My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw‘s Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from Professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a well-born lady.
The musical’s 1956 Broadway production was a hit, setting what was then the record for the longest run of any major musical theatre production in history. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals. It has been called “the perfect musical”.
I attended the gala performance with Rachel. This is our first introduction to My Fair Lady. Before this, I only knew Hollywood legend, Audrey Hepburn starred in the 1964 film adaptation while Rachel was familiar with a few of the musical numbers like On the Street Where You Live.
The story is simple and sweet, a Cinderella-like story of how a poor young woman was plucked from the street and transformed into a high society lady by a feisty professor.
Woman would love to picture themselves as Eliza Dolittle, the dainty, yet steely damsel who triumphed against all odds while men would love to picture themselves as Professor Henry Higgins, a modern-day intellectual knight with an attitude.
How can you not like a story like that?
With some clever play of phonetics and weaving them into musical numbers, My Fair Lady is a fun, entertaining musical to watch.
Rachel and I couldn’t get enough of My Fair Lady. When we got home, we re-watched Chow Yun Fatt and Anita Mui’s 1988 Hong Kong comedy film, 公子多情 (The Greatest Love), which we realised was a parody on My Fair Lady, with the gender roles reversed:
My Fair Lady is now showing at MasterCard Theatres in Marina Bay Sands. Tickets are selling fast. Get them before it is too late! 🙂
Screen Dates:
Tue, 11 Feb – Sun, 2 Mar 2014
Tue – Fri: 8pm
Sat & Sun: 2pm & 8pm
Venue:
MasterCard Theatres at Marina Bay Sands
Ticket Pricing (Exclude Booking Fee):
VIP : S$195
A Reserve : S$145
B Reserve : S$125
C Reserve : S$105
D Reserve : S$95