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

was writing a Pygmalion musical with Loewe and demanded to hear the songs against the writers’ will. Lerner states that in November 1954, Martin and her husband, Richard Halliday, “had read that we were doing Pygmalion and [said] that they would love to hear what we had written.” Lerner relates that when the meeting took place, “they listened in silence and departed almost immediately after the last song.” Later, the lyricist asked Halliday what Martin’s reaction had been, and he reported that she had commented, “Richard, those dear boys have lost their talent.”

But in reality Lerner himself wanted Martin for the role two years earlier, in 1952, and actively pursued her.19 In a letter to Pascal (who was to go to London to speak with Martin personally) on May 10, the lyricist stated that

no matter how excited I get about the play, I always stop when I come to the question: can we get Mary Martin? Although there are undoubtedly others who could play it, I do feel anybody after Mary is second choice. Liza is one of the great parts for a woman ever written. In music it will be even greater. And Mary is obviously the greatest star the musical theatre has produced—and there’s no doubt about that. Somehow it seems like a perfect marriage. It doesn’t bother me at all that she is American because if the King’s English as taught to her by the Prof doesn’t seem completely compatible with her, neither was it with Liza in the play. And the cockney she can do easily. From a show business point of view it would be a great tour-de-force for her. Then, too, Mary is the only one I know who has naturally that odd combination of the little girl and the great lady. I can’t think of another part when both these qualities could be better employed—or on the other side, when Mary could run more of a gamut of all her talents. This is one play that should be written for her and with her.

Lerner assured Pascal that he would fly to London with Loewe to discuss the show with Martin when they had the outline completed, and then moved on to propose Michael Kidd as the choreographer for the show—again, someone who would be pursued more than once in this capacity. The lyricist felt that Kidd’s sense of humor (as evinced by his work on the stylized choreography for Guys and Dolls) would be perfect for helping to depict the cockneys and aristocrats, and commended his great sense of the theater; Lerner had already gained the choreographer’s interest in the project. After reiterating his enthusiasm about the play, Lerner ended: “I’m ready to do anything short of homicide to see Mary as Liza.”20

Langner’s letter of May 22 corroborates that Lerner and Loewe’s chief desire was for Martin to play Eliza. He also underlined the team’s excitement about the project and stated that they had already written a scenario.21 The letter continues by suggesting alternatives to Mary Martin, should she turn the project down (as Lerner suspected, according to the letter). These included the Hollywood star Judy Garland, whose film work was on the wane and was willing to do the show for six months, but Lerner and Loewe did not like the idea; Garland’s Hollywood contemporary, the soprano Deanna Durbin; and the leading musical comedy actress Dolores Gray. Of the latter suggestion, the letter indicates that Lerner was willing to accept her if an “exciting man” could be found for Higgins; George Sanders and Noël Coward were suggested. Eventually, Lerner indeed pursued Coward for the part of Higgins, first in the summer of 1952, then in late 1954, and again for the London production, but he met with refusal every time.

The letter also mentions the possibility of starting the show in England and then opening it on Broadway later on, which excited Lerner and Loewe. They were available to start work immediately and suggested first Robert Lewis (who had directed Brigadoon) and then John C. Wilson (director of two hit shows, Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate and Jule Styne’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, as well as producer of Lerner and Loewe’s own The Day Before Spring) to direct the production. Finally, the letter clarifies the terms on which Lerner and Loewe were to participate in the project—initially they demanded 8 percent without Mary Martin and 6 percent with her, but Pascal over-optimistically thought they would accept 6 percent regardless of their desire for Martin—and underlines their tremendous enthusiasm yet again.

With the fire sparked inside them, ultimately Lerner and Loewe’s association with Pygmalion was unstoppable, and the Theatre Guild proceeded to arrange a production of Shaw’s play for June 1952 to give them some extra inspiration. On May 30, the New York Times announced the Guild’s intention to produce a Pygmalion musical, and would in the meantime stage the play with three musical theater names: Dolores Gray (who had appeared in Jule Styne’s Two on the Aisle), Tom Helmore (whose Broadway credits included The Day Before Spring), and John C. Wilson.22 The next day, Lewis Funke’s column added to the report, saying that “Unless plans become badly unhinged somewhere along the way, it appears likely that Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe will be the team to do the musicalizing. … Should all end with signatures properly affixed, production will begin as soon as the pair have successfully wooed the muse.”23 But in the meantime, the Guild still needed to find a star for their show.

NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN: LERNER, LOEWE, AND MARTIN

June–October 1952

All seemed to be going swimmingly. In June 1952 Langner and Marshall went to London to speak with Mary Martin, who remained their first choice for Eliza, and to meet with Elizabeth Barber of the Shaw estate to negotiate terms over the rights to Pygmalion. On June 17 Langner wrote to Theresa Helburn to say that according to Barber, Gertrude Lawrence—star of Weill’s Lady in the Dark and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King