MY FAIR LADY (2018) Previews- Page 23

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 6:40pm

You kids are actually saying that My Fair Lady (MY FAIR F*CKING LADY) has an unmemorable score. I'm laughing so hard right now.

[JayG 2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 6:50pm

Sometimes it's painful to read these ridiculous comments. Go listen to Wicked and pine away for its first revival.

Updated On: 3/29/18 at 06:50 PM

[JIMG3]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 8:57pm

Because we all know that in 50 years time, the world will be whistling along to the score of Mean Girls.....

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:09pm

greenifyme2 said: "Yes. I’ve read the play,although it’s been awhile. Despite never seeing a production of MFL before last night, I was very familiar with quite a few songs (although I’m unsure how)!"

Well, greenifyme2 and raddersons - I didn't expect to hear someone say that the score was blah - that is very interesting. I would be curious to find out if you like the movie, should you see it. Unless you were lucky enough to see the original Broadway production the movie is pretty much the standard by which productions are judged. 

Of course for decades My Fair Lady was the great example of the book musical done really well. Not liking the material is like saying that Fiddler or Gypsy are meh. But maybe the material hits a 2018 audience differently. I am trying to imagine the experience of going from Angels in America to MFL. That is far from the experience of a theatergoer in the 1950s. After Angels, the plot of a bet between two fussy English bachelors could seem like pretty low stakes.

Updated On: 3/29/18 at 10:09 PM

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:14pm

I have no doubt I could like *a* production of MFL, but this one was indeed ‘blah.’

And I love Fiddler! Depsite having been in the pit orchestra for a production of it almost 15 years ago, I still know almost every word. You can still take something that is loved and execute it poorly :)

Agreed on Angels. I just didn’t care about any of the characters in MFL and I think it was only partly the book and score, but mostly the cast. 

Updated On: 3/29/18 at 10:14 PM

[CallMeAl2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:17pm

greenifyme2 said: "I have no doubt I could like *a*production of MFL, but this one was indeed ‘blah.’"

That's fair.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:19pm

But that's not what you said. You suggested that the music should be cut and it should just be a play (wow what an idea. If only Shaw had thought of that.). You literally suggested that the score was poor.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:27pm

Because I was bored and wanted it to be over. I wanted *this production* to be a play. I also said if they had cast someone like Lindsay Mendez as Eliza she would have hit it out of the park, and made it engaging and special.

Updated On: 3/29/18 at 10:27 PM

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:28pm

And to say My Fair Lady is only about a bet between two fussy English bachelors is absolutely missing the point or needlessly trivializing the piece just to dismiss it. Anybody can trivialize anything.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:31pm

greenifyme2 said: "Because I was bored and wanted it to be over. I wanted *this production* to be a play. I also said if they had cast someone like Lindsay Mendez as Eliza she would have hit it out of the park, and made it engaging and special."

And how are you so sure of that? A lot of your criticisms were really about the piece itself, the story, the premise, and the structure of the score and book scenes, and the actual score itself, and not the production really unless you really just want to bring up Lindsay Mendez so you can stan her some more and think she's the key to making this musical work for you. I think you should give the OBC and the movie a try and come back to us and let us know if you still feel the same way about the score and writing.

Updated On: 3/29/18 at 10:31 PM

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:38pm

It’s just my opinion. I sat there watching it thinking “this could be so much better, the actors’ voices are not filling the room” (except Freddy, who again, really shined) and wished someone else was singing who was stronger. Lindsay just popped in my head because that role really seemed like it would suit her. I didn’t really care for the current production of Carousel either but she really stood out.

Sure I’ll give the movie a go.

Updated On: 3/29/18 at 10:38 PM

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:41pm

Just a warning, Higgins was written to be talk-sung because it was originally written for Rex Harrison. So that part isn't going to change.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:44pm

Also, I love Lindsay Mendez, but she's a bizarre suggestion for Eliza and would probably be awful.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:48pm

Good to know. Maybe MFL just isn’t for me. To each their own. But I will still watch the movie when I have some time.

On another relevant note, that I will probably get burned at the stake for, I also don’t care for the book or score of Dolly (save Sunday Clothes), but I very much enjoyed the execution of it and the cast. Saw it twice, once with Bette and once with Donna. Very different experiences, and I actually enjoyed the experience with Donna Murphy more.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:51pm

GeorgeandDot said: "Also, I love Lindsay Mendez, but she's a bizarre suggestion for Eliza and would probably be awful."

Really?! After seeing her in numerous roles and her caberet show, I thought she’d be a dead ringer. I severely disliked all of her song choices at her caberet, but I’ll be damned if she didn’t nail every single one.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:52pm

Ok, but you're username is literally a Wicked reference, so I don't think that you're the best person to judge the quality of Broadway scores.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:52pm

I think me and you are in agreement with Dolly except I love the score and I think the book serves as a great vehicle for the story it wanted to tell and the characters it wanted to explore. I saw Donna Murphy and she just sang that score to the point where it was soaring. I think I am so familiar with MFL that I liked the direction Sherr went with it because it offered something new and fresh to me, including Ambrose's take on Eliza and how it really built to that last note in "I Could Have Danced All Night". I still think Hadden-Paton gave the best rendition of "I've Grown Accustomed to her Face" that I've ever heard and seen. I also get what you mean when you said Freddy's song was a nice respite because Freddy's ballad is in a different world from all of the other male characters but that was on purpose. Lerner had to calm Loewe a bit when he said Higgins' songs would be talk-sung but that he could write his melodies for Eliza and Freddy because that was the only thing that made sense with this material. I think he was right.

