From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My Fair Lady
is a
musical
. It is based on
George Bernard Shaw
's play,
Pygmalion
, and on the movie adaptation of the play starring Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard. The book and lyrics for the musical were written by
Alan Jay Lerner
. The music was written by
Frederick Loewe
.
The common flower girl,
Eliza Doolittle
, tells us of the simple pleasures she would like in life (a warm room, an enormous chair, chocolate, someone who cares for her) and how much she would appreciate these little things. As Eliza grew up on the streets of London, she has a strong cockney accent (therefore pronouncing ‘lovely’ as ‘loverly’), the phoneticist,
Professor Henry Higgins
, overhears her and he places a bet that he can turn Eliza into a lady within the space of a year.
The musical premiered on
Broadway
on 15 March 1956 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. It moved to other theatres in New York during its original run, and closed on 29 September 1962 after 2,717 performances. It starred
Rex Harrison
,
Julie Andrews
, Robert Coote, and Stanley Holloway. It was directed by
Moss Hart
.
The
West End
production opened on 30 April 1958 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Harrison, Andrews, Coote, and Holloway played their Broadway roles. It ran for five and one-half years for 2,281 performances.
The musical won the
Tony Award for Best Musical
.
The musical was
made into a movie
in 1964 starring
Audrey Hepburn
and
Rex Harrison
.