This funny story tells about an extraordinary bet between a philology professor and a colonel. One day, the professor bet with the colonel that in just three months he could turn an ordinary girl who sells flowers on the street into a real one. beautiful woman. So, after 3 months, the professor managed to turn the girl into a beautiful lady. But the whole problem is that during the creation, the girl managed to fall in love with the professor, but the professor cannot and does not want to be with her and does not treat her seriously...
Interesting facts
- The Broadway premiere of the musical took place on March 15, 1956. A production in which main role played by Julie Andrews, immediately became wildly popular, tickets were sold out six months in advance, “My Fair...
- The Broadway premiere of the musical took place on March 15, 1956. The production, in which Julie Andrews played the leading role, immediately became wildly popular, tickets were sold out six months in advance, “My Fair Lady” was played on Broadway 2,717 times.
- When it was decided that the musical “My Fair Lady” would become a film, its fans were disappointed; everyone hoped to see Julie Andrews in the role of Eliza (Rex Harrison also wanted this), but she ended up playing Audrey Hepburn. But for Rex Harrison, who played Higgins on Broadway, there was no replacement, and the eccentric professor successfully moved from the theater stage to the big screen, and subsequently received an Oscar.
- Especially for the role of Audrey, Hepburn prepared intensively and took vocal lessons, but in all the songs she was eventually dubbed by Marni Nixon.
- The first role of Alfred Dolittle was offered to James Cagney. When he turned it down at the last minute, the role went to Stanley Holloway, who had played Alfred on Broadway.
- Before it was decided that Rex Harrison would play Professor Higgins in the film, Cary Grant, Peter O'Toole, Noel Coward, Michael Redgrave and George Sanders were considered for the role.
- In her 2004 autobiography Tis Herself, Maureen O'Hara wrote that producer Jack L. Warner asked her to sing for Audrey Hepburn in the film.
- Jeremy Brett, who turned 30 during filming, was very surprised when he learned that he was dubbed in the musical compositions by 42-year-old American Billy Shirley.
- Jack L. Warner paid $5.5 million for the rights in February 1962. Then this purchase became a record, no one had purchased it before original idea performances for so much a large sum. In 1978 alone, Columbia paid $9.5 million for the film rights to Annie (1982).
- Gladys Cooper, who plays Professor Higgins' mother, previously played the same role in the 1963 television production of Pygmalion, "Hallmark Hall of Fame: Pygmalion (#12.3)".
- The film's title does not appear in any dialogue or song.
- When Cary Grant was asked why he turned down the role of Henry Higgins, Grant replied that his manner of speaking was much closer to Eliza Dolittle.
- The film takes place in 1912.
- 27A Wimpole Street in London is the address of Professor Higgins, such a street does not actually exist, there is 27 Wimpole Street.
- Shirley Jones was one of the actresses that Jack L. Warner planned to offer the role to if Audrey Hepburn turned it down. Julie Andrews was rejected because the producers didn't think she was well known enough. Elizabeth Taylor also really wanted to play Eliza.
- Audrey Hepburn later admitted that she would never have accepted the role of Eliza Dolittle if she had known that Jack L. Warner would want to dub all of her songs. In addition, she once told Julie Andrews personally that she should have played Eliza instead of her. During a talk at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2008, Julie Andrews confirmed this fact.
- Rex Harrison was very disappointed when he learned that the role of Eliza had gone to Audrey Hepburn, as he wanted his Broadway co-star Julie Andrews to play her. But Harrison and Hepburn became friends on set, and when the actor accepted his Oscar for My Fair Lady in 1964, he dedicated it to his “two fair ladies,” Audrey Hepburn and Julie Andrews, who both played Eliza Dolittle opposite him.
- In the musical, Eliza is 21 years old, and Freddie is 20, Audrey Hepburn was 34 years old at the time of filming (this fact also outraged fans of the Broadway production), and Jeremy Brett was 30 years old.
- The film should have been called Lady Lisa.
Awards
1965 - Oscar Award
« Best Film" - Jack Warner
"Best Actor" - Rex Harrison
« Top artists" - Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton, George James Hopkins
"Best Cinematographer" - Harry Stradling
« Best Music" - André Previn
"Best Costumes" - Cecil Beaton
« Best Sound" - George Groves
1966 - BAFTA Award
Best Picture - George Cukor
1965 - David di Donatello Award
"Best Foreign Film" - Jack Warner
1965 - Golden Globe Award
"Best Film (Musical/Comedy)"
"Best Director" - George Cukor
Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy - Rex Harrison
The musical My Fair Lady by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner is romantic story about the transformation of a simple flower girl into a sophisticated and graceful lady who won the hearts of many viewers around the world. The uniqueness of the musical lies in the combination of different musical material: from sentimental waltz before the Spanish Jota.
