My Fair Lady - ball scene

[AngusN]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 4:43am

I am currently directing a production of My Fair Lady, and was thinking of (requesting to) cut the ballroom sequence. I'm not certain whether to (request to) cut it all, or just after Eliza's entrance. What are your thoughts?
p.s. it is an amateur production and this scene is usually done very poorly, we have very few people who can waltz and a limited costume / set budget

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 9:17am

Having directed a production of "My Fair Lady" last summer, I think cutting the ballroom sequence entirely would be a mistake. Do you have a few actors who are decent dancers? If so, use them and cut some of the music rather than cutting the whole sequence. As for the costume situation, I don't know how many are in your cast but there is nothing that says the entire cast has to be used in this sequence.

As a director and audience member, I really feel the audience needs to SEE this happen rather than just being told about in the next scene. The whole first act is spent preparing for the magical moment. I feel it would be wrong to cut it entirely.

Just my opinion. Hope this helps.

[Weez]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 12:59pm

Does the ball scene specifically definitely utterly have to include dancing? Couldn't people be mingling, milling, and chatting, like at other parties?

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 1:23pm

I saw a first class, stock production that cut the Ball scene. Having never seen a first class production of "My Fair Lady" before, I felt truly gypped.

But about your production, what type of audience do you get? Are they theatrically savvy enough to notice that it was missing?

Will the rest of the show suffer if you blow a good deal of your budget on that one scene?

How scenery intense is your production? Because you could get away with using just a good set of double doors set in the curtains for her to make her entrance and cut the dancing. And you could scavenge the thrift shops in the area for old wedding dresses and prom dresses. When my group did "The Secret Garden" most of the women were dressed in old 1980s prom dresses with some ornamentation hot-glue-gunned to them.

Hope some of this helps.

[AngusN]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 2:50pm

Money is really tight, and having to costume the number and pay for the steps etc. would just be too much. I understand what you are saying about the whole of the first act leading up to her performance at the ball, and that was why I was considering keeping the dialogue before hand in the show, and cutting the dance sequence and queen. If we do that, then at least we get to see her grand entrance and Karpathy's dialogue about her. But, you still need a staircase and some costumes.
Thanks for your thoughts people. Much appreciated.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 4:27pm

I say cut it. I've always wanted to see a production that left out the ball room scene since "You Did It" recaps everything that happened at the ball anyway it's really not necessary to see it in my opinion.

[AngusN]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 4:58pm

Well, that was our reason for cutting it. The action is recounted, in detail, at the start of Act II. No real lose. Unless, you had fab costumes and some decent dancers, to waltz. I quite like the idea of finishing the first Act with Eliza leaving the house, and allowing the audience to recreate the rest of the evening's action.

Posted: 6/24/07 at 5:37pm

I saw this last night at BroadHollow in Elmont. The last scene of the first act starts with Higgins and Pickering fussing in the study, then Eliza's grand entrance down the stairs in her ballgown, then the three exit stage right on their way to the unseen ball.

Act two opens with "You Did It," and plenty of dialog recounting events at the ball.

It's closing today, else I'd urge you to go see it.

[EganFan2]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 8:42pm

That makes sense to me, to show them leaving for the ball and letting "You Did It" explain it all. I always thought that sequence dragged, myself.

[dfwtheatreguy]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 9:04pm

i saw a magnificent 2 piano, 10 actor version of "My Fair Lady" at Dallas Theatre Center a couple of years ago - the ball scene was done with only one couple dancing while LIza was being tested - worked very well.

[MrAmySpanger]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 9:25pm

M'kay, SO..I find the entire sequence to be rather disapointing. On that note, I find almost the entire show rather disapointing. It's pretty much a series of anti-climactic scenes. Point in case- "get mah slippahs, bitch" End show? Yeah. When I played Higgins last year, I found ACT 1 to be grueling and wanted nothing more than it to end. From an audience perspective, I find myself expecting the first Act to end after the last few scenes, mostly Eliza's entrance, and am disapointed to see it continue. Not to mention, the scene amounts to just about nothing. The only amusing aspect of the scene could be some funny looking beard on who so ever is playing Zoloff with a heavy accent. (I think that's his name? Don't care.)
The fact of the matter is, cuts need to be made, that's a long ass show with a boring ass plot.

Hope this helps!

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 9:37pm

Do you have ANYONE who can waltz? If so, I don't see why you can't ask them to show the others how to do it. A quick tutorial couldn't hurt.

[Hogarth]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 10:14pm

The touring version I saw some years back with Richard Chamberlain cut the Ballroom scene...ended Act One with leaving for the ball, and of course "She Did It" at the top of Act Two told what happened.

