50 Years ago tonight: March 15, 1956

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 3:01am

MY FAIR LADY opened at the Mark Hellinger theatre.

The Lerner and Loewe musical was the biggest hit of the decade. Tickets were notoriously hard to get.

It didn’t start out as sure-fire hit. Several authors, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, had tried to adapt Shaw’s PYGMALION for the musical stage without success. Even Lerner and Loewe had made one attempt and given up, but returning to the property in 1955 they partners decided to let Shaw’s text lead the way and they were off and running.

The next problem was to raise the money. Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia Records convinced CBS to bankroll the entire show with the provision that Columbia make the cast album. Recorded on March 24, 1956 the Lp was released in mono as OL 5090 later that same week. Within a few months OL 5090 was the #1 best-selling Lp in the country. And the show was still selling out every week. Those who couldn't get seats bought the original cast album.

It would be hard today for some people to understand how big this show was. Way bigger than any of today's hits. Pop singers recorded songs from the score. In addition to the cast album, Columbia released an album of the score played by Percy Faith's orchestra. Later when the show opened in London they re-recorded the cast album in stereo. Columbia also did the 1964 film ST and the 1976 Broadway revival cast.

Whichever one you like, play it today to honour one of the greatest musicals of all time, and remember a time when Broadway musicals were our pop culture. Rex Harrison and Stanley Holloway are gone now. The Mark Hellinger Theatre is now the Times Square church and hasn't been used as Broadway theatre since 1989. Julie Andrews is thankfully still with us but no longer able to sing. But not matter - it's all preserved on this wonderful original cast recording.

Updated On: 3/15/06 at 03:01 AM

[alterego]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 7:45am

Fifty years on and still one of the finest EVER!

The show was so big in Melbourne when it opened in 1959 (in the theatre pictured to the left, Her Majesty's Theatre) that it spawned a second company that opened two years later when it was feared it would be many years before the rest of Australia would get a chance to see MFL. It played in Melbourne for two years, a record not broken until PHANTOM OF THE OPERA in 1991.

I will play the Original Cast Recording now!

[Dulcinea]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 7:47am

Happy Birthday My Fair Lady!!!

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 8:17am

Thanks for posting this, frc. I think MY FAIR LADY is one of those gold-standard classics that has been somewhat forgotten.

Its place as the ultimate '50s musical has been superceded in most peoples minds by GYPSY - which today seems more modern, while LADY seems almost as flowery as a Kern Princess Theater show.

Updated On: 3/15/06 at 08:17 AM

[hypertruffle]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 8:19am

*plays the overture and raises her orange juice in honor*

Here's to a lovely show. The music itself brings this softie to tears.

[bwayaddict]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 9:01am

Frontrow - Thanks for the info - I have tickets for Broadway by the Year 1956 on April 3 and hopefully selections from My Fair Lady will be part of the evening. Can't wait till I'm in NYC!

[FeelingElectric]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 9:04am

While I was shopping at the J & R store near City Hall in January, I met a nice older gentleman. I was buying cast recordings (Including the Original London and Broadway cast recordings of My Fair Lady) and we got into a conversation about various things. He mentioned to me that he attended the third performance of My Fair Lady on Broadway fifty years ago(I think he mentioned he was eight at the time), and how he never forgot that experience.It was very facinating to me and I thought I would mention it.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 10:32am

And 2050 years ago, Julius Caesar got shanked in the Senate.

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 1:15pm

Thanks for reminding us of this historic day. I'm directing a production of "My Fair Lady" this summer and I must say I'm excited and scared at the same time. I want to do justice to this wonderful and historic show. And Margo, thanks for reminding us of the Ides of March.

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 1:21pm

Happy Birthday My Fair Lady! Truly one of the all-time classics! I sang "On the Street Where You Live" for one of my first auditions. Also, thanks frontrowcentre2 for mentioning Stanley Holloway--a very funny actor, and one of the best parts of the show as Alfie P. Dolittle.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 1:27pm

And 2050 years ago, Julius Caesar got shanked in the Senate.

...Was just about to post that!

Happy Bday MY FAIR LADY! :)

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 1:34pm

YAY!!

My Fair Lady has always been one of my favorite shows. Oh, to have been in that gorgeous theatre 50 years ago!

[alterego]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 8:55pm

Enjolras77 are you aware the the person in your avatar, Anthony Warlow, played Henry Higgins in an Australian revival about 15 years ago?

[BrunetteBombshell]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 9:03pm

Happy birthday My Fair Lady! It's one of my favorite shows.

[ProducersFan]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 9:15pm

Although I am far too young to have seen the show on Broadway, thanks to my mom I grew up watching the movie musical. I was enthralled by it, and watched it quite often. I like to think it was that movie that made me love musicals so much.

Happy Birthday My Fair Lady! And here's to 50 more years of enchantment!

[grizzabella]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 9:20pm

That was a wonderful post Frontrowcenter2. Thanks. So often we forget that many people, myself included, think of My Fair Lady as one of the defining moments in musical theatre, and it was my introduction to the world of musical scores and cast recordings. I'll always have a soft spot for this show.

[wexy]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 9:49pm

11 days later, I made my debut, albeit off Broadway in Brooklyn.

Updated On: 3/15/06 at 09:49 PM

[jam_man]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 9:58pm

Quite possibly the single best balance of quality of a show and success of a show, I love My Fair Lady. Happy Anny!

I'm supposed to be the theatre geek at my school, but I forgot to check when My Fair Lady's 50th was going to be (I knew it was coming soon), would it be a problem if I told everyone that tomorrow is it? No, that would be insulting Lerner & Loewe, wouldn't it?

How am I celebrating? Well, with a little bit a luck, someone else will do the blinkin' celebratin'.


EDIT: DAMN, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN! I forgot today was the 50th (until now)!

Updated On: 3/15/06 at 09:58 PM

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 10:01pm

jam_man,

I think South Pacific holds that title in my mind...

[jam_man]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 10:08pm

Well, that could be a whole other thread, but today is My Fair Lady's day, so maybe tomorrow.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 10:09pm

Haha, ok...

MY FAIR LADY...

the best musical EVER written

[cturtle]

Posted: 3/15/06 at 10:33pm

LADY is still my favorite stage musical. long may she live!

[jv92]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:53pm

Does anyone know if Lerner, Loewe and company thought the show would be cursed for opening on the Eyes of March? (You know, with the whole Caesar deal?)

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 3:58pm

That would be the IDES of March

Ides = 15th day of March, May, July, or October

Not sure what the Eyes of March would be (though I do know the Eyes of Laura Mars).

Updated On: 3/16/06 at 03:58 PM

[philcrosby]

Posted: 3/16/06 at 4:02pm

Along with GYPSY, GUYS AND DOLLS, and maybe KING AND I, MY FAIR LADY is one of the most perfect musicals ever written, a truimph of the craft.

HAPPY GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY!