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MY FAIR LADY :: Lerner and Loewe’s legendary classic

If you’ve never seen a production of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, then you can probably hum a tune or two from this show. This London import was one of the best received and show’s of all time, and almost every household owned a copy of the original cast recording.

Rex Harrison opened the show with rhetorical question, “Why can’t the English teach their children how to speak,” in his trademarked sprechgesang or “speak-singing.” Julie Andrews followed in a cockney accent singing, “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.” The rest of the story continues as George Bernard Shaw wrote in Pygmalion, with a different, more romantic ending for the musical. Perhaps my favorite part of the show is Eliza’s first trial as a lady at Ascot. Her conversation topics of ladling gin down Mother’s throat and her overexcitement cheering for the horses made for an excellent comedy of manners.

Unfortunately, a filmed production of this musical does not exist. A few musical numbers were performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, but the fully staged version of the show is mostly a memory. Thankfully, the show’s popularity generated plenty of publicity, leaving us with production stills to give us a glimpse of the original Broadway show.

It’s too much asking for a time machine? Just to enjoy the one and only Julie as THE Eliza! AWESOME! 

Yes, a time machine is overdue.

if I had a time machine that’s one of the first things I would do. (btw, My Fair Lady was not a “London import” as said above: it’s an original Broadway production, eventually moved whit its original cast to London)