My Fair Lady

Show Description:

Its literary source, setting, and original stars were thoroughly Irish or British, its composer was born in Germany, its librettist educated in England—and yet could only have been a creation of Broadway. From its 1956 opening to its close more than six years later as the longest-running musical in Broadway history, the show captured the hearts of theatergoers as no musical before or since. Phonetics professor Henry Higgins accepts a bet from his friend, Colonel Pickering, that he cannot coach a bedraggled Covent Garden flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and pass her off to his society friends as a lady. When, after months of lessons, “the rain in Spain” falls eloquently off her tongue, the transformation is complete, as Eliza impresses Higgins’ socialite friends at Ascot and at the Embassy Ball. But she rails against her mentor for turning her into something that she is not. She returns to Covent Garden, unrecognized by her father and friends and thoroughly disenchanted. Only now does Higgins realize his true feelings for her. But maybe too late—Freddy Eynsford-Hill has asked for her hand. Almost every song achieved hit status: “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”