Loverly The Life and Times of My Fair Lady

by McHugh, Dominic

• ISBN13: 9780199827305
• ISBN10: 0199827303
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-07-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Few musicals have had the impact of Lerner and Loewe's timeless classic "My Fair Lady." Sitting in the middle of an era dominated by such seminal figures as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Frank Loesser, and Leonard Bernstein, "My Fair Lady" not only enjoyed critical success similar to that of its rivals but also had by far the longest run of a Broadway musical up to that time. It remains a staple of the musical theater canon today, an oft-staged show in national, regional, and high school theaters across the country. Using previously-unpublished documents, author Dominic McHugh presents a completely new behind-the-scenes look at the five-year creation of the show, revealing the tensions and complex relationships that went into the making of this beloved show. Two detailed chapters describe the show's tortured journey to Broadway, in which Lerner and Loewe were just one of many creative teams trying to turn Shaw's Pygmalion into a musical. A further chapter examines Lerner's different drafts of the script and demonstrates how he managed to retain Shaw's style and meanings while adding layers of his own and finding ways to set some of the scenes to song. Three other chapters go into unprecedented detail about the writing of the score, while the final chapters examine the show's legacy on the stage and in print. Overall, the book helps readers understand what makes this such a special musical.

Author Biography

Dominic McHugh is Lecturer in Music at The University of Sheffield.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface and Acknowledgments	p. xiii
False Starts and Artistic Promise	p. 1
From Page to Stage: The Genesis of My Fair Lady	p. 20
Shavian but Not Shaw: Developing the Script of My Fair Lady	p. 49
Knowing the Score	p. 95
Settling the Score: Part I	p. 122
Settling the Score: Part II	p. 151
Performance History: My Fair Lady On Stage	p. 170
The Legacy of My Fair Lady	p. 191
"Without You" (early versions)	p. 211
"Why Can't the English?" (original version)	p. 213
"On the Street Where You Live" (original version)	p. 215
Cut Material from "The Ascot Gavotte"	p. 216
"You Did It" cut passage	p. 217
Notes	p. 219
Bibliography	p. 245
Credits	p. 257
Index	p. 259
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