The scene is amusing and can be fun especially for Zoltan Karpathy, and since Eliza was such a failure at Ascot - it is really the ONLY scene where we see her as a success in polite company.

I think it's necessary for audience to see it....but there you are.

[Julian2]

Posted: 6/24/07 at 11:18pm

You do not need a staircase. I just did a production last summer, and she just walked out from an archway that was made by the drop.

[felineofavenueb]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 12:41am

To me, the ball scene has always seemed visually spectacular but not 100% essential to the plot - as many have said, "You Did It" recaps essentially word-for-word the important action of the scene, but is much quicker and more exciting for the audience. Though the ball scene is visually spectacular and in many ways emphasizes Eliza's transition because she fits in (in terms of deportment, not just speech) with this highly upper-crust world, it's still not entirely necessary; I think you can just as easily do without it. When I did the show, we cut it and nobody seemed to have any real qualms about it.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 12:23pm

M'kay, SO..I find the entire sequence to be rather disapointing. On that note, I find almost the entire show rather disapointing. It's pretty much a series of anti-climactic scenes. Point in case- "get mah slippahs, bitch" End show? Yeah. When I played Higgins last year, I found ACT 1 to be grueling and wanted nothing more than it to end. From an audience perspective, I find myself expecting the first Act to end after the last few scenes, mostly Eliza's entrance, and am disapointed to see it continue. Not to mention, the scene amounts to just about nothing. The only amusing aspect of the scene could be some funny looking beard on who so ever is playing Zoloff with a heavy accent. (I think that's his name? Don't care.)
The fact of the matter is, cuts need to be made, that's a long ass show with a boring ass plot.

Hope this helps!

GASP! IMO, we need more shows like My Fair Lady nowadays. You know, an excellent score with witty, insightful lyrics, very strong book with real character development, etc.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 12:29pm

Shaw was wise enough *not* to show the scene at the Embassy. I think Lerner and Loewe will survive without it as well.

Face it: the tension is "what will happen?" The ballroom scene removes that tension by telling us, pretty baldly, that Eliza succeeded. But without it, you leave the question mark for the audience to ponder during the intermission.

[Piercemn]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 12:54pm

Cutting the ball scene entirely is going to take away that great comic character, Zoltan Carparthy. There are references to him later in the show, and it would be better for those unfamiliar with the material to have the character as a reference. You could take dresses from the Ascot scene, and with accessories, use them in the ball scene. You don't need the entire cast for the scene, but even 10 would make it work, and there's a romantic enchantment here. I think it's the point where Higgins falls in love with Eliza.

The Guthrie did a production of Pygmalion a few years ago, and the play doesn't have the ball scene. They added it and it made the show better.

[AngusN]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 1:10pm

"I think it's the point where Higgins falls in love with Eliza."
I don't think there is anything to suggest that he falls in love with her during this scene. His response to her when she enters the study in his home:
"Not bad at all"
I believe this is the moment he realises he is in love with her. The fact a man so literate and articulate resorts to monosyllabic words to express his thoughts and feelings.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 1:33pm

Angus,
How are you designing the production? First off, she doesn't HAVE to make a staircae entrance, as was said. Tradition doesn't HAVE to be foloowed letter p;erfect. Have you considered doing the show using a unit set of some sort to save on costs? That could help reduce scenic costs and money could be distributed elsewhere...
Also, are there any theare groups that may have costumes in storage? Other comunity groups? College within reasonable driving distance? Contact them and explain the situation. Perhaps they may be willing to arrange a loan or very cheap rent for a few costumes.... when I was a child and was doing some community theatre, we contacted several colleges within an hour and a half drive several times for items.
Updated On: 6/25/07 at 01:33 PM

[AngusN]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 5:19pm

I have considered using a unit set, but am at a loss, as to how it will work. I've seen it done before with Simon Callow, that was relatively unit and it was dreadful. The show lost it's realistic appeal and the characters instantly became stylised representations of a specific era, rather than the fully developed human beings that make the show a success.
Any ideas?

[cooperross]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 5:35pm

every production I've seen over the past few years has cut it..and I miss it and wish they'd have left it in. Just my 2 cents

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 6:31pm

I like watching to see if Eliza will succeed or not.

Witnessing the event reinforces Higgins callousness. We know what happened and we see how hard she worked and how flawlessly she behaved.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:05pm

If the audience does not have the chance to see Eliza succeed, and feel good about her and for her, you only get Higgins' report in "You Did It!" which is not an accurate report but Higgins gloating and underplaying Eliza's achievement.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 6/25/07 at 10:38pm

>> I have considered using a unit set, but am at a loss, as to how it will work.

When I designed the show in Albany a few years ago, we had a unit set of five Edwardian arches and a few wagons, and it played gorgeously. If you want, I can send you images of the design.