My Fair Lady

It was a loverly day when My Fair Lady opened on
Broadway in 1956, and it quickly became a smash hit and beloved
classic. Writing team Lerner and Loewe succeeded where others had
failed and turned George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion into a
musical - and what a musical! We'll look at the show's complex
pre-history and thorny rehearsal days, and dive into the question
of whether the show is a romance, or sexist, or both. Find one
enormous chair and settle in for our latest episode! 


 


MY FAIR LADY Book & Lyrics by Alan Jay
Lerner | Music by Frederick Loewe | Adapted from George Bernard
Shaw’s Play and Gabriel Pascal’s Motion Picture “PYGMALION” |
Original Production Directed and Staged by Moss Hart


Episode Segments:


3:12 - Speed Test

5:28 - Why God Why

8:53 - Back to Before

31:39 - What's Inside

49:29 - How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

1:13:03 - Our Favorite Things

1:21:17 - Corner of the Sky

1:25:25 – What Comes Next?



Works Consulted & Reference :


My Fair Lady (Original Libretto) by Alan Jay Lerner

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

The Street Where I Live by Alan Jay Lerner

Dazzler: The Life and Times of Moss Hart by Steven Bach

A Hymn to Him: The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner (Edited by Benny
Green)

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews

Alan Jay Lerner: A Biography by Edward Jablonski

Inventing Champagne: The Worlds of Lerner and Loewe by Gene
Lees

Julie Andrews by Robert Windeler

Rex: An Autobiography by Rex Harrison



Music Credits:


"Overture" from Dear World (Original Broadway Cast
Recording)  | Music by Jerry Herman | Performed by Dear
World Orchestra & Donald Pippin

"The Speed Test" from Thoroughly Modern Millie
 (Original Broadway Cast Recording) | Music by
Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics by Dick Scanlan | Performed by Marc
Kudisch, Sutton Foster, Anne L. Nathan & Ensemble

"Why God Why" from Miss Saigon: The Definitive Live
Recording  (Original Cast Recording  /
Deluxe)  | Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by
Alain Boublil & Richard Maltby Jr.  | Performed by
Alistair Brammer

"Back to Before" from Ragtime: The Musical (Original
Broadway Cast Recording)  | Music by Stephen Flaherty,
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens | Performed by Marin Mazzie

"What's Inside" from Waitress (Original Broadway Cast
Recording)  | Music & Lyrics by Sara Bareilles |
Performed by Jessie Mueller & Ensemble

"Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from My Fair Lady (Original
Broadway Cast Recording) | Music by Frederick Loewe &
Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner | Performed by Julie Andrews, Reid
Shelton, Glenn Kezer, James Morris, Herb Surface, & My Fair
Lady Ensemble

"Maria" from The Sound of Music (Original Soundtrack
Recording)  | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar
Hammerstein II | Performed by Evadne Baker, Anna Lee, Portia
Nelson, Marni Nixon

"My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music (Original
Soundtrack Recording) | Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics
by Oscar Hammerstein II | Performed by Julie Andrews

"Corner of the Sky" from Pippin (New Broadway Cast
Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz |
Performed by Matthew James Thomas

“What Comes Next?” from Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast
Recording) | Music & Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda |
Performed by Jonathan Groff