had written a new screenplay, and by 2014 the studio had shelved it.^[95][96]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

• Citron, David (1995). The Wordsmiths: Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508386-5
• Garebian, Keith (1998). The Making of My Fair Lady, Mosaic Press. ISBN 0-88962-653-7
• Green, Benny, Editor (1987). A Hymn to Him : The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner, Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0-87910-109-1
• Jablonski, Edward (1996). Alan Jay Lerner: A Biography, Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0-8050-4076-5
• Lees, Gene (2005). The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe, Bison Books. ISBN 0-8032-8040-8
• Lerner, Alan Jay (1985). The Street Where I Live, Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80602-9
• McHugh, Dominic. Loverly: The Life and Times of «My Fair Lady» (Oxford University Press; 2012) 265 pages; uses unpublished documents to study the five-year process of the original production.
• Shapiro, Doris (1989). We Danced All Night: My Life Behind the Scenes With Alan Jay Lerner, Barricade Books. ISBN 0-942637-98-4

External links[edit]

• ​My Fair Lady​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lincoln Center production
• Ovrtur Page