Posted: 5/27/15 at 6:35pm
So would I, best12bars!
As for Mrs. Higgins, if Maggie Smith signed on, I'd be on the first bus to New York. It wouldn't even matter who they got for Eliza. 
Posted: 5/27/15 at 7:06pm
I can't picture an actress at the moment who is both physically Eliza and vocally Eliza. I guess of the suggestions already given Sierra Boggess would be the closest. Not naming names but after some recent performances, I think I'd like to see a Brit in the role if they can't find someone to nail the accent.
Posted: 5/27/15 at 7:35pm
Scarlett Strallen could be Eliza. She was a delight in the Menier's Candide in 2013-2014. And she's been Mary Poppins on Broadway (and elsewhere)
Posted: 5/27/15 at 8:30pm
I'm not thrilled at the prospect of him "singing." What singing ability (if any) does he have? I know him mostly as a dramatic actor.
Posted: 5/27/15 at 8:40pm
"I love Lauren Ambrose, and I know she can sing, but is she a soprano?"
YEP, check the trailer of Psycho Beach Party out at around the 39-second mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8DBBA0QkdE&feature=youtu.be
Posted: 5/27/15 at 9:33pm
Sierra boggess is perfect for eliza
And would sing the crap out of it
Posted: 5/27/15 at 9:48pm
Posted: 5/27/1955 at 08:40 p.m.
Name: Nanette Fabray FANatic
Subject Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady
I'm not thrilled at the prospect of him "singing." What singing ability (if any) does he have? I know him mostly as a dramatic actor.
Updated On: 5/27/15 at 09:48 PM
Posted: 5/27/15 at 10:02pm
Another vote for Benanti, or an unknown, but PLEASE not someone young. It's unnecessary and it's gross that all of our entertainment still thinks it's the norm to pair insanely old men with really young women.
Posted: 5/27/15 at 11:40pm
I'm not disagreeing with you about that, rjm516. In this case, though, there's actually a line in the play that says she's "about twenty-one."
Posted: 5/28/15 at 7:52am
What about Laura Osnes? Or would she sound too pretty?
Posted: 5/28/15 at 9:11am
Unless you are unfamiliar with the role, you know that Higgins can talk-sing his way through the show. He needs to hit a few comfortable notes here and there at the end of a phrase. That's what Rex Harrison did to great success.
I wouldn't worry about how good Firth is as a singer.
Posted: 5/28/15 at 10:42am
Since I was a kid, "My Fair Lady" has been my very favorite musical. I wish I WAS Colin Firth. Ah, well. Anyway, it would be love-rly to hear Laura Osnes sing this role. I cannot wait to see it!
Posted: 5/28/15 at 4:57pm
Indeed, Professor Higgins is one the best "non singing" singing roles around for actors.
Though I do think Richard Chamberlain could actually sing.
Posted: 5/28/15 at 5:24pm
Yeah, this is one of the few times when I really don't care whether an actor can sing. I'm wondering if he can bring the right level of pompousness to the role, though. Yes, he was Darcy and the Darcy analog in Bridget Jones but there's something (maybe his own essential likeability) undercutting that air. I don't want a Higgins who's clearly all bluster from the start.
"Another vote for Benanti, or an unknown, but PLEASE not someone young. It's unnecessary and it's gross that all of our entertainment still thinks it's the norm to pair insanely old men with really young women."
It would be great if they could find an unknown. I'm not saying they need to find someone 18, but I don't mind having a younger actress. Wouldn't it be the opposite problem from Gigi if they cast someone much closer to Firth in age?
Posted: 5/28/15 at 5:30pm
Jeremy Irons was a more melodic Higgins than Harrison- I wonder where Firth will fall.
Posted: 5/28/15 at 6:07pm
Having recently done a production of the show with an opera company I have to admit that I prefer the Harrison speak-sing style for the role over somebody who's full on singing it.
Posted: 5/28/15 at 8:13pm
I've seen the role sung by a legit singer, too, and it's fine but not necessary. The melodies are strong, and they are also covered by the orchestrations, which were designed for a non-singer/talk-singer to do them.
Posted: 5/28/15 at 8:22pm
You've gotta be able to drift in and out. More than that, and it becomes too much, less than that, no semblance of melody or rhythm and it begins to feel like Shatner.
Posted: 5/29/15 at 2:42pm
Laura Benanti was interviewed on the 12 noon WNBC-TV news and guess what? She stressed how much she SO VERY MUCH WANTS TO PLAY ELIZA opposite Firth. It seems her interviewers had once told her she should be on the TV series "Nashville," she agreed wholeheartedly, and lo and behold, it happened. So she hopes lightning will strike twice, since she uttered her latest wish on the same program.
I hope it happens, too.
She also talked about a "surprise" she has in store for the audience at the Drama Desk Awards this Sunday. "Not flasks," she said.
Posted: 5/29/15 at 2:51pm
Firth just played Henry Higgins, more or less, in Woody Allen's MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT.
Posted: 5/29/15 at 6:07pm
As a broadway investor, I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on whether this show would be in a good position to recoup. I'd love to invest in My Fair Lady - it is a favorite of mine. But the first revival played under a year and the second revival (in the 80's played for about 5 months) and the third revival (90's) played just a few months as well.
Twenty years since the last revival -- can this have legs from a commercial point of view?
Updated On: 5/29/15 at 06:07 PM
Posted: 5/29/15 at 10:35pm
Its tough because a chestnut like My Fair Lady has a lot of "mature" fans, but at the same time it has such a glorious score.
Star Wattage like Colin Firth is needed but even then it may not be enough if the framing isn't refreshed somehow, hard to gauge.
Again, that glorious score.
Posted: 5/29/15 at 11:01pm
I want to stress something about the vocal demands of Eliza Doolittle: it's not the singing. Much of her role lies fairly high, but It's not a stratospheric role. Any trained soprano worth her salt can make a meal of "I Could have danced all Night". Show Me is challenging, but in terms of pure vocalism, that's the biggie and the rest is relatively standard. The real challenge is the transition between the screaming and shouting Eliza does throughout the show (OOOOOwwwwwww) and the classical singing.
I am also of the opinion that the optional high C in "I Could Have Danced All night" is completely gratuitous.
Posted: 5/30/15 at 1:09am
Interesting trivia, the role of Eliza was offered to retired film star Deanna Durbin who was probably 33 or 34 at the time. (1955)
Noel Coward was the first choice for Professor Higgins, talk about "diction"!
