My Fair Lady - ball scene

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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

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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.