Line #27 Trivia/MyFairLady


1	!!Theatre
2
3	* AccentDepundent:
4	** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in the song "Show Me", where one of the couplets ("Haven't your arms Hungered for mine?/Please don't explain, Show me!") only rhymes if Eliza briefly [[OohMeAccentsSlipping slips back into her Cockney accent]] (where "explain" is pronounced "expl'ine").
5	** Another curious example occurs in the song "The Street Where You Live", when Freddy sings the line, "People stop and stare, they don't bother me / For there's nowhere else on earth that I would rather be". The rhyme would completely fail in American English, where "rather" rhymes with "gather". Fortunately, Freddy is singing the Queen's English, in which "rather" rhymes with "father". The rhyme ''still'' fails in British English, because of the subtle distinction that Brits (and, indeed, most English speakers) make between the short "o" of "bother" and the long "a" of "father". However, most Americans make no such distinction (except for the traditional Boston accent): for them, "father" and "bother" are a perfect rhyming pair![[note]]This conflation, known as the "father-bother merger", is one of the distinguishing features of North American English.[[/note]] So the rhyme works -- but only if it's ''said'' by a Brit and ''heard'' by an American.
6	* CutSong:
7	** "Say A Prayer For Me Tonight" was written for this show, but cut and used later in ''Theatre/{{Gigi}}''.
8	** There's an extra verse sometimes re-added to "You Did It" expanding on Karpathy's raves about Eliza's certain Hungarian birth.
9	** During tryouts, Higgins tried to cheer Eliza up with a PepTalkSong called "Come to the Ball." Although the song was cut, a portion of it remains in the patter section of "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" - making it a DarkReprise of a song that isn't actually in the show.
10	** A ballet where the servants help Eliza prepare for the ball was also cut during tryouts to keep the show's running time down.
11	* LifeImitatesArt: When she was cast in the demanding role of Eliza, Creator/JulieAndrews was only twenty and had never acted in anything more complex than ''Theatre/TheBoyFriend''. During rehearsals, director Moss Hart dismissed the rest of the cast for two days and coached her, word by word, through the dialogue, telling her how to deliver every line and essentially acting as the real-life Higgins to her Eliza.
12	* RecursiveAdaptation: ''My Fair Lady'' is based as much on the 1938 film version of ''Pygmalion'' as the original stage version, making it a case of stage -> screen -> stage.
13	* RefrainFromAssuming: Henry's song with the repeated line "Why can't a woman be more like a man?" is actually called "A Hymn to Him".
14	* StarMakingRole: For Creator/JulieAndrews.
15	* WagTheDirector: The reason Higgins interrupts "Without You" before it can finish is that Rex Harrison felt Higgins would not stand silently and let Eliza sing to him without interruption; in one tryout performance he actually walked offstage during the number to prove his point. (The original ending of the number was restored for the cast recording.)
16	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The concept of a ''Theatre/{{Pygmalion}}'' musical was first proposed by producer Cheryl Crawford, as a vehicle for Mary Martin with songs by Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein. Even after Lerner and Lowe took on the project instead, Mary Martin was still the first choice for the role of Eliza, but she turned it down.
17	* WorkingTitle: ''Liza'', ''Lady Liza'', ''My Lady Liza'', ''Fanfaroon''[[note]] An old-fashioned term meaning "braggart," presumably referring to Higgins.[[/note]], and ''Come to the Ball''. The title didn't officially become ''My Fair Lady'' until the second week of rehearsals.
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19
20	!!Film
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22	* CaliforniaDoubling: Set in London, but filmed entirely at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios. This is very obviously a studio-bound film, as was common back in the days before UsefulNotes/NewHollywood.
23	* ChannelHop: The film was produced by Creator/WarnerBros, but their contract with Creator/{{CBS}}, who backed the Broadway show, stipulated that the rights would revert to them eight years later in 1972. CBS licensed the film to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox throughout the 1980's and 90's, and rights are currently held by Creator/{{Paramount}} due to their ownership of CBS.
24	* CreatorBacklash:
25	** Creator/AudreyHepburn felt miscast as Eliza Doolittle and felt that Creator/JulieAndrews should have got it.
26	** Jack Warner deeply regretted turning Creator/JulieAndrews down in favor of Creator/AudreyHepburn.
