Loverly:The Life and Times of My Fair Lady (Broadway Legacies) by Dominic McHugh Page A
Authors: Dominic McHugh
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script from language that implies a relationship (“left me”) to something less specific (“gone”). From beginning to end, this subject was systematically deleted or obscured during the rehearsal period, so that whereas
RS
charts a conventional Broadway romance between a man and a woman,
PS
forged a bond that was scarcely less strong yet much more difficult to define. In theend, Lerner tantalizes us with the possibilities of an alliance between Eliza and Higgins, yet never quite delivers it.
STRUCTURE
The structural robustness of
My Fair Lady
is a major asset and it was clearly no accident. Its brilliance operates on several levels. First, the layout of the scenes takes us on a careful journey from one location to the next (see table 3.6 ). We meet the main protagonist, Eliza, at the very beginning of the first scene, and she is at Covent Garden market carrying a basket of flowers. The first moment of tension between her and Higgins occurs here, and it is no coincidence that the final clash between the two takes place in another sort of “artificial garden,” Mrs. Higgins’s conservatory. The market represents a space in which things come out into the open: Higgins’s and Eliza’s world-views emerge here, in “Why Can’t the English?” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” respectively, and Eliza’s return to the market in act 2, scene 3, is a moment of high emotion in which she realizes that she no longer belongs there. Higgins’s study is also pivotal to the unfolding of the story. It is a place of learning of all kinds: in a literal sense, Eliza’s lessons take place here, but this is also the place where we find out about Higgins’s attitude to women (act 1, scene 3), Doolittle’s background and lifestyle (act 1, scene 5), the relationship between Higgins and his household (act 1, scene 5), Higgins’s newfound respect for Eliza as they depart for the ball (act 1, scene 9), his overriding conceitedness and his new awareness of her true personality (act 2, scene I), and the final resolution of the story (act 1, scene 7). One might add to this list act 2, scene 4, which takes place in the “Upstairs hall of Higgins’s house” and is often staged on the same set as the study scenes. Here, Higgins learns that Eliza has bolted and realizes that she has gained complete independence from him.
Dualities are also used cleverly in the scenic structure of the piece. Act 1, scenes 6/7 (Ascot) and 10/11 (the Embassy Ball) are connected in being two pairs of scenes that take place in high society where Eliza is put to the test. In both cases the first of each pair takes place outside the main location and involves a discussion between Pickering and Mrs. Higgins about Eliza and the potential for disaster in the following scene. The second scene of each pair is the actual event—the first goes badly (Ascot), the second is a triumph (the ball). In this way Lerner cleverly replicates the format used in the Ascot scene to rebuild the tension for the Embassy Ball scene, thereby making us believe that Eliza could fail again (something that is intensified by the presence ofZoltan Karpathy, who threatens to reveal Eliza’s background). The two remaining locations also occur in pairs. The “Tenement section” at Tottenham Court Road in act 1, scenes 2 and 4, is the place where we meet Alfred Doolittle and where he sings both the original rendition and reprise of “With a Little Bit of Luck,” while the space outside Higgins’s house on Wimpole Street is the location for Freddy’s “On the Street Where You Live” (act 1, scene7) and its reprise (act 2, scene 2). In both instances, we return to both a location and a song that has been heard before but experience them in a completely new light. When Doolittle’s song about optimism is reprised, it comes after the news of Eliza’s departure to live with Higgins, which represents a possible source of money for Doolittle. Similarly, the reprise of “On the
RS
charts a conventional Broadway romance between a man and a woman,
PS
forged a bond that was scarcely less strong yet much more difficult to define. In theend, Lerner tantalizes us with the possibilities of an alliance between Eliza and Higgins, yet never quite delivers it.
STRUCTURE
The structural robustness of
My Fair Lady
is a major asset and it was clearly no accident. Its brilliance operates on several levels. First, the layout of the scenes takes us on a careful journey from one location to the next (see table 3.6 ). We meet the main protagonist, Eliza, at the very beginning of the first scene, and she is at Covent Garden market carrying a basket of flowers. The first moment of tension between her and Higgins occurs here, and it is no coincidence that the final clash between the two takes place in another sort of “artificial garden,” Mrs. Higgins’s conservatory. The market represents a space in which things come out into the open: Higgins’s and Eliza’s world-views emerge here, in “Why Can’t the English?” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” respectively, and Eliza’s return to the market in act 2, scene 3, is a moment of high emotion in which she realizes that she no longer belongs there. Higgins’s study is also pivotal to the unfolding of the story. It is a place of learning of all kinds: in a literal sense, Eliza’s lessons take place here, but this is also the place where we find out about Higgins’s attitude to women (act 1, scene 3), Doolittle’s background and lifestyle (act 1, scene 5), the relationship between Higgins and his household (act 1, scene 5), Higgins’s newfound respect for Eliza as they depart for the ball (act 1, scene 9), his overriding conceitedness and his new awareness of her true personality (act 2, scene I), and the final resolution of the story (act 1, scene 7). One might add to this list act 2, scene 4, which takes place in the “Upstairs hall of Higgins’s house” and is often staged on the same set as the study scenes. Here, Higgins learns that Eliza has bolted and realizes that she has gained complete independence from him.
Dualities are also used cleverly in the scenic structure of the piece. Act 1, scenes 6/7 (Ascot) and 10/11 (the Embassy Ball) are connected in being two pairs of scenes that take place in high society where Eliza is put to the test. In both cases the first of each pair takes place outside the main location and involves a discussion between Pickering and Mrs. Higgins about Eliza and the potential for disaster in the following scene. The second scene of each pair is the actual event—the first goes badly (Ascot), the second is a triumph (the ball). In this way Lerner cleverly replicates the format used in the Ascot scene to rebuild the tension for the Embassy Ball scene, thereby making us believe that Eliza could fail again (something that is intensified by the presence ofZoltan Karpathy, who threatens to reveal Eliza’s background). The two remaining locations also occur in pairs. The “Tenement section” at Tottenham Court Road in act 1, scenes 2 and 4, is the place where we meet Alfred Doolittle and where he sings both the original rendition and reprise of “With a Little Bit of Luck,” while the space outside Higgins’s house on Wimpole Street is the location for Freddy’s “On the Street Where You Live” (act 1, scene7) and its reprise (act 2, scene 2). In both instances, we return to both a location and a song that has been heard before but experience them in a completely new light. When Doolittle’s song about optimism is reprised, it comes after the news of Eliza’s departure to live with Higgins, which represents a possible source of money for Doolittle. Similarly, the reprise of “On the
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