Why Has MY FAIR LADY Never had A Successful Revival on Bway?- Page 3

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 7/21/10 at 2:32pm

I was lucky enough to see the 1981 revival, which only lasted a few months...but I did get to see Harrison live which was thrilling. Especially thrilling was watching him wait to see if Cathleen Nesbitt was going to remember her lines. She was about 150 years old and died a year later. I got to take a cab with her and she was a HOOT! I also got to meet Nancy Ringham backstage who was a servicable Eliza.

It was not a great revival, but it was alot of fun and I enjoyed it immensely. It's a terrific show that deserves to be revived. I do think the cost of mounting a proper production would be daunting for any producer, however. It's not like you can skimp on the sets or costumes.

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/21/10 at 2:39pm

"I do think the cost of mounting a proper production would be daunting for any producer, however. It's not like you can skimp on the sets or costumes."

The sets in the Papermill production (years ago) were breathtaking.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/21/10 at 2:40pm

Or perhaps we could focus our energies on creating new shows as good as this one, instead of pondering endless lists of revivals...

[Scripps2]

Posted: 7/21/10 at 4:12pm

I saw a revisionist revival that toured the UK in the 1990s. It was a feminist take on the piece with abstract sets. Edward Fox (The Day of the Jackal, Edward and Mrs Simpson) was Higgins and Helen Hobson (Passion OLC) understood exactly what director Simon Callow was trying to achieve. Unfortunately the critics didn't; it got terrible reviews and never made it into London.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/21/10 at 4:23pm

"I have to say that after sitting through the show about 60 times when i was working at the show i have to agree the book is overlong, the whole show is over long. We had many people getting restless in the audience. I think act 1 came i around 90 mins which was far too long."

But that was because Trevor Nunn added additional Shaw back to the book and added other stuff. That MFL was probably the longest major production of the show ever.

A 90-minute first act is not unusual among the classic shows.

[degrassifan]

Posted: 7/21/10 at 6:54pm

"But that was because Trevor Nunn added additional Shaw back to the book and added other stuff. That MFL was probably the longest major production of the show ever."

Do you know what stuff he added?

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 1:32am

I'm afraid I don't, but if I can find out, I'll post it.

[broadwaybound0632]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 2:10am

I think its like Funny Girl. Performers are always going to be compared to and in the shadows of the original.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 7:07am

I saw a production of PYGMALION in the early 1980's in London with a dynamic Diana Rigg as Eliza. I can't recall who played Higgins. Shaw's script is so good that it keeps the theatergoer from ever becoming bored, regardless of the length. So, too, is the script for MY FAIR LADY. I just don't see how any reasonably alert audience member would be bored with the distilation of Shaw.Incidentally, I saw the 1970's production of MY FAIR LADY at the St. James and loved the cast, particularly Ian Richardson and the always fabulous George Rose. I would love to see a revival. I had seen the original cast in 1957 at the Mark Hellinger, an appropriate venue for such an opulent production. The designer of the sets and costumes was the unique Cecil Beaton. EDIT:My memory is not the greatest these days. It has been pointed out to me that Oliver Smith was the set designer of the original production of MFL, while Cecil Beaton designed the costumes.

Updated On: 7/22/10 at 07:07 AM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 12:46pm

A side bar: Larry Keith, the first American to play Higgins in MFL, die Saturday.

"In 1961 Mr. Keith attracted notice for becoming the first American to portray Professor Higgins in the original Broadway production of “My Fair Lady.” As the understudy to the English actor Michael Allinson, one of several men who succeeded Rex Harrison in the role, Mr. Keith played Higgins more than 50 times."
Times obit

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 4:51pm

"I saw a production of PYGMALION in the early 1980's in London with a dynamic Diana Rigg as Eliza."

Alec McCowen was Higgins. I think Bob Hoskins was Doolittle. It was in 1974. A commercial recording was made of the production, issued on LP and cassette, but, alas, no video.

[Almira]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 5:55pm

McCowen and Hoskins also did the JAY complete MY FAIR LADY recording.

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 6:08pm

Yes, although by that point, Hoskins couldn't sing at all and they really would have been better off with someone else.

McCowen's quite good, though he does sound a little old and he's the least irascible Higgins ever.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 6:29pm

"The UK Tour did not downscale and we had it for 3 months at the Palace Theatre in Manchester where i worked with Amy Nuttal playing the lead (she did a great job). They filmed the show at the Palace (6 cameras and amazing looking) that i managed to get a copy of."

I never did understand why they didn't release this commercially after spending all the money and taping it so well. It is a thrilling production, with a great cast.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 8:42pm

I adore "My Fair Lady". Its certainly a beast to do properly, though. It requires performers, directors, staging, spectacle that's, for lack of a better word, sharp all around.

I think Martine McCutcheonm who played Eliza, had an alternate in the Nunn production, yes? And in the US Tour of that production, there was an alternate as well.

I saw that production in Philadelphia and it was just incredible. Easily the best production of My Fair Lady i've seen - thrillingly sung, full orchestrations, sumptuous design and staging - I remember how the skylight would open in Higgins' study and it was an incredible effect.

People are saying that the show requires an amount of spectacle - I think that's true to a point, but I do think that spectacle can be achieved in a chamber, 10-person, 2-piano My Fair Lady (which does work), just spectacle that is appropriate for that "world of the play", rather than the idea of spectacle we all have.

While I, as much as anyone here, would like to see O'Hara tackle the role, still more of me would enjoy seeing an unknown play the role.

[JRybka]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 10:18pm

I agree that Martine McCutcheon was amazing! It was a shame she was so critized for getting sick during the run.

There are a few people who would be a good Eliza Dolittle.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 10:21pm

First of all, to the person saying 90 minutes too long for a first act: That is the standard for almost all shows.

Back to the subject at hand: I saw the famous Trinity Rep staging back in 2000 that featured the two pianos, wooden stage, brick wall, and spiral staircase, with the title in bulb lighting on the wall. It was one of the most breathtaking evenings of theatre, and was extended by popular demand. Spectacle can be achieved in simplistic ways. For example: The Ascot scene began with the rich folk all standing on stage in their beautiful costumes, reaching up and grabbing their hats as they descended from the flies. It was magnificent, and people were taken aback.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/22/10 at 10:27pm

The best part of the 1981 revival was that opening night television review when the reporter's dentures fell out.

[Billy Boy]

Posted: 7/23/10 at 2:41pm

I'm waiting for a Henry Higgins who can actually SING the score. The role is really quite melodic. Imagine a Brian Stokes Mitchell singing the Higgins' songs.