All about the musical My Fair Lady. Frederick Law

Two talented young authors - composer Frederick Law and librettist Alan Jay Lerner would never have written their most famous musical, My wonderful lady"if not for the other star couple- Rodgers and Hammerstein. The creators of "Oklahoma" refused to cooperate with film producer Gabriel Pascal, who was toying with the idea of ​​making famous play Bernard Shaw "Pygmalion" musical performance And for a long time tried unsuccessfully to find the authors. Lowe and Lerner appreciated the quality dramatic material- despite the fact that the play was published in 1912, the topics that were touched upon in it - personality and its rights, relations between men and women, the culture of language - and culture in in a broad sense This word is relevant at all times.

The plot of the musical, which was originally called My Fair Eliza, largely follows Shaw's play.

Phonetics professor Henry Higgins makes a bet with his linguist colleague, Colonel Pickering - he undertakes to turn a London flower girl named Eliza Doolittle, whom they meet on a rainy evening in Covent Garden Square, into a real lady. Higgins sets aside six months to rid the girl of her common pronunciation and teach her good manners. After this period, she will have to appear at the embassy ball, and if no one guesses about her social background, Pickering will pay all training costs, and Eliza herself will be able to go to work in a flower shop. The offer sounds tempting, and Eliza moves into the professor's house. In search of her daughter, her father, the scavenger Alfred Doolittle, comes there, and he manages to beg five pounds from Higgins as compensation for being deprived of a wet nurse.

Learning is not easy for Eliza, sometimes the callousness and tyranny of the teacher bring her to tears, but, in the end, she begins to make progress. And yet, her first outing (and the professor takes her not just anywhere, but to the races at Ascot, where the flower of the English aristocracy gathers) is unsuccessful: having learned to pronounce words correctly, Eliza did not stop speaking the language of the lower classes of London - which shocks the professor’s mother and charms Freddie Aynsford-Hill, young man from an aristocratic family.

The day of the embassy ball arrives. Eliza passes the exam with flying colors, despite the attempts of Higgins' former student - the Hungarian Karpathy - to find out who she really is. After the ball, Higgins revels in his success, completely ignoring the girl, which causes her to protest. A conversation takes place between her and the professor, from which it becomes clear that Eliza has changed not only externally, but also internally, that she is not a toy in the hands of the professor, but a living person.

The heroine leaves Higgins' house, meets her admirer Freddie along the way, who constantly hangs around her house, and goes with him to the poor neighborhood where she once lived. A surprise awaits Eliza there - Father Dolittle got rich and finally decided to marry her mother. It turns out that after his visit to the house of Professor Higgins, he, amazed by the natural oratorical gift of Eliza’s father, wrote a letter famous philanthropist, recommending Mr. Dolittle as the most original moralist of modern times. As a result, the London garbage man inherited a huge inheritance - and with it all the vices of bourgeois society, which he so condemned. But he is not interested in his daughter’s problems, and Eliza goes to the house of Professor Higgins’ mother, who sincerely sympathizes with her.

Soon the professor himself appears there. There is another skirmish between him and Eliza, during which Eliza tells Higgins that she can live just fine without him. She doesn’t even need to go to work in a flower shop - she can give phonetics lessons, and there will definitely be no end to students. Outraged, Higgins goes home. On the way, he finally throws off his mask and admits to himself, and therefore to the viewer, that, in general, he is used to Eliza - such an awkward declaration of love from the lips of a convinced bachelor. In his office, he plays a recording of his student’s voice, made when she first appeared in his house. Eliza quietly enters the room. Noticing the girl, Higgins straightens up in his chair, pulls his hat over his eyes and says his catchphrase: “Eliza, where the hell are my night shoes?”

Adapting Pygmalion for musical theater, the authors tried to treat the text of the original source as carefully as possible, and yet the emphasis in the play shifted - the story of the transformation of the main character from a vulgar flower girl into a charming young lady came to the fore, and Shaw's philosophical reasoning faded into the background, if not into the background. In addition, the heroine of Pygmalion eventually marries Freddie and opens a flower shop, and then a grocery store (this is stated in the afterword to the play, written by the playwright himself, who did not really believe in romantic love). Bernard Shaw's Eliza has no illusions about Higgins - "Galatea does not fully like Pygmalion: he plays too much of a god-like role in her life, and this is not very pleasant." Eliza Low and Lerner still returns to her teacher - the public would not accept the separation of the main characters. Alan Jay Lerner himself explained his decision to change the ending: “I omitted the afterword to My Fair Lady because in it Shaw explains how Eliza ended up with Freddie instead of Higgins, and I - may Shaw and heaven forgive me! “I’m not sure he’s right.”

