Loverly:The Life and Times of My Fair Lady (Broadway Legacies), McHugh, Dominic [fantasy books to read TXT] 📗

scenery.”32 He talks about arriving “that cold January night”33 and meeting up with Rex Harrison (whom he claims was his first choice for the role of Higgins),34 says that Cecil Beaton agreed to do the costumes during this time,35 mentions that Harrison agreed to play Higgins after five weeks of procrastination, and avers that Lerner, Loewe, and Levin left London in mid-February.36 Yet according to Levin’s letters of February 7, he intended to leave New York on Tuesday February 15 and arrive in London the next day.37 Therefore, Lerner’s departure date was in fact the arrival date for the producer. Levin’s letter continues: “The Messrs. Lerner and Loewe will follow me in a few days.” Again, this contradicts the romantic image Lerner conjures up of a “little brigade” of people all traveling together, because clearly they went in at least two separate parties.38

As to their activities during the visit, it is difficult to be much more specific, other than to rely on Lerner’s account as outlined. A letter from Levin to Cecil Beaton confirms that the two met in London and clarifies that his agreement to do the show depended on being given permission by Irene Mayer Selznick to do it at the same time as working on a production for her.39 The main purpose of being in England, of course, was to secure the services of Rex Harrison, and negotiations with the actor resulted in a preliminary agreement drawn up by Levin at Claridge’s Hotel on March 18.40 Harrison’s terms were that his guaranteed salary would be $3,000 per week, plus 10 percent of the gross box office receipts between $30,000 and $50,000; that he was guaranteed a minimum of six weeks’ employment or $18,000 in lieu; that he would be given first-star billing, though the actress playing Eliza Doolittle could be co-starred if Levin chose; that the contract would last a year; and that rehearsals would begin on or after October 1, 1955, subject to two conditions: the closing of the play Bell, Book and Candle in which Harrison was starring in London at the time, and a four-week lapse between the end of the play and the start of rehearsals for the musical. The final point in the agreement is a fascinating list of directors with which both parties were happy. The choice was subject to Levin and Harrison’s mutual approval, but both were amenable to the following names: John Van Druten, Alfred Lunt, Moss Hart, Robert Lewis, Peter Glenville, Tyrone Guthrie, Hume Cronyn, Cedric Hardwicke, and Cyril Ritchard. It is striking that Hart was third in the pecking order here, since various writers have suggested that his name “headed the list.”41

The other business to be conducted while in London was to find an actor for the role of Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza’s dustman father. Exactly when Stanley Holloway’s name first came up is uncertain; the earliest documentary evidence is a letter from Lillian Aza, his agent, on February 24, 1955, in which she informed Levin of her contact details, having heard that he was interested in using Holloway.42 No known documentation exists for the actual meeting between them, but Lerner and Holloway’s autobiographies largely concur on the matter. Lerner says, “In New York, when we first discussed the part of Doolittle, both Herman and I had the same first thought: Stanley Holloway. I remember him well from my schooldays in England and we both had seen some of his recent motion pictures. Herman called him and we all had lunch together at Claridge’s. He loved the idea of playing Doolittle.”43 With his typical inclination to embroider his text with humorous stories, Lerner also relates Holloway’s reaction to the team’s question as to whether he could still sing after many years away from the stage: “Without a word he put down his knife and fork, threw back his head and unleashed a strong baritone note that resounded through the dining room, drowned out the string quartet and sent a few dozen people off to the osteopath to have their necks untwisted.”

On March 14, Lillian Aza wrote to Levin with a list of points to be included in Holloway’s contract, following a meeting in London a week earlier.44 Among other details, Holloway was to be paid $1,000 per week; rehearsals were still scheduled to begin “on or about” August 15; and his billing was to be equal to that of the actors playing Higgins and Eliza “unless the artiste eventually engaged for the part of Higgins is a star of such caliber that he commands larger billing.” Aza also required that Levin let her know whether rehearsals were to be postponed until October 1, because Holloway had received an offer of a film contract for that time. Although Aza had asked him to reply before he left England, Levin did not answer until March 25, by which time he was back in New York. He was now able to announce that rehearsals had been deferred to October 1 and clarified that Holloway would receive first featured billing if Levin could not arrange co-star billing.

He also quibbled at Aza’s terms regarding the length of contract, which she had specified as lasting “for the run of the play,” but Levin requested instead that Holloway be under contract for three years, explaining that this was the tradition under American Equity.45 Levin ended by promising that “the terms agreed upon will in a short time be incorporated in an Actor’s Equity Contract and sent you for Mr. Holloway’s signature,” but there would follow a delay of several months, during which time the increasingly agitated Aza would keep urging Levin to set a rehearsal date and submit the contract. On March 31 she wrote to him again, requesting that he could leave the show after two years if he should wish, and further arguing his cause regarding billing. “If Rex Harrison demands first billing, then we will, of course, agree,” she allowed, “but I do feel Stanley should be billed in the same