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Characters |
Description |
| Henry Higgins | phonetics scientist |
| Pickering | military man interested in studying Indian dialects |
| Eliza Doolittle | flower seller |
| Dolittle Alfred | Eliza's father, a garbage man |
| Mrs Pierce | cleaning lady working for Higgins |
| Madame Eynsford-Hill | aristocrat |
| Freddie | relative of Mrs. Eynsford-Hill, in love with Dolittle |
Summary
Socialites gather in the square near the famous Theater Royal in London. The flower girl Eliza is sitting on the steps, her goods are accidentally touched by the noble young man Freddie Eynsford-Hill, the flowers scatter and fall. Despite the elegant gentleman's apologies, the flower girl expresses her indignation in an extremely rude manner. She demands that Freddie pay damages. A crowd of onlookers quickly forms around, wondering what all the fuss happened about. Someone notices that one person is recording the girl's speech verbatim, many assume that this is a policeman who wants to arrest Eliza for her boorish behavior. It turns out that this is a famous professor who studies phonetics. He was interested in Eliza's pronunciation, which was clearly far from perfect. Arguing that among the English there are no people left who know their native language, for the sake of public recognition, he easily determines the place of residence of each of his interlocutors. This is how he meets the military Pickering. Higgins decided to brag to his new acquaintance and casually offered to teach the flower girl to speak perfect English in six months. English, because exactly competent speech is the road to a girl’s bright future.
The next day, the flower girl Eliza comes to Higgins, she is ready to take lessons from him, as she wants to work in a better-paid flower shop. At the beginning, Higgins laughs at the girl who already wants to leave, but Pickering suggests making a bet. According to the terms of the deal, Professor Higgins must teach her to speak correctly so that no one from secular society can recognize her as a simpleton. Pickering promises to pay all maintenance costs. This turn of events suits the professor, and he orders the maid Pierce to take care of Miss Dolittle. Pickering and Higgins discuss life, and the professor expresses his own opinion about marriage and women: he has no intention of getting married, and believes that women are only capable of creating chaos.
Eliza's father, scavenger Alfred Doolittle, hears the news that his daughter has gone to live with Professor Higgins. Meanwhile, the girl is diligently trying to learn the pronunciation of sounds, but learning is difficult for her. Dolittle comes to Higgins and wants to get it for her. monetary reward. He presents his philosophy of life, which seems very original to Higgins. The professor not only gives him money, but also recommends Doolittle to the American millionaire as a brilliant speaker.
Eliza studied all day, but to no avail. The professor decides that since scolding and reproaches do not help in learning, then he needs to change tactics. After a nice conversation, the girl finally understands what she was doing wrong and flawlessly reads the verse “Just wait for it to rain in Spain.” Inspired Eliza sings the song “I want to dance.”
The day has come when Miss Dolittle must appear in secular society at the hippodrome. At the beginning, everything goes as well as possible, but Eliza, in a fit of happiness, begins to tell stories from her life, adding vernacular language to them. This captured the heart of Freddie Eynsford-Hill. Frustrated, Eliza returns to Higgins, everyone understands that hard work is still needed on what to say. Freddy sings a song about how he feels, but Dolittle is so sad that she doesn't want to go outside.
A month and a half passed and it was time for one more final test. At the ball, Eliza was at her best. No one, not even Professor Karpathy, could recognize the simpleton in the girl; moreover, society recognized her as a real princess. Higgins accepts congratulations on the success of the experiment, but no one cares about Eliza's fate. Offended and upset, she packs her things and leaves.
Miss Dolittle returns to her hometown, where no one recognizes her. The father became rich thanks to Higgins' recommendation and now wants to get married. The Professor and Pickering are very sad that Eliza has left, they want to find her.
Eliza meets the professor by chance. He admits that everything has changed without her and asks her to come back. Dolittle does not want to listen to him, she says that all doors are open to her.
Upon returning home, the professor listened to records with recordings of Eliza’s voice for a long time. Miss Dolittle enters the room, quietly turning off the phonograph. Higgins, seeing her, does not hide his joy.
Photo:
Interesting facts
- The musical was originally to be called My Fair Eliza, but the title was later changed to My Fair Lady.
- The 1964 film adaptation won an Oscar.
- Lerner and Lowe long time worked together creating musicals for Broadway. The first one for real successful work, became the musical California Gold.
- In total, the play was staged 2,717 times at the Broadway Theatre.
- "My Fair Lady" was not only nominated, but also won an honorary music award"Tony".
- The plot of the play "Pygmalion", which is the basis for the creation of the musical, was greatly changed during the work. So, in the original source, Eliza marries Freddie and opens not a flower shop, but a vegetable shop, as a symbol of disbelief in true love.