The very first listeners of materials for “My Fair Lady” were Broadway star Mary Martin (South Pacific, Peter Pan) and her husband Richard Holliday. When Mary Martin heard that Lerner and Lowe were adapting Pygmalion for musical theater, she main role in the future musical, I immediately wanted to listen to what they did. After reviewing several issues (including The Ascot Gavotte and Just You Wait, 'enry 'iggins), Martin did not say anything to the authors, but immediately complained to her husband: “How could it be that these sweet boys have lost their talent?” Halliday later relayed her words to Lerner, adding that Just You Wait was very reminiscent of Cole Porter's I Hate Men from Kiss Me Kate and that The Ascott Gavotte "just isn't funny." This reception, given to the future “Beautiful Lady” by the very first listeners, made a very painful impression on Lerner and even became the cause of real depression. However, neither Lerner nor Lowe still saw Eliza Doolittle in Mary Martin and had no intention of inviting her to the play. The role went to aspiring singer Julie Andrews. Subsequently, Lerner and Lowe themselves teased each other when their work was not going well, quoting Mary Martin: “These sweet boys have lost their talent.”

The Broadway premiere of the musical took place on March 15, 1956. The show immediately became wildly popular; tickets were sold out six months in advance. However, the stunning success of the musical was a complete surprise for its creators: “Neither I nor F. Lowe believed that we were the heroes of the occasion. It's just time for something bright, theatrical, something different from the meeting of two lonely people in dark alley. And “Lady” went on the posters.” For a year after the premiere, Lowe came to the ticket office, where people eager to watch the show had been queuing since night, and treated them to coffee. Lowe was looked at as if he were crazy, and no one could believe that he was the composer who composed “My Fair Lady.”

The musical was performed on Broadway 2,717 times. It was translated into eleven languages, including Hebrew, and was successfully shown in more than twenty countries. The original Broadway cast recording sold more than five million copies, and George Cukor's film of the same name was released in 1964.

Despite the incredible beauty of the film, fans of the musical were disappointed. They expected to see Julie Andrews in the role of Eliza, but the role went to Audrey Hepburn- by that time, unlike Julie, she was already a film star. There was no replacement for Rex Harrison, who played Higgins on Broadway, and the eccentric professor successfully moved from theatrical stage on big screen, for which he received a well-deserved Oscar.

The musical “My Fair Lady” is still loved by the public. Thanks to producer Cameron Mackintosh and director Trevor Nunn, the show can be seen in London. The role of Professor Higgins in the premiere cast was played by Jonathan Pryce (Peron from the film adaptation of Evita), and Miss Dolittle by singer and actress Martine McCutchin.

In Russia, “My Fair Lady” has been on music and music posters for many years. drama theaters. The musical was performed at the A. Kalyagin Theater “Et Cetera” (Moscow). Directed by Dmitry Bertman ( artistic director Theater "Helikon-Opera") the flower girl from Tottenham Court Road turned out to be Muscovite Liza Dulina, living next to the Hammer and Sickle station. The action of the play took place partly in Moscow, partly in London, where Slavic professor Higgins brings his Galatea, the bearer of the colorful Moscow vernacular. Main story line the musical was preserved, but otherwise this production bore little resemblance to the original source. In his classic version the performance is already several years go by on stage at the Moscow Operetta Theater. On January 18, 2012, the Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg) hosted the premiere of the musical “My Fair Lady” staged by Parisian theater"Chatelet". The director of the performance is the famous Canadian director Robert Carsen, the choreographer is Lynne Page. Lerner and Lowe's classic show was the first musical staged at the legendary Russian opera house.

