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

love with his creation,” and McClain mentions Higgins’s “revelation,” hinting at a “Cinderella” romance. John Beaufort agrees, stating that Higgins’s “single-minded preoccupation with Eliza’s education makes him almost overlook Eliza until it is too late.” On the other hand, Hawkins makes no comment on the subject, focusing on “the effort to make the lady of Eliza,” and the same goes for Chapman, Kerr, and Watts; none of these critics say that the characters are in love, or even seem to hint at it. This is a useful point of reference for subsequent interpretations of the piece: from the very start, the nature of Higgins and Eliza’s relationship was never absolutely defined.

This point was continued on March 25, when Brooks Atkinson returned to the show and wrote another article, headed: “Shaw’s Pygmalion Turns into One of the Best Musicals of the Century.”4 The beginning and end of the new review refer to romance but hint that Atkinson is trying to backtrack from his firm portrayal of the supposed love between Eliza and Higgins. He admits that one of the other critics had pointed out that “the hero and heroine never kiss,” and that My Fair Lady “reflects Shaw’s lack of interest in the stage ritual of sex.” Significantly, Atkinson also discusses Shaw’s decidedly unromantic epilogue to Pygmalion, and in the phrase “Eliza’s life in an imagined future is beside the point” underlines a major issue: since these are characters rather than real people, they do not have “life” beyond the final curtain and cannot be assumed to be joined in matrimony. Aside from this, Atkinson’s overwhelming message is simple: “My Fair Lady is the finest musical play in years.”

RECORDING THE ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST ALBUM (MARCH 25, 1956)

CBS’s financing of the original production was not merely a good investment because of the outstanding ticket sales. That their record label, Columbia Records, could put out the original cast album ultimately earned them a huge amount of money. On October 2, 1957, the New York Times reported that the album had sold over a million copies already. By March 3, 1962, Billboard Music Week was able to confirm that the LP had sold over 3.5 million copies to date; it was also the first album in history to exceed both two and three million sales. In the same article, it was estimated that the sales of the Broadway and London cast recordings had grossed over $15 million, on an investment of roughly $40,000.5 These figures attest to the fact that the album was a phenomenon in itself; as a way of disseminating the content of the show to society in general, it had even greater impact than the stage production.

Goddard Lieberson, who was the producer of many Broadway albums for Columbia in this period, took the cast into the Columbia Thirtieth Street Studios on March 25 to record the show. As was usually the case, the album was to be recorded within a single day and released as soon as possible to maximize sales. (Symptomatic of the speed of turnaround is an error on the initial batch of albums, which retained the early title of “I want to dance all night” on the sleeve covers, because they were preprinted before the lyric change was made. Stanley Holloway’s billing was also smaller than agreed, and Phil Lang’s name was omitted.)6 Also following tradition, the album was prepared based on providing the best aural experience for the listener, rather than simply recording what was heard in the theater. This had two main manifestations: changing details of the performance, and changing the text. In the former category, we can include modifications to the tempos—sometimes numbers would be done faster or slower in the theater according to the practical needs of the production, such as a scene change or accommodating a singer taking time to warm up at the start of the show—while the latter category includes increasing the number of players in the orchestra (for instance, to enhance the quality of the sound of the string section), re-arranging material, and omitting dialogue. Some of these considerations are especially interesting in relation to My Fair Lady. Although it was normal not to record an entire score, it was curious that a musical highlight like “The Embassy Waltz” went unrecorded on the album. Some of the other changes are noted in table 7.1.

Table 7.1.Examples of changes made to the text for the original cast album

CHANGING CASTS

The three principal members of the original cast continued until November 28, 1957, when Rex Harrison left the show.7 Stanley Holloway succeeded him on December 13, 1957, when he was granted permission to sever his contract early in order to be able to sail home on the Queen Mary before Christmas.8Julie Andrews also asked to leave the show a little earlier than planned in order to have more of a break before starting rehearsals for the London production of the show. However, because Sally Ann Howes, who was to take over from Andrews,9 was not available until February 3, 1958, Herman Levin refused Andrews’s request, even though Lerner and Loewe were willing.10 This meant that she departed on February 1 as originally planned, and started rehearsals for the London version on April 7.

Sally Ann Howes as the second Broadway Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (Photofest)

Filling the original cast’s distinguished shoes was by no means an easy task. As early as 1956, Levin was already in discussion with agents about possible replacements. For instance, the British character actor Bill Owen auditioned for Doolittle’s part, but after prolonged deliberation Levin balked at the idea of paying him $1,000 per week.11 Lerner and Loewe also went to London to audition stage star Douglas Byng, but eventually Ronald Radd, best known for his television appearances, was hired to replace Holloway.12 Levin also had ambitions to have major names succeeding Harrison in the role of Higgins: a letter dated March 20, 1956, indicates that the producer once more tried to interest Michael