From its groundbreaking Broadway debut, through the iconic, Oscar-winning film starring Audrey Hepburn, to countless productions worldwide, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s My Fair Lady remains one of musical audiences’ beloved masterpieces. More than seventy years after its New York premiere, the work will be performed in a concert version at the National Forum of Music. The performance will be conducted by the British composer Wayne Marshall, a distinguished expert on 20th-century American music.
Lerner’s libretto is based on Pygmalion, a play by Irish Nobel Prize winner George Bernard Shaw. Its title refers to the mythical king of Cyprus, a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had made. In the playwright’s work, phonetics professor Henry Higgins bets a friend that within six months he can introduce Eliza, a low-income florist, to high society. He teaches the girl correct grammar, beautiful pronunciation, and social skills. When he finally wins, he realises how deeply he feels for his protégé, whom he had previously treated only as his plaything. This reinterpretation of the ancient motif here shines with a sharp critique of social prejudices.
Until Shaw’s death in 1950, efforts to obtain his consent to create a musical adaptation of the play (Franz Lehár had already unsuccessfully attempted to do so in 1921) failed. Lerner and Loewe began work but stopped when the artists decided the story was unsuitable for a musical interpretation. They revisited the idea and completed the composition, which they titled My Fair Lady. The premiere took place on March 15, 1956, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. Audiences were captivated by the engaging, funny, and surprising plot twists. Songs such as With a Little Bit of Luck, Show Me, Why Can't the English? or I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face (corrupted by jazz musicians as I’ve Thrown a Custard in Her Face), became timeless hits.