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M U S I C A L N O T E S | L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
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April - May, 2017
The creative process proved difficult; however, it helped that, with
the deaths of both Shaw and his friend Pascal, Lerner and Loewe then
felt comfortable allowing themselves some artistic liberties, although
they stayed true to the spirit of Shaw’s story. Shaw himself included some
elaborations on his original play when adapting it for film, and Lerner and
Loewe did the same for their musical (especially as regards Mr. Doolittle:
his appearances in both his first scene and then in Act Two – the scene
featuring his boisterous 11 o’clock number “Get Me to the Church on
Time” – don’t appear in Shaw.) But when it came to the matter of the love
story – or lack thereof – Lerner and Loewe had a problem: how to write
what amounts to an
almost-
love song? The answer would be found in the
pages of Shaw’s drama.
In the final act of
Pygmalion
, Eliza makes the decision to leave and
marry Freddy, now that her lessons in speech are over. She tells Higgins
firmly that he’ll have to do without her. In response, Higgins shows a bit
of vulnerability, saying, “And I’ve grown accustomed to your voice and
appearance. I like them, rather.” It was from these very words that Lerner
and Loewe were inspired to write “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,”
certainly one of the show’s most memorable songs. In this, the last of
his four solo numbers, Higgins expresses an emotional ambivalence – in
fact, a genuine inner turmoil – over Eliza’s impending marriage to Freddy.
He alternates between quietly reflecting on his feelings for the girl and
gleefully predicting that she’ll soon come crawling back to him. It was in
the song’s main theme that Lerner and Loewe developed the memorable
“almost-love song” they’d searched for; it became one of Broadway’s most
frequently recorded and performed songs, covered by the likes of Johnny
Mathis, Dean Martin, and even Kermit the Frog (!), to name just a few
of its interpreters.
Now it was time to develop a similarly revealing song for Eliza. Loewe
actually wrote the melody for “I Could Have Danced All Night” in a single
day. The following day Lerner presented him with the finished lyric, in which
we can sense her suppressed feelings for Higgins. Interestingly, Lerner was
unhappy with one particular line – “Why all at once, my heart took flight”;
he felt what he referred to as a “special loathing” for songs in which someone’s
heart took on anthropomorphic qualities. But he got over his reluctance: the
phrase remained, and this exhilarating, show-stopping number went on to
become arguably the most beloved song in
My Fair Lady
.
The absence of a typical love song doesn’t divorce the show from
romance completely; there is, after all, Freddy’s “On the Street Where You
Live” (even Shaw declared in his afterword that that once
Pygmalion
was
over, Freddy and Eliza married), and in fact, Eliza’s return to Higgins – not
Years before gaining world fame as television’s Sherlock Holmes,
Jeremy Brett played Freddy Eynsford-Hill in the film of
My Fair Lady.
BRANCO GAICA / OPERA AUSTRALIA
part of Shaw’s original play – constitutes the final moments of both the
film and the musical.
Despite the odd structure and lack of a conventional love story,
Lerner and Loewe were triumphantly successful in their adaptation.
My
Fair Lady
was absolutely Broadway’s hottest ticket of the 1950s. Without
a doubt, for as long as musicals are performed, Lerner and Loewe’s
masterpiece will continue its reign. It is, quite simply, perfection.
Jay Gummert is a recent graduate of Michigan State University, where he
majored in clarinet performance and music theory. He is currently working
in the publications area of the marketing and communications department
at Lyric.
Lisa O’Hare as Eliza
at North Shore Music
Theatre, 2011.
Taryn Fiebig (Eliza) and Richard E. Grant (Higgins) sing
“The Rain in Spain” in Opera Australia’s 2008 production.
PAUL LYDEN