Largest Irish playwright and publicist George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin in 1856. A brilliant speaker, mocker and intellectual, he actively participated in public life Great Britain late XIX- beginning of the 20th century. Over the ninety-four years of his life, Bernard Shaw composed 65 plays, 5 novels, great amount critical articles and reviews. In his works he acts as a master of intellectual drama-discussion, built on sharp dialogues, full of paradoxical situations, destroying all traditional ideas about the theater. Shaw's plays castigate political reaction, normative morality, hypocrisy, and hypocrisy. In 1925, the writer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Shaw accepted the title Nobel laureate, but refused the money. "Pygmalion" is not the only work of Shaw that became a musical. The plays Caesar and Cleopatra (the musical Her First Roman) and Arms have also been adapted for musical theater and the Man(Chocolate Soldier). In Russia, Pygmalion was first staged in Moscow in 1914. Julie Andrews starred as Eliza on Broadway, but in the film version of the musical, Audrey Hepburn played the title role. The actress's work in this film was assessed ambiguously. Firstly, she did not sing herself, although there is a recording of two songs from the musical performed by Audrey. Apparently, her vocals did not seem bright enough for such a grandiose film project, so it was decided to involve Marni Nixon, a singer who already had experience dubbing a star - it was in her voice that Natalie Wood, who played the role of Maria in the film adaptation of West Side Story, and Deborah Kerr sang. who played main character in the film version of the musical "The King and I". Interestingly, neither Natalie nor Audrey won the American Academy Awards, for which both films were nominated. Audrey was also reproached for the fact that she was not very convincing in the role of a simple London flower girl and that her innate aristocracy could not be hidden by any makeup and distorted speech. This is not surprising - the actress is truly “blue blood”. Audrey was born in Belgium, her mother is a Dutch baroness. Full name actresses - Edda Kathleen van Heemstra Hepburn-Ruston more. And yet, Audrey, unexpectedly for her angelic appearance, demonstrates bright talent a character actress, and all the more striking is her transformation from a vulgar scruff into a radiant beauty. Would such a transformation have happened to the prim and proper Julie, who, moreover, had more modest external characteristics? Julie was very worried that she did not get the role of Eliza. Andrews' candidacy was supported by Rex Harrison, but there was criticism on her side. Right up until the very start of filming, Julie hoped, if not to play herself, then at least to duplicate Hepburn. But it didn’t work out. However, ironically, in 1964, when My Fair Lady was released, it was Julie who won the Oscar for Best female role(movie "Mary Poppins").

Imagine a story as old as time: a simpleton from the slums, sharp-tongued and a little rude in her manners, but kind and smart inside, and an arrogant, smart phonetics professor. It all starts with difficult relationship student and student, continues accompanied by disputes, and ends with true love.

The peculiarity of the musical is that it is light, simple, while watching it you can relax and not think about anything. Great songs, dances and dialogues take you far, far away from reality.
Poster New York recommends "My Fair Lady" as a timeless adventure in any company and state of mind.

Plot:

Professor of Phonetics Higgins During an evening walk, he makes a scientific bet with his linguist colleague. He undertakes to teach a sharp-tongued London flower girl they meet named Eliza and turn her in six months into a real lady, completely eliminating her common pronunciation and teaching her manners.

And in half a year she will have to appear at the embassy ball and make such an impression that no one will guess about her simple origin. In this case, his colleague will pay all training costs, and she Eliza will have the opportunity to get a job in a good flower shop.

Eliza moves to the professor's house, where her father, a garbage collector by profession, also comes in search of his daughter. He extremely wittily, using logic, begs the professor for money because he, with his bet, deprived “his family of a wet nurse.”

The training is not easy, the main characters push each other a lot, sometimes driving each other crazy. But in the end, the student begins to make progress, however, her first appearance in the world is unsuccessful, even having lost her common speech Eliza continues to speak in street slang, which shocks the professor's mother and delights the young aristocrat Freddie.

But after some time, the professor solves this problem too. At the ball, no one was able to identify him. Elise street flower seller. Higgins rejoices and completely forgets about his student, which causes her protest.

She tries to return home, and is surprised to discover that her father has become rich and has even finally married her mother. Since the professor, amazed by his oratorical gift, wrote a letter to one famous philanthropist recommending my father Eliza as "the most original moralist in history."

However, left alone, the professor suddenly clearly understands that even being a confirmed bachelor he's still very used to it Elise. This means the story is not over yet.

Historical reference

The musical is based on the play Bernard Shaw "Pygmalion", however, unlike the play in the libretto, the main action is connected with the transformation of the heroine, and not with the philosophical reasoning of the author.

Also in the original play Eliza marries Freddie since she wasn't too keen on the professor's mentoring role. She opens her own flower shop, and then a greengrocer's shop, as a symbol of the author's disbelief in the duration of romantic love.

Broadway premiere of the musical took place on March 15, 1956. The show immediately became wildly popular; tickets were sold out six months in advance.

The musical was performed on Broadway 2,717 times. It was translated into eleven languages, including Hebrew, and was successfully shown in more than twenty countries.

The recording of the original Broadway cast sold more than five million copies, and a film of the same name was released in 1964 George Cukor. Many fans of the musical were disappointed that the role Eliza Broadway performer missed the cut Julie Andrews. Her role went to a more famous Audrey Hepburn.

• Duration of the show on Broadway: 2 hours and 15 minute intermission.
• The musical cannot be classified as Russian concerts in New York To enjoy the production, a good knowledge of English is required.
• The production is quite suitable for family viewing, although probably not at all young viewers It will be a little boring, the recommended age is 10 years old and you need to remember that children under 4 years old will not be allowed into the theater.
• Ticketsto a musical in New York It is recommended to purchase in advance, as for other most popular performances.
• You can stand in line at the cash register the old fashioned way, but the easiest way is to do as others Russians in New York And to buy tickets to the performance Online Posters.

