I loved Act IV. Shaw captured the Liza's humanity exquisitely. And if we didn't see Higgins as a jackass, before, then surely now. Some intellectuals are so infatuated with their knowledge and thinking that they can't see humanity and life.
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I loved Act IV. Shaw captured the Liza's humanity exquisitely. And if we didn't see Higgins as a jackass, before, then surely now. Some intellectuals are so infatuated with their knowledge and thinking that they can't see humanity and life.
There were two sections in Act I, when I was reminded of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The first is when the Flower Girl (Eliza) speaks and Shaw portrays her dialect by spelling it phonetically (thank goodness Shaw gave up the attempt as I was afraid I would have great difficulty in reading “Pygmalion”.) Anyway, I immediately thought of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn where Twain spells phonetically whenever Jim speaks.
The other section of “Pygmalion” that reminded me of Huck Finn was when the Flower girl makes a comment about Higgins and states, “Let him say what he likes. I don’t want to have no truck with him.” In Huck Finn Jim says to Huck, “You could make a fool uv ole Jim wid a lie. Dat truck dah is trash; en trash is what people is dat puts dirt on de head er ...” The point I am trying to make is that I was really surprised to see the word “truck” used in the same way in “Pygmalion” as I thought using the word in such a way was unique slang to the southern part of the US. I did not realize it was used this way in England during approximately the same time period, give or take 40 years.
As for me I was reminded Defoe's famost novel. But the author's attitude is just the opposite.
Finished over the weekend. Act V was a little didactic, preachy. But Shaw brings it all to a proper conclusion and while he is hitting you over the head with his point, I didn't find it too irritating. Possibly because Shaw has done a fine job with the characterization that his preachyness kind of glides through. I enjoyed reading the play this time around more than when I was in college.
I'm not sure how to vote yet.
Hi all. I read Pygmalion shortly before I started teaching and the details of it are mingled with scenes from My Fair Lady in my memory. I've enjoyed your discussion on class, however. I've often wondered if a "modern" Pygmalion could be produced? I had students who would talk incorrectly because they knew it would irritate me (only because their talk was reflected in their "formal" essays"). When I'd start handing out homework or something, one student would always ask, "what that is?" It really irritated me coming from him because he knew better and was so smart, but his insistence on "dumbing himself down" for the sake of being popular was frustrating. He has the ability to go on to college, but without even attempting to speak properly, let alone do his work, I doubt he will get there.
I also wonder if linguists are able to pinpoint as accurately as Higgins seemed to, where people are from anymore. I think television has exposed us to such a variety of accents that maybe ways of speaking have become too mingled? I had another student who grew up in the same small town as his classmates, but talked like a California surfer dude.
I surprised myself once. When my husband and I were staying at a hotel once and at breakfast, I heard accents that sounded just like my uncle. Sure enough, they were from the same region of north Britain as Uncle Jack! They were just happy I didn't think they were from Australia like most Americans assumed.
Just an update. I've got tickets to see a staged version My Fair lady on Friday. It was a Valentine's Day gift for my wife which had to wait until now. Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) plays Higgins. Should be interesting.
That's a very nice idea for a gift, Virgil. And you can enjoy it, too ;).Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil
Tell us how you liked it !
Yes, I will. And yes I get to enjoy it too. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Schokokeks
I saw a performance of My Fair Lady, the musical version of Pygmalion, over the weekend and it was wonderful. I was surprised that the musical follows the play exactly except for the very end where Eliza comes back to Higgins. But other than that the characterization and plot (the scenes are exactly the same) is exactly the same. Of course the music is added. And what lovely music. I recommend one gets the CD of My Fair Lady. I imagine that the CD is of the origianl production from the 1950s with Julie Andrews as Eliza and Rex Harrison as Higgins.
This performance had Kelsey Grammer, the actor from the TV show Fraser, and he was great. The role was perfect for him and he actually sang well. The Eliza role was played by someone named Keli O'Hara, who I had never heard of before. But she was perfect, handling the accents and the non-accent well, and what a beautiful singing voice she has. here's a write up of the performance I attended:
http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/6091.htmlQuote:
Center Stage: My Fair Lady
By Robin Tabachnick
02 Mar 2007
As the New York Philharmonic presents four concert performances of the classic Lerner & Loewe musical, March 7-10, our correspondent talks with stars Kelsey Grammer and Marni Nixon.