Updated On: 3/29/18 at 10:52 PM

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 10:58pm

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "I think me and you are in agreement with Dolly. I saw Donna Murphy and she just sang that score to the point where it was soaring. I think I am so familiar with MFL that I liked the direction Sherr went with it because it offered something new and fresh to me, including Ambrose's take on Eliza and how it really built to that last note in "I Could Have Danced All Night". I still think Hadden-Paton gave the best rendition of "I've Grown Accustomed to her Face" that I've ever heard and seen. I also get what you mean when you said Freddy's song was a nice respite because Freddy's ballad is in a different world from all of the other male characters but that was on purpose.Lerner had to calm Loewe a bit when he said Higgins' songs would be talk-sung but that he could write his melodies for Eliza and Freddy because that was the only thing that made sense with this material. I think he was right."

Sounds like I should have gone with you instead of by myself! It makes more sense now why I thought I was critiquing this production in my head and you all thought I was chastising the piece itself. If this is the way it’s meant to be, and I didn’t care for it, perhaps that’s that. (Again, will still watch the movie).

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 3/29/18 at 11:03pm

One more thing because I'm annoying right now, but so many of the top Broadway composers (Cole Porter, Rodgers/Hammerstein, etc.) all tried but failed to adapt Pygmalion into a musical and thought it was impossible because the play itself had language that was already so brilliant and almost musical. Lerner/Loewe realized the reason why others failed was because they thought they had to reinvent the piece. They also thought Rodgers/Hammerstein misconceived it because they were trying to write Higgins' material for someone like Alfred Drake when what they really needed was to embrace the character as is and needed to cast someone who was probably the most prominent Shavian actor at the time, Rex Harrison, to do it. Lerner/Loewe really embraced the Shavian aspects of the play and the language (with a changed-ish ending because so many productions of Pygmalion already adopted it much to Shaw's chagrin) and put it into the actual music.

Updated On: 3/29/18 at 11:03 PM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/30/18 at 9:57pm

Diana Rigg ~

https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/03/28/third-times-the-charm-diana-rigg-revisits-pygmalion-again/

Updated On: 3/30/18 at 09:57 PM

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 3/30/18 at 11:01pm

Oddly, I also feel some songs are unnecessary and doesn’t improve or even has the same weight as Shaw’s words (I feel over 80% of the book are directly taken from Pygmalion or adapted with little change). Although I did love most of the big numbers sans Take Me to the Church On Time, I found it annoying sometimes that they would burst into songs that do not really do what Shaw’s words can’t. I’m seeing it again tomorrow and report back.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/30/18 at 11:11pm

Having been in a production, I could agree that it’s a strange show - but that’s why I’m so excited to see this one! I want to see a different, new take on the material. I don’t think the music is all that interesting - my favorite song is probably “Show Me,” but it’s not a typical musical. I mean most all of the big numbers are given to a minor character who is kind of awful. And there is a lot of book, which, modern audiences might not take to. But still I’m excited!!!!

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 3/30/18 at 11:21pm

"My Fair Lady" is a musical play with the emphasis on the play part. People expecting sung-through musicals will be disappointed that there is way more dialogue than music. I also think that that kind of Shaw dialogue doesn't come naturally to most performers. I'm actually surprised Sher is opening the show with less than a month of previews. What I saw in early previews was VERY promising but the comfort level with the dialogue was clearly a work in progress.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 3/30/18 at 11:43pm

I was able to see the production tonight, and thought it was just okay. Certainly not anywhere near the Cameron McIntosh /Trevor Nunn production done in London in 2001, I thought everything in this production was fine, but rarely inspired (the stunning costumes for the Ascof scene being the exception).

Best in show for me was Harry Hadden-Paton who makes for a credible and empathetic Higgins. Ambrose’s performance lacked fire and and the real transformation the character requires for the the play to fully land. She has a beautiful singing voice but seems still very in her head. The entire production lacked pace and spark. It kind of lumbered along (just like that huge wagon carrying Higgin’s study).

Bart Sher needs to crack the whip.

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 3/30/18 at 11:49pm

GeorgeandDot said: "Ok, but you're username is literally a Wicked reference, so I don't think that you're the best person to judge the quality of Broadway scores."

Oh yes, because an internet username completely defines a person. This comment was completely unnecessary. What a grumpy old jackass you are. 

And it’s YOUR, not YOU’RE. At least check yourself when you’re attempting to insult someone. 

Updated On: 3/31/18 at 11:49 PM