In 1960, “My Fair Lady” was shown in the USSR (Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv). The main roles were played by: Lola Fisher (Eliza Doolittle), Edward Mulhair and Michael Evans (Henry Higgins), Robert Coote (Colonel Pickering), Charles Victor (Alfred Doolittle), Reed Shelton (Freddie Eynsford-Hill).

In 1965, the musical was staged at the Moscow Operetta Theater with Tatyana Shmyga in the title role.

Filmed in 1964. The film won the Oscar for Best Picture that same year.

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Links

• (English) in the Internet Broadway Database encyclopedia

Excerpt characterizing My Fair Lady (musical)

The musical My Fair Lady is of great importance for the national theater. The history of the musical in the country actually began with him. More than half a century has passed since the premiere of the show, famous story is well known to almost everyone, but at the same time we never get tired of watching our favorite characters and their adventures again and again. B. Shaw once, based on the story of the sculptor Pygmalion and his beautiful sculpture Galatea, wrote a play about a professor of linguistics, a simple flower girl and a fateful bet.

This work became the basis for numerous productions and films. Later, a musical appeared, the author of the libretto was J. Lerner, and the music was written by F. Lowe. Once upon a time, the main role in the musical was played by O. Hepburn herself, in domestic theater The image of Eliza Dolittle was first created by T. Shmyga. Of course, it’s already difficult to surprise the viewer, but this time too cast will be strong. Hurry up to book your tickets for the musical My Fair Lady to see for yourself. And even though the plot is well known to us, a classic is a classic so that it never gets old and constantly surprises us with new discoveries in well-known stories. We will meet again with Henry Higgins, a linguist who is sure that the main thing is pronunciation and stress.

Consequently, anyone who speaks correctly and behaves culturally can be accepted by society as a person from high society. He makes a bet with his friend that even from a simple flower girl he can make a real lady who will be accepted as one of his own at a reception in the palace. The outcome of this bet is well known to most. The musical will captivate you with its wonderful musical accompaniment, impeccable acting, sparkling humor, transformations, funny situations and makes a lot of sense. The performance is watched in one breath and causes sincere delight.

Year of creation: 1964

Country: USA

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures Co.

Duration: 170

Musical comedy "My fair lady» - a film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, based on the work of Bernard Shaw"Pygmalion".The plot of the film largely follows the famous play.

The composer created the music for the film “My Fair Lady”Frederick Law,and wrote the script and lyricsAlan Jay Lerner.

Professor of PhoneticsHenry Higgins (Rex Harrison) - a confirmed bachelor. He makes a bet with his colleague, ColonelPickeringthat in three months can transform an illiterate London flower girlEliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) into a real lady.

The professor undertakes to teach a girl who speaks street slang, high-society manners and ideal correct speech. After the stated period, Eliza must be presented at the embassy ball, and if none of those present guess about her low origin, the colonel will recognize the professor’s victory and pay all the expenses for the girl’s education.

Eliza herself hopes that good pronunciation will allow her to get a job in a flower shop.

Musical " My fair lady"managed to become a legend even before the film was made.

Audiences first saw this production on Broadway on March 15, 1956. Shaw's play was incredibly popular, and tickets were sold out six months in advance. Today the musical "My fair lady"has been played on Broadway for over2100 once. It was successfully demonstrated in two dozen countries and was translated into 11 languages. The main roles in the musical were played byRex Harrisonand aspiring singerJulie Andrews.

When starting filming, director George Cukor chose to replaceAndrewsto a more famous oneAudrey Hepburn,which initially caused disappointment among fans of the musical. There was no replacement for the leading male role in the musical, andRex Harrisonsuccessfully moved from Broadway to the big screen. This work became finest hour actor - he received a well-deserved Oscar for Best Actor in the film “My Fair Lady”.

Another contender for the role of Eliza Dolittle wasElizabeth Taylor. The choice of the actress for the main role caused some hype in the press. Audrey Hepburn was 10 years older than her heroine, did not have outstanding vocal abilities and had a reputation as a born lady. Despite vocal lessons, Audreycouldn't cope with musical numbers, and the American singer became Hepburn's voiceMarni Nixon. The actress was very upset by this fact and believed that she could not cope with the role.

Movie " My fair lady"received the following awards: – 8 awardsOscarin the categories: " Best movie", "Best Director", "Best Actor", " Top artists", "Best operator", " Best Composer", "Best costumes", " Best Sound" — 5 awardsGolden Globein the nominations: “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Actor”, “Best Actress”, “ Best Actor background." —British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award (for best foreign film).

You can watch the entire film in my "Cinema" section.

Design: Valeria Polskaya

Read the original: http://www.vokrug.tv/product/show/My_Fair_Lady/