• About
  • Jewish Community Directory
  • Subscription Information
  • Contact Us
American Jewish World
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • All
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Australia & New Zealand
    • Europe
    • Israel/Mideast
    • Latin America
    • Minnesota
    • US & Canada
    From Jerusalem with love and compassion

    From Jerusalem with love and compassion

    Jewish groups fight for abortion rights in Minnesota

    Jewish groups fight for abortion rights in Minnesota

    ‘Honoring Our Graduates’ in May 2022

    Once again: Honoring Our Graduates

  • Arts
    • All
    • Blue Box
    • Books & Literature
    • Music
    • Televison & Film
    • Theater & Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    Poems wanted

    Poems wanted

    Tamara Nadel marries Jewish and Hindu dance traditions

    Tamara Nadel marries Jewish and Hindu dance traditions

    Searching for a bridge to the past

    Searching for a bridge to the past

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health & Wellness
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel & Culture
    ‘Honoring Our Graduates’ in May 2022

    Once again: Honoring Our Graduates

    ‘Honoring Our Graduates’ in May 2022

    ‘Honoring Our Graduates’ in May 2022

    Hey, Kids: The 2021 AJW Hanuka Cover Contest is accepting entries!

    Hey, Kids: The 2021 AJW Hanuka Cover Contest is accepting entries!

  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • AJW Digital Archives
  • News
    • All
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Australia & New Zealand
    • Europe
    • Israel/Mideast
    • Latin America
    • Minnesota
    • US & Canada
    From Jerusalem with love and compassion

    From Jerusalem with love and compassion

    Jewish groups fight for abortion rights in Minnesota

    Jewish groups fight for abortion rights in Minnesota

    ‘Honoring Our Graduates’ in May 2022

    Once again: Honoring Our Graduates

  • Arts
    • All
    • Blue Box
    • Books & Literature
    • Music
    • Televison & Film
    • Theater & Performing Arts
    • Visual Arts
    Poems wanted

    Poems wanted

    Tamara Nadel marries Jewish and Hindu dance traditions

    Tamara Nadel marries Jewish and Hindu dance traditions

    Searching for a bridge to the past

    Searching for a bridge to the past

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health & Wellness
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel & Culture
    ‘Honoring Our Graduates’ in May 2022

    Once again: Honoring Our Graduates

    ‘Honoring Our Graduates’ in May 2022

    ‘Honoring Our Graduates’ in May 2022

    Hey, Kids: The 2021 AJW Hanuka Cover Contest is accepting entries!

    Hey, Kids: The 2021 AJW Hanuka Cover Contest is accepting entries!

  • Editorial
  • Opinion
  • AJW Digital Archives
No Result
View All Result
Morning News
No Result
View All Result
Home Arts

Guthrie Theater to stage 'My Fair Lady'

American Jewish World by American Jewish World
May 23, 2020
in Arts
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The iconic musical from the Broadway legends Lerner and Loewe will begin previews on June 28

By ERIN ELLIOTT BRYAN / Community News Editor
For the first time in its history, the Guthrie Theater will stage My Fair Lady, the enduring and enjoyable musical by the Jewish duo of lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. The show is based on Pygmalion by playwright George Bernard Shaw.
My Fair Lady will be presented July 4 through Aug. 31 on the Guthrie’s Wurtele Thrust Stage (previews begin June 28). The production features Helen Anker as Eliza Doolittle, Tony Sheldon as Colonel Pickering, Donald Corren as Alfred P. Doolittle — all in their Guthrie debuts — and Jeff McCarthy as Professor Henry Higgins.
Joe Dowling, the Guthrie’s artistic director, directs the show, which he says is “the perfect musical.”
“It’s musical genius,” Dowling told the AJW, during a telephone interview last week. “With My Fair Lady, [Lerner and Loewe] really hit the jackpot… in terms of how they created not only the synthesis of what Shaw had written, but also absolutely indelible characters: Alfred Doolittle, Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Higgins, of course, Pickering. These are all figures that have now become iconic in musical theater.”
This family-friendly production is the story of Eliza Doolittle, a lower-class Cockney flower girl who yearns to speak like a lady, and Professor Henry Higgins, a lover of language who embarks on a social experiment to teach her “proper” English and turn her into a high-society swan.

