My Fair Lady musical read. About the musical film "My Fair Lady"
Two talented young authors - composer Frederick Lowe and librettist Alan Jay Lerner - would never have composed their most famous musical, "My lovely lady"if not for the other star couple- Rodgers and Hammerstein. The creators of Oklahoma refused to collaborate with film producer Gabriel Pascal, who was toying with the idea of making Pygmalion out of Bernard Shaw's famous play. 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 at 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 appearance in public (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 her attempts former student Higgins - 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 slippers?”
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 musical was a stunning success for its creators a complete surprise: “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, and the role went to Audrey Hepburn - by that time she, unlike Julie, 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 the 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 storyline 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. Brilliant speaker, a mocker and an intellectual, he actively participated in public life UK late XIX- beginning of the 20th century. Over the ninety-four years of his life, Bernard Shaw composed 65 plays, 5 novels, huge 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 Nobel Prize according to 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 and the Man (Chocolate Soldier) were also adapted for musical theater. 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 attract Marni Nixon, a singer who already had experience dubbing a star - it was her voice that Natalie Wood, who played the role of Maria in the film adaptation of West Side Story, and Deborah Kerr sang in her voice. who played main character in the film version of the musical "The King and I". Interestingly, neither Natalie nor Audrey received the American Film 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 really “ blue bloods" 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 the bright talent of a character actress, and 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").
On October 21, 1964, George Cukor's film My Fair Lady starring Audrey Hepburn premiered in New York. The musical comedy was a film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, based on Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. The plot of the film largely repeated the famous play. The music for the film "My Fair Lady" was created by composer Frederick Lowe, and the screenplay and lyrics were written by Alan Jay Lerner. The film turned out to be bright, emotional, rich in warm colors. Even now - more than 50 years later - it looks like a pleasure. Where did it all start?
Of course, from the story of phonetics professor Henry Higgins - an inveterate bachelor. He made a bet with his colleague, Colonel Pickering, that in three months he could turn the illiterate London flower girl Eliza Doolittle into a real lady. The professor undertook to teach the girl, who spoke street slang, high-society manners and ideal correct speech. After the expiration of the stated period, Eliza was supposed to be presented at the embassy ball, and if none of those present would guess about her low origin, the colonel would recognize the professor’s victory and would pay all the expenses for the girl’s education. Eliza herself hoped that good pronunciation would allow her to get a job in a flower shop. This, in a nutshell, is the content of the musical, presented on Broadway on March 15, 1956. The show, by the way, was incredibly popular, and tickets were sold out six months in advance.
Working on My Fair Lady and creating the sets and costumes was an outstanding project. A lot of time was spent developing Audrey's style, shoes and costumes. “I pray every day to be worthy of this wonderful role", Hepburn said. The film was to be filmed at Warner Studios in Burbank. The visuals of My Fair Lady make this picture greatest achievement in the field of popular, spectator cinema.
The main roles in the musical were played by Rex Harrison and aspiring singer Julie Andrews. When starting to film the film, director George Cukor chose to replace Andrews with the more famous Audrey Hepburn, which initially caused disappointment among fans of the musical. There was no replacement for the leading male role in the musical, and Rex Harrison successfully 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”.
When Audrey arrived in Los Angeles and met with the director, she suddenly asked: “Will I sing in the film myself?” The director replied that her voice was quite good for most vocal numbers, but for some notes a different voice would have to be used. This calmed Audrey a little.
Under the terms of the contract, the studio had the right to use a different voice. And on May 16, 1962, the director of the film met with singer Marni Nixon, who had already dubbed some actresses in films. After a short audition, Nixon was invited to dub Audrey, but this decision was to remain secret. Audrey continued to take singing lessons and was unaware of the studio's plans. Recording songs for the film was a difficult ordeal for Audrey.
Meanwhile, Marni Nixon recorded all of Eliza's vocal numbers. “In the end, we decided to use Marnie’s voice,” recalled Harper MacKay, who played Previn’s assistant. No one dared to tell Audrey about this. The worst part was that Cukor, Previn and Lerner listened to Audrey sing and constantly praised her. “Audrey, unfortunately, began to believe them.” But even for the sake of peace of mind Audrey, the studio did not change its decision. All of Eliza's songs in the film were performed by Marni Nixon. Having learned the truth, she felt humiliated, and yet she did not show her resentment in any way. Audrey continued to work as before.
The film was designed by Cecil Beaton, who won an Oscar for his work. In designing the main setting of the film (the library in the house of Henry Higgins), Beaton was inspired by the rooms at the Château de Grousset, located in Montfort-l'Amaury in France, and artistically furnished by its owner Carlos de Beistegui. Beaton and director George Cukor were longtime friends, and Beaton was given complete creative freedom. However, during the labor-intensive work on the film, Cukor often clashed with Beaton, and, in the end, actually removed him from work. Beaton's name was already in the credits and in the contract, so Cukor turned to his to a close friend and the picture's assistant, Gene Allen, asking him to take Beaton's place and finish the set work.
A few more facts. The film's title does not appear in any dialogue or song.
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.
The film was released on October 21, 1964 and was a huge success at the box office, winning 8 Oscars out of the 12 for which it was nominated. Today, the film is considered one of the classic musicals in Hollywood history, along with Singin' in the Rain (1952) and The Sound of Music (1965).
But not everything was smooth sailing. For example, in the musical, Eliza is 21 years old, and Audrey Hepburn was 34 years old at the time of filming (this fact outraged fans of the Broadway production).
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.
Audrey Hepburn and Julie Andrews
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 perfectly 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 the actor’s finest hour - 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 Film"", "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/
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MUSICAL Modern encyclopedia
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Books
- , Shaw Bernard. The collection includes three plays by Bernard Shaw. Among them, the most famous is “Pygmalion” (1912), based on which many films were made and the legendary Broadway musical “My Fair Lady” was staged... Buy for 265 rubles
- Pygmalion. Candida. The Dark Lady of Sonnets, Shaw B.. The collection includes three plays by Bernard Shaw. Among them, the most famous is “Pygmalion” (1912), on which many films were made and the legendary Broadway musical “My Fair Lady” was staged.…
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.”
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 confirmed bachelor he's still very used to it 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 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 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.
