Pygmalion
Broadway Comedy Previews
September 21 2007
Opened October 18 2007
Limited run to December 16 2007 Run
31 previews & 69 performances Producers
Roundabout Theatre
Company
Creative
George Bernard Shaw author
David Grindley director
Jonathan Fensom costume design
Jason Taylor lighting design
Jonathan Fensom scenic design
Gregory Clarke sound design
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Opening Night Cast |
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Claire Dane |
Eliza Doolittle |
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Jefferson Mays |
Henry Higgins |
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Boyd Gaines |
Colonel Pickering |
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Jay O Sanders |
Alfred Doolittle |
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Helen Carey |
Mrs Higgins |
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Brenda Wehle |
Mrs Pearce |
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Kerry Bishe |
Clara Eynsford Hill |
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Kieran Campion |
Freddy Eynsford Hill |
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Sandra Shipley |
Mrs Eynsford Hill |
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Jennifer Armour
Tony Carlin
Jonathan Fielding
Brad Heikes
Robin Moseley
Curtis Shumaker
Doug Stender |
Bystander |
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Karen Walsh |
Parlour Maid |
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Synopsis
Eliza to Mrs Eynsfor Hill:
Ow, eez ye-ooa san, is e? Wal, fewd dan y' de-ooty bawmz a mather
should, eed now bettern to spawl a pore gel's flahrzn than ran awy
atbaht pyin. Will ye-oo py me f'them?
That's George Bernard Shaw's attempt
at writing how Eliza's "kerbstone" English actually sounds. An
attempt he gives up after that one passage
Henry Higgins, professor of
phonetics, bragged to Colonel Pickering that "in three months I
could pass that girl off as a duchess at an ambassador's garden
party." Pickering offers a bet. Higgins accepts. He has only six
months to turn a "squashed cabbage leaf" into a lady
Broadway Show History
Shaw's Pygmalion had its
Broadway debut October 12, 1914 at the Park Theater (Columbus
Circle). The Liebler & Co engagement totaled 72 performances
A Theatre Guild production directed by Dudley Digges was staged at
the Guild Theater for 143 performances from November 1926 to March
1927. Lynn Fontanne and Reginald Mason starred
Maxine Elliott's Theater (39th Street) was home to a 4-performance
repertory engagement in January and February 1938. Norma Downey
played Eliza opposite Frank Daly as Henry Higgins
Gertrude Lawrence and Raymond Massey took to the boards of the
Ethel
Barrymore Theater in December 1945 in one of the best known
productions of the show. Directed by Cedric Hardwicke, it ran for
179 performances Another well known
production: Amanda Plummer opposite Peter O'Toole at the
Plymouth
Theater in April, 1987 In the Movies
The have been several adaptations for
the screen over the years, most notably Shaw's 1938 version that
starred Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard On Television
The BBC produced the first television
adaptation of the play, with Margaret Lockwood and Ralph Michael
playing the leads, back in 1948
Hallmark got into the act with a 1963 Hall of Fame production
starring Julie Harris as Eliza opposite James Donald's Higgins
Peter O'Toole and Margot Kidder starred in the 1983 Showtime
production My Fair Lady
It seems only fair to give the
musical adaptation that outshines its parentage its own section
My Fair Lady. The Alan Jay Lerner- Frederick Loewe tuner
opened at the Mark Hellinger Theater March 15, 1956. The Herman
Levin-produced shows was directed by Moss Hart and starred Julie
Andrews and Rex Harrison. The show received nine
1957 Tony® nominations
and came away with five wins: musical, actor for Mr Harrison,
production design for Oliver Smith, costume design for Cecil Beaton,
and conductor and musical director for Franz Allers. Lady
split its run among the Hellinger, Broadhurst and Broadway Theaters,
closing at the latter on September 29, 1962 after 2,717 performances
The 1964 film version popularized the Lerner-Loewe across the
country. With a Little Bit of Luck, The Rain in Spain, I Could
Have Danced All Night, On the Street Where You Live, I've Grown
Accustomed to Her Face, entered the standard lexicon. The George
Cukor directed film starred Audrey Hepburn, with Rex Harrison and
Stanley Holloway reprising Higgins and Alfred Doolittle from the
original stage production. The film won Oscars for art decoration,
cinematography, costume design, direction, music, picture, sound and
for Mr Harrison as best actor. It was also nominated for film
editing and screenplay, with Mr Holloway and Gladys Cooper picking
up nods for supporting actor and actress
And it looks like Columbia Pictures is planning to bring Lady
back, possibly in 2010, with a new Duncan Kenworth-Cameron
Mackintosh produced film starring Keira Knightly and a Higgins to be
named Tony Award®, Tony®, the Tony Award® logo, and
the Tony Award® medallion are registered trademarks of the American
Theatre Wing
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