Helen Anker and Jeff McCarthy rehearse a scene for the Guthrie Theater’s production of My Fair Lady, which opens July 4. (Photo: Lauren Mueller)
Helen Anker and Jeff McCarthy rehearse a scene for the Guthrie Theater’s production of My Fair Lady, which opens July 4. (Photo: Lauren Mueller)

The show features some of the most unforgettable songs in musical theater history, including “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “The Rain in Spain” and “On the Street Where You Live.”
“Primarily, I think it’s the songs,” Dowling said of the show’s appeal. “When you say My Fair Lady, everybody starts to sing immediately because they know all the songs.”
In fact, when the Guthrie staged Pygmalion during the 2004-2005 season, it was well received, though Dowling thought the audiences wanted more.
“Because the play is a great deal more substantive than the musical, in terms of the text, when they would come to a certain point and there were lines like when she’s learning ‘the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain,’ audiences were almost expecting them to burst into song,” Dowling said. “So in some ways — and I think this is the interesting thing about what Lerner and Loewe did — the play Pygmalion has become redundant because of My Fair Lady.”
Like Pygmalion, which the Guthrie describes as a “delightful social satire,” the musical touches on issues such as income inequality, rising into the middle class, defining differences among people, and access to education and opportunity.
Dowling said it “feels like the right time” to stage the show, but stressed that it is a “wonderful family musical.”
My Fair Lady opened on Broadway in 1956, featuring Julie Andrews as Eliza and Rex Harrison as Professor Higgins. In 1957, the musical was nominated for nine Tony Awards and received six, including the award for Best Musical.
It ran until 1962, after 2,717 performances, which was a record at the time. The original London production opened in 1958, and ran for five and a half years. Numerous revivals have been staged.
Harrison reprised his role as Professor Higgins in the popular 1964 film adaption, for which Lerner wrote the screenplay. It was directed by George Cukor and featured Audrey Hepburn as Eliza (and Marni Nixon as Eliza’s singing voice).
In 1964, the film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won eight, including Best Picture. Lerner was nominated for an Oscar for his adapted screenplay, but didn’t win.
Despite its many incarnations, Dowling said that the life-affirming story still resonates with people all over the world. And he said the Guthrie production is rousing and fun, and will “lift the roof off the theater.”
He also noted that the show will be presented on the Wurtele Thrust Stage, which is a more intimate space.
“It has such a richness about it. Every day in rehearsal, we’re in awe of what [Lerner and Loewe] have achieved,” Dowling said. “You’re going to hear these great songs and see a really terrific cast produce this.”

***

READ ALSO

Poems wanted

Tamara Nadel marries Jewish and Hindu dance traditions

My Fair Lady will be staged July 4–Aug. 31 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage at the Guthrie Theater, 818 S. Second St., Minneapolis. Previews begin June 28.
For tickets and information, call 612-377-2224 or visit: www.guthrietheater.org.
(American Jewish World, 6.20.14)

Related Posts

Poems wanted
Books & Literature

Poems wanted

June 7, 2022
Tamara Nadel marries Jewish and Hindu dance traditions
Theater & Performing Arts

Tamara Nadel marries Jewish and Hindu dance traditions

May 10, 2022
Searching for a bridge to the past
Books & Literature

Searching for a bridge to the past

May 9, 2022
‘Sadie on a Plate’ spans romance, cooking
Books & Literature

‘Sadie on a Plate’ spans romance, cooking

April 24, 2022
Talented cast elevates ‘Two Jews Walk Into a War …’
Theater & Performing Arts

Talented cast elevates ‘Two Jews Walk Into a War …’

April 24, 2022
A musician’s musician
Music

A musician’s musician

March 16, 2022
Next Post

Aharon Appelfeld limns an unlikely love story

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECENT ARTICLES

From Jerusalem with love and compassion

From Jerusalem with love and compassion

June 21, 2022
Jewish groups fight for abortion rights in Minnesota

Jewish groups fight for abortion rights in Minnesota

June 21, 2022
Editorial: Elections and Trump’s big lie

Editorial: Elections and Trump’s big lie

June 24, 2022
Poems wanted

Poems wanted

June 7, 2022
‘Honoring Our Graduates’ in May 2022

Once again: Honoring Our Graduates

May 11, 2022

About

Since 1912 the AJW has served as an important news resource for the Jewish community. The Jewish World unites the main Jewish communities in St. Paul and Minneapolis, as well as those in Duluth, Rochester and smaller cities, and bridges the divides between the various Jewish religious streams.

Quick Links

  • About the AJW
  • Advertising Information
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Subscription Information
  • Jewish Community Directory

Contact Us

The American Jewish World
3249 Hennepin Ave., Suite 245
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Tel: 612.824.0030 / Fax: 612.823.0753
editor@ajwnews.com

  • Buy JNews
  • Landing Page
  • Documentation
  • Support Forum

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
  • News
  • Food
  • Health & Wellness
  • Lifestyle
  • Opinion

© 2022 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.