- In the film adaptation, the already famous Audrey Hepburn received the role of Eliza; many connoisseurs of the musical were upset because they wanted to see Julia Andrews, who was a permanent performer on Broadway, in her place.
- Famous composers refused producer Gabriel Pascal because they did not believe in the success of the project.
History of creation
The idea was to create from the most famous and popular play of George Bernard Shaw at that time. musical performance belongs entirely to the Hungarian producer Gabriel Pascal. In 1930, he acquired the rights to some of the works of the famous playwright, including Pygmalion. In 1938, he managed to film the theatrical version of the play. For a long time, Pascal was looking for a composer who would dare to compose a musical based on the script. The work was offered to such eminent artists as Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Leonard Bernstein, Gian Carlo Mennoti, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. But only composer Frederick Lowe and librettist Alan Jay Lerner decided to show courage and write a musical that has not been removed from the Broadway theater repertoire for more than half a century.
The first dress rehearsal was held at the Shubert Theater in New Haven. The main roles were assigned to Julia Andrews and Rex Harrison.
On March 15, 1956, the play had a stunning premiere at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York. Then the production took place on Broadway, which lasted for 6 years, and then was resumed again.
A film adaptation of the musical was released in 1964. The role of Eliza Dolittle was given to Audrey Hepburn; a replacement for Rex Harrison could not be found, since no one could cope with the role of Professor Higgins better than him. In the same year, the film received an Oscar film award.
In 1960, this musical performance was staged in the Soviet Union, the show took place in three cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kyiv. The audience was delighted with what they saw, and the songs quickly became popular and recognizable.
The musical “My Fair Lady” is a multifaceted musical performance. It amazes to the core with its simplicity and naivety and at the same time surprises with its brilliance and luxury. Having seen and heard this musical creation once, the viewer will forever remember its whimsical melodies and bright surroundings.
Video: watch the musical “My Fair Lady”
| My fair lady | |
| My Fair Lady | |
| Poster for the Broadway production designed by Al Hirschfeld |
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| Music |
Frederick Law |
|---|---|
| Words |
Alan Jay Lerner |
| Libretto |
Alan Jay Lerner |
| Based on | |
| Productions | |
In 1960, “My Fair Lady” was shown in the USSR (Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv). Starring: 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
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Excerpt characterizing My Fair Lady (musical)
In the club everything went on as usual: the guests who had come to dine sat in groups and greeted Pierre and talked about city news. The footman, having greeted him, reported to him, knowing his acquaintance and habits, that a place had been left for him in the small dining room, that Prince Mikhail Zakharych was in the library, and Pavel Timofeich had not arrived yet. One of Pierre's acquaintances, between talking about the weather, asked him if he had heard about Kuragin's kidnapping of Rostova, which they talk about in the city, is it true? Pierre laughed and said that this was nonsense, because he was now only from the Rostovs. He asked everyone about Anatole; one told him that he had not come yet, the other that he would dine today. It was strange for Pierre to look at this calm, indifferent crowd of people who did not know what was going on in his soul. He walked around the hall, waited until everyone had arrived, and without waiting for Anatole, he did not have lunch and went home.Anatole, whom he was looking for, dined with Dolokhov that day and consulted with him on how to correct the spoiled matter. It seemed to him necessary to see Rostova. In the evening he went to his sister to talk with her about the means to arrange this meeting. When Pierre, having traveled all over Moscow in vain, returned home, the valet reported to him that Prince Anatol Vasilich was with the countess. The Countess's living room was full of guests.
Pierre, without greeting his wife, whom he had not seen since his arrival (she hated him more than ever at that moment), entered the living room and, seeing Anatole, approached him.
“Ah, Pierre,” said the countess, approaching her husband. “You don’t know what situation our Anatole is in...” She stopped, seeing in her husband’s low-hanging head, in his sparkling eyes, in his decisive gait that terrible expression of rage and strength that she knew and experienced in herself after the duel with Dolokhov.
“Where you are, there is debauchery and evil,” Pierre said to his wife. “Anatole, let’s go, I need to talk to you,” he said in French.
Anatole looked back at his sister and stood up obediently, ready to follow Pierre.
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 a difficult relationship between a student and a 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.”
Learning 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 his father Eliza as "the most original moralist in history."
However, left alone, the professor suddenly clearly understands that even being a convinced bachelor, he is still very accustomed to Elise. This means the story is not over yet.
Historical background
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 flower shop and then vegetable 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 very young viewers will probably be a little bored, 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 buy tickets to the performance on the website Posters.
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 Dolittle (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 the best male role in the movie "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 Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Actor”, “Best Artists”, “Best Cinematographer”, “ 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/