27	* DawsonCasting:
28	** Creator/AudreyHepburn was in her mid-thirties when she played the 21-year-old Eliza in the film adaptation. The life of an apparently quite poor flower girl in those days probably would have aged the character of Eliza beyond her years; in this case, DawsonCasting may have been justified. Furthermore, Audrey always looked younger than she actually was.
29	** The 30 year-old Creator/JeremyBrett was cast as 20-year-old Freddie so Hepburn would not seem too old in comparison.
30	* ExecutiveMeddling: Jack Warner (also personally producing the film this time) refused to let Creator/JulieAndrews reprise the role of Eliza that she'd originated on stage. Andrews got the last laugh as she instead did a little movie called ''Film/MaryPoppins'', winning an Oscar for which she even thanked Warner. That film made her a big enough star that the next year she was the one playing [[Film/TheSoundOfMusic a role originated by someone else onstage]]. Allegedly, the humiliation [[NeverLiveItDown haunted Warner for the rest of his life]].
31	* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: When the film was given an 8K restoration in 2015, the sharp digital scans of the original negative revealed details that were never visible on any print before, including Audrey Hepburn's teeth fillings and the adhesive for Rex Harrison's toupee. The restoration team digitally removed these things, feeling that the filmmakers would not have wanted the public to see them.
32	* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Audrey Hepburn's earliest film role was a brief part in ''Film/TheLavenderHillMob'', in which Alfred Doolittle's actor Creator/StanleyHolloway was one of the leads.
33	* NonSingingVoice:
34	** Marni Nixon did most of Audrey Hepburn's singing for the movie; this is at least partially responsible for the AwardSnub. And no, Marni Nixon's name appeared ''nowhere'' in the original credits. However, when video of Hepburn's [[https://youtu.be/NDzKq8CG_po?t=54 original]] [[https://youtu.be/MQ5zh1zb9e0?t=24 vocal]] [[https://youtu.be/RbebD653agE?t=10 performances]] was released in the 1990's, many fans found Nixon's overdubbing to be completely unnecessary.
35	** Also, Creator/JeremyBrett as Freddy was dubbed by Bill Shirley (AKA [[WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Roger]] (singing) and [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Prince Philip]]). Out of all of them, Brett was the one who ''could'' sing (look him up on Website/YouTube), but his singing voice was thought too mature for Freddy. Brett was apparently not informed that he would be dubbed until afterwards. And he was ''pissed''.
36	** Creator/RexHarrison had to avert this for ''himself''. He explained to the production that he never performed a song the same way twice, and therefore would be unable to provide realistic lip-synching for a song he performed earlier in a studio. To accommodate, he was fitted with a wireless microphone in his tie and his songs were recorded as he performed them. When you watch him in the film, that's actually him singing at that moment. (Though Rex Harrison couldn't actually sing either, but he developed a sort of recitative to compensate.)
37	* RecursiveAdaptation: ''My Fair Lady'' is based as much on the 1938 film version of ''Pygmalion'' as the original stage version, making the film a case of stage -> screen -> stage -> screen.
38	* UncreditedRole: Creator/GwendolynWatts as a cook.
39	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
40	** When Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox hired Creator/DonBluth to direct an animated movie for them, they said he could helm an AnimatedAdaptation of either ''My Fair Lady'' or ''{{Film/Anastasia}}''. [[WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}} Bluth picked the latter.]]
41	** Creator/CaryGrant refused the role of Henry Higgins, telling Jack Warner not only would he not be in the film, he wouldn't go and see it unless Creator/RexHarrison was cast. Creator/PeterOToole was also offered the role, but he wanted too much money. [[note]] He would later play Higgins in a non-musical TV movie of ''Theatre/{{Pygmalion}}'' in 1983, as well as in two stage productions of the play. [[/note]] Creator/RichardBurton, Creator/NoelCoward, Creator/TrevorHoward, Creator/RockHudson, Creator/LaurenceOlivier, Creator/MichaelRedgrave and Creator/GeorgeSanders were all considered for the role.
42	** Creator/JulieAndrews was originally supposed to reprise her stage role as Eliza Doolittle, but Creator/AudreyHepburn was the bigger name. Creator/ElizabethTaylor and Creator/ShirleyMacLaine also wanted the role.
43	** Creator/JamesCagney was originally offered the role of Alfred Doolittle. When he pulled out at the last minute, it went to the man who played it on Broadway, Creator/StanleyHolloway.
44	** The original choice to direct the film was Creator/VincenteMinnelli but when his salary demands were too high, the job went to Creator/GeorgeCukor.

Context Trivia / MyFairLady