My Fair Lady
Cockney elocution musical
My Fair Lady is a 1956 Broadway musical adapted from George Bernard Shaw's play *Pygmalion*, with songs by Lerner and Loewe.
The story follows a phonetics professor who bets he can transform a Cockney flower seller into a refined society lady through speech lessons.
The title plays on "Mayfair lady" as pronounced in Cockney dialect.
The phrase sometimes alludes to any transformation or makeover project: He thought he could turn her into his fair lady.
- 1964Mid-sixties year
- OscarAcademy's golden award
- Warner BrosMajor film studio
- cinematographyMotion picture visual craft
Rex Harrison · widescreen · technicolor · adaptation · Hollywood · cinema · period piece · costume drama
- flower girlYouth strewing petals at weddings
- duchessWoman of ducal rank
- makeoverComplete appearance overhaul
- elocutionFormal speaking skill
diction · phonetics · pronunciation · accent · speech training · refinement · polish · grooming
Manhattan theatrical district
- West EndLondon theatre district
- stageRaised performance platform
- productionMaking or generating something
- revivalReturn after decline
Julie Andrews · audition · rehearsal · costume · set design · lighting · curtain call · matinee
- Covent GardenCentral London cultural quarter
- EdwardianOf early twentieth-century Britain
- LondonEngland's capital city
- aristocracyRule by hereditary elite
society · gentleman · manners · propriety · upward mobility · snobbery · pretension · dustman
Numerical standing in competition
- overtureIntroductory orchestral piece
- showtunesSongs from musicals
- lyricsWritten words for music
- librettoOpera's written words
soprano · orchestra · conductor · ensemble · finale · act · intermission · duet
- adaptationFitting to new conditions
- source materialOriginal work adapted from
- playRecreation or staged drama
- satireMockery exposing vice
social commentary · wit · Irish · 1913
Audrey Hepburn
- 1964Mid-sixties year
- OscarAcademy's golden award
- Warner BrosMajor film studio
Rex Harrison · cinematography · widescreen · technicolor · adaptation · Hollywood · cinema · period piece · costume drama · Academy Award
Eliza Doolittle
- flower girlYouth strewing petals at weddings
- duchessWoman of ducal rank
- makeoverComplete appearance overhaul
elocution · diction · phonetics · pronunciation · accent · speech training · refinement · polish · grooming · deportment
Broadway
Manhattan theatrical district
- West EndLondon theatre district
- stageRaised performance platform
- productionMaking or generating something
Julie Andrews · revival · audition · rehearsal · costume · set design · lighting · curtain call · matinee · opening night
Henry Higgins
- Covent GardenCentral London cultural quarter
- EdwardianOf early twentieth-century Britain
- LondonEngland's capital city
aristocracy · society · gentleman · manners · propriety · upward mobility · snobbery · pretension · dustman · gutter
score
Numerical standing in competition
libretto · soprano · orchestra · conductor · ensemble · finale · act · intermission · duet
George Bernard Shaw
- adaptationFitting to new conditions
- source materialOriginal work adapted from
- playRecreation or staged drama
satire · social commentary · wit · Irish · 1913
- Class DramasPride and Prejudice, Downton Abbey, Great Expectations, Pygmalion, Emma
- Romantic PlaysRomeo and Juliet, Cyrano de Bergerac, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night
- Broadwaymusicals, musical, Tony Award, musical theatre, theaters
- 60s CinemaDr. Strangelove, The Graduate, Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, Lawrence of Arabia
- Classic FilmsCasablanca, Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, Some Like It Hot, Vertigo
- musicalsWicked, Les Miserables, Cats, Chicago, Grease
My Fair LadySweeney Todd
Homicidal London barber
Chicago · Cabaret · Les Misérables · West Side Story · The Threepenny Opera
My Fair LadyLeaving Las Vegas
Abandoning the Nevada strip
Sunset Boulevard · Breaking Bad · The Downward Spiral · Sweeney Todd · Macbeth
fair, lady, unfair, fairness, fairly, ladies, fairs, ladylike