This month (March 7-10) the New York Philharmonic treats its audiences to four performances of Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady.
Since 1985, when it performed Sondheim's Follies, the Orchestra has presented several semi-staged masterpieces of American musical theater to great acclaim. For this year's production, it has procured an impressive cast, including Kelli O'Hara (who will portray Eliza Doolittle), a radiantly versatile Tony Award winner who says she is "honored and thrilled to be singing with this amazing orchestra."
But as the lines between "serious music" and "musical entertainment" become ever more blurred, the opportunity also arises to collaborate with stars from other worlds: the realms of TV, film, and opera. In a cast that includes Ms. O'Hara as well as Broadway veterans Charles Kimbrough (Colonel Pickering) and Brian Dennehy (Alfred P. Doolittle), nothing illustrates this better than Kelsey Grammer (Professor Henry Higgins) and Marni Nixon (Mrs. Higgins, Henry's mother), who come to this production from very different artistic backgrounds, and happily join forces here.
For Mr. Grammer, best known for his 20-year run in the title role of the TV hit series Frasier, this engagement represents the marriage of his love of language and his love of classical music. "I grew up listening to the New York Philharmonic," he says. "I used to go to Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts, so it's a joy to return to the place that awakened my early imagination and fostered my love of classical music."
As for his love of language, he describes himself as "a huge fan of Shaw." Mr. Grammer's knowledge of the playwright's works gives him wonderful insight into Higgins's character, who, he says, is not unlike his old friend Frasier. "Both are high-strung, opinionated intellectuals lacking substance," he declares. "Shaw appreciates the male dilemma; he thinks most of us are children, so Higgins is petulant and egotistical and only when he surrenders to a relationship does he stand a chance.
"It's a coming-of-age performance," Mr. Grammer continues, "where one can be boyish, impish, and full of oneself -- all charming features if done deftly! It's daunting," he adds, "because I'm stepping into Rex Harrison's role, and one will always be in some way derivative, but I'm going to try to get Kelsey in there!"
Marni Nixon describes herself as "the first of the crossover artists." While classical music aficionados might know her for her recordings of music by modern composers, including Stravinsky, who admired her singing, film lovers grew up with her voice in their ears when she dubbed (among several great movies) Audrey Hepburn's singing voice in the 1964 film of My Fair Lady. "There were millions of barriers to break down, because the contemporary-music world looked down on the theater and film aspects of my career," says Ms. Nixon. "We were not yet in an age when musical theater was equated with high art; they felt it wasn't work to be an actress. That's why it's kind of an inside joke for me to be doing Mrs. Higgins. She doesn't have a song, but I'm an actress too, and it's not beneath me. Sometimes you act, sometimes you sing. You use everything at your disposal."
Like Mr. Grammer, Ms. Nixon has associations -- albeit different ones -- with the Philharmonic. Her long-standing relationship with the Orchestra began with her 1960 debut under Leonard Bernstein. "These are superb players -- unmatched anywhere," says Ms. Nixon. "They always had a certain bright, aggressive sound that thrilled me! And I just adored Lenny Bernstein," she recalls fondly. "He was so 'with you' when you sang; he breathed with you and was so a part of you."
For Mr. Grammer, this engagement marks his New York Philharmonic debut. "It's a huge thing," he exclaims, "so flattering and so terrifying -- but what an experience for me to stand on the stage that so delighted me as a boy -- to complete that circle," he says with feeling.
Robin Tabachnick writes frequently about the arts.
And here's a critic's review of the performance, if you don't trust my opinion. ;)
http://www.theatermania.com/content/...fm/story/10261Quote:
My Fair Lady
Reviewed By: Michael Portantiere
Kelli O'Hara and Kelsey Grammer in My Fair Lady
(© Chris Lee)
Kelsey Grammer had a huge flop on his hands when he tackled Macbeth on Broadway in 2000; the critics savaged his performance and the public stayed away in droves, apparently having no desire to see the man they loved as TV's Frasier Crane in the role of a morally bankrupt, murderous Scottish king. But no such major disconnect exists with regard to Grammer's appearance as Professor Henry Higgins in the New York Philharmonic's semi-staged concert presentation of the musical theater masterpiece My Fair Lady.
With a score by Frederick Loewe and book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, My Fair Lady presents a central male character who's highly intelligent, witty, egotistical, fussy, and often exasperated. All these traits were shared by Frasier, if not the professor's unabashed misogyny, and Grammer plays them to the hilt. He also sings the part very well in his own style, matching pitches far more often than did Rex Harrison, the original Higgins. Grammer was over-parted when he did Sweeney Todd in L.A. some years ago, but Higgins is a much better fit for him in every way.
That Kelli O'Hara possesses the glorious singing voice, first-class acting talent, and extraordinary physical beauty necessary for the role of Eliza Doolittle is a given. Nonetheless, some of her fans may have wondered if the young woman who triumphed in such shows as The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game, and My Life With Albertine would be convincing as the Cockney flower girl whom Higgins teaches to speak with Received Pronunciation and to behave like a lady of the highest breeding. As it turns out, O'Hara is almost vowel, diphtong, and consonant-perfect as both the lower-class guttersnipe and the transformed Eliza -- and her singing is so beautiful as to withstand comparison with Julie Andrews, the role's legendary creator. (O'Hara's soaring rendition of "I Could Have Danced All Night" virtually stops the show.)
Brian Dennehy's cockney elocutions in the role of Eliza's dad, Alfred P. Doolittle, are more indicated than organic; but his characterization is spot-on in every other way, and the audience clearly adores him. Charles Kimbrough is utterly charming as Colonel Hugh Pickering, Higgins' cohort. Philippe Castagner as Freddy Eynsford-Hill sings "On the Street Where You Live" with refulgent tone, though he's rather stiff in the character's spoken dialogue; Joe Grifasi and Michael J. Farina burst with comic energy as Doolittle's cohorts, Harry and Jamie; Tim Jerome is properly oily as Zoltan Karpathy; and Marni Nixon, who dubbed the singing voice of Eliza for Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 film version of My Fair Lady, is regal and delightfully droll as Mrs. Higgins.
Director James Brennan and choreographer Peggy Hickey do exemplary work here. Gail Baldoni's gorgeous costumes are far more elaborate than anything you'll see in the City Center Encores! series, and Ray Klausen supplies more set pieces than you'd expect, all of this adding greatly to the professionalism of the production. David Ives is credited with the concert adaptation of the script, which basically consisted of excising approximately 15-20 minutes of dialogue. Even with all these cuts, the first act runs a full hour and a half! But with a show like this one, the time flies by.
All-star, limited-run concert versions of musicals tend to receive precious little rehearsal, so it's not surprising that the first of My Fair Lady's four scheduled performances was a bit rough in spots. Grammer was late for one entrance, there were flubbed lines and lyrics from various folks, and the singers were sometimes a beat or two ahead of the orchestra; it seemed as if they weren't entirely comfortable with the tempi set by conductor Rob Fisher, or perhaps an excess of opening-night adrenalin caused the rushing.
No such raggedness exists within the orchestra itself; Fisher leads the Philharmonic in a lush and thrilling account of this magnificent score. To hear Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang's fabulous orchestrations of Loewe's music played live by a world-class symphony is a rare treat. (The equally great dance music arrangements are by Trude Rittman.)
Sadly, the current economics of the theater make it unlikely that a fully satisfying, production of My Fair Lady will ever again be seen on Broadway. With that in mind, you are advised to take this opportunity during the all-too-brief period in which it's being offered.
That sounds lovely, Virgil. I hope you know how much you benefit from living in New York, where I imagine excellent performances are not a rare event :).
I saw a performance of Julius Caesar in Dublin, which was fabulous as well, very impressive fighting scenes and great decorum :).
Yes, I know I'm spoiled. I would love to see Julius Ceasar. "Friends, Romans, country, lend me you ears..."Quote:
Originally Posted by Schokokeks
first of all thank you for this nice sub.
second i have read the play and watch it as well and it was very great one
but i wanna littil help here if you can
a research about:
1) Class Distinction.
2) The character of Eliza ( the flower girl ) as a fighter and a feminist.
and who is going to help me thanks now and after.
:) Hello every one
I've just signed up in this website coz i saw this wonderful subject
I've finished reading the play lately as a study course when I came across this website but toooo late to discuss with you
good luck every one
hi all
i've just finished reading it this week.
it's really an interesting play, especially that it's my first reading of the year along with the stupid novel The Alchemist. I enjoyed reading it and exploring its themes which some of them are related to today's world. Its language was rather simple for me- English is a foreign language over here -. I wished it was possible to discuss it with you people but it was your las year's reading.
I wish you all the best of luck.