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Lyrics - Alan J.Lerner
Opened - 1956
Main characters - Eliza, Henry, Freddy, Pickering, Alfie
Plot - Henry Higgins is a speech expert living in London. Eliza Doolittle is a scruffy flower seller, who gives a lot of her earnings away to her father, Alfred. Henry meets a man called Pickering one day and they begin to talk about dialect. Henry chooses Eliza as an example of how not to speak. After this meeting Eliza decides to go to Henry and have speaking lessons from him so that she can speak like a real lady and get a proper job. Henry takes her in to his household, and begins to teach her. She gradually becomes more lady-like, and at the same time Henry and Eliza become closer. There is a splendid ball and Eliza does very well but afterwards she is ignored by Henry and Pickering. She leaves and elopes with Freddy, who fell for her when he first saw her. Henry realises how much Eliza has affected him and goes to see her but she refuses a truce. The show ends with Henry at home listening to recordings of Eliza's voice, when Eliza herself enters...
Songs (With marks out of 10) -
1.Why can't the english? (7)
2.Wouldn't it be loverly (10)
3.With a little bit of luck (8)
4.I'm an ordinary man (8)
5.Just you wait (8)
6.The rain in spain (9)
7.I could have danced all night (10)
8.Ascot Gavotte (9)
9.On the street where you live (10)
10.You did it (7)
11.Show me (10)
12.Get me to the church on time (7)
13.A hymn to him (6)
14.Without you (8)
15.I've grown accustomed to her face (10)
Favourite song - I could have danced all night
Favourite character - Henry
Favourite quote -
"Are there lilac trees in the heart of town? Can you hear a lark in any other
part of town? Does enchantment pour out of every door? No, it's just on the street where you live."
- Freddy, enchanted by Eliza, 'On the street where you live'
Comment - My Fair Lady is perhaps one of the best storylines and set of characters in any musical, and it doesn't rely on the music. It could easily be just an ordinary play, the lyrics are so wonderful. As far as melodies go it's not as strong as other Lerner and Loewe musicals, but it makes up for it with lots of charm and humour. There are also some beautiful songs, and 'On the street where you live' is particularly touching. It's obvious why this is Lerner and Loewe's most famous musical, it's a wonderful creation.
UPDATE!
I am updating this page on the evening of going to see a local production of 'My Fair Lady'.
It's the first time I've ever been to a musical, and I'm still charged up about it, it was absolutely wonderful!
The songs were just brought to life, and hearing an orchestra was a new and awesome experience too!
Just seeing people on stage in costume and dancing was brilliant. The song I enjoyed most of the night was
'Get me to the church on time', even though I only give it 7/10 above! It involved lots of fun dancing and got the
biggest cheers from everyone.
Here are the songs and how much I enjoyed them on stage:
1.Why can't the english? (8)
2.Wouldn't it be loverly (10)
3.With a little bit of luck (10)
4.I'm an ordinary man (8)
5.Just you wait (8)
6.The rain in spain (10)
7.I could have danced all night (10)
8.Ascot Gavotte (10)
9.On the street where you live (10)
10.You did it (9)
11.Show me (10)
12.Get me to the church on time (10)
13.A hymn to him (7)
14.Without you (8)
15.I've grown accustomed to her face (10)