Okay, so I saw this production of MFL yesterday (at the Opernhaus in Hanover) and I liked it, it was not A-MA-ZING, but very good.

So the show was coming towards its end and Higgins started singing "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" and I was a little irritated... as Jazzy said:



The actor sang the song as if that was the title. He threw Liza's bed across the room, and at the end, he started crying. I was like, "Wow. That's just not right. "
But oh well, to each their own, if that was the director's interpretation...

And then the final scene began... I was really excited to hear the slippers line, I'd never seen the show live before Eliza walked in (in her old street clothes, I mean, wtf? Didn't Mrs Pearce burn them?), turned off the voice machine and said her face-and-hands line. Higgins couldn't see her turning the machine off because he was too busy burying his face in his hands, crying... I was like, "Seriously?"

And there's more... Higgins says his slippers line (his slippers are stage left, by the way), and I'm waiting for the blackout, and Eliza TAKES OUT HER RIFLE AND SHOOTS HIM TWICE. (Mrs Higgins had been shooting birds or whatever in her garden, I guess she gave the gun to Eliza.) Higgings collapses downstage left. I was like
Then he gets up, crawls to his slippers, picks them up, stands up and begins walking up the stairs (they were in the basement). Midway up, he pauses, turns back, comes down the stairs, Eliza walks toward him, they embrace each other and share a long, passionate kiss.

What the %/§#*! ?

I mean, anyone who hadn't seen the show before would think "Oh, there's this bitter old man who is disappointed by women and won't let anyone touch his feelings, then he meets this poor flower girl, and she shows him that (romantic!) love is not that bad, and shows him (with a gun) how to treat women properly, and VOILÀ, they are in love. Aww."

Maybe I misunderstood something (but I don't think so), but isn't this utterly WRONG? Are they even allowed to make these kinds of changes?

Any thoughts on that?

I assume what they did is legal, since it didn't change any words or music, only the staging... and it is valid to present the musical as a romantic love story, even though that wasn't Shaw's intent...

... but still, this production sounds kind of insane.

dear director... this is my fair lady not sweeney todd!

However, as long as there weren't any extra lines of dialogue or whatever, i reckon it was legal.

Maybe they were going for a more symbolic interpretation.... Freudian perhaps

i think our Eliza at the end was in her old rags. However, considering how common a person she was, she'd probab;y be able to get the same clothes readily available (if it was real lol)

Oh my! She shot him? How did he then walk up the stairs afterwards? And why would they kiss at the end?

God that's weird! If we ignore the shooting, I have allways thought that they had some feeling for each other, but not necessarily romantic.. and.. WHY DID SHE SHOOT HIM WITH A RIFFLE?! That does not make any sense at all- feels more like a bad parody to me

It IS kind of insane



I know... I guess it was supposed to be a kind of "Oh my God, we've had this huge fight, and you seemed to miss me, and now you still ask me to bring you your f*cking slippers aka treat me like dirt? I'll show you how to treat a woman," etc. And then she shoots him... I didn't really get how he could walk around when he was shot... but I guess she just hit him in the shoulder or whatever... but still... what the F***?

Other changes I didn't like:
- Mrs Pearce (dubbed Miss Pearce in this poduction) has a crush on Pickering
- Pickering's homosexuality is an open secret which is often referenced in the show
- Eliza sucked at having a distinct Cockney accent in the first part of the show and then an upper-class one in the second part... her accent in the first scene was good, but after that, nobody really believed her that she couldn't say a proper A (ü, in the German version). She kind of spoke with an upper-class accent when she was with upper-class people, and with her old one (a weaker version of it) when she was with Higgins in Act 2

I feel that Higgins had a small affection for Eliza but Eliza never felt any affection ... but seriously, what the heck?

no..they both had an affection for each other... they just were not in love with each other. its not a love story.


this whole production should be tarred and feathered. ugh.

That always seemed odd to me. Higgins acts as both a father figure and a romantic interest towards Eliza.

This is an old thread, but I remember cracking up when I first read about Higgins getting shot. Baha.

Also, isn't that more odd/creepy that he would be both a father figure and a romantic interest....? I'd much rather he just be a teacher figure for her and there be no ambiguous creepy semi-incestuous relationship, yeah?

Dear "My Fair Lady" Fans,

That's not what I'D ever call "semi-incestuous", le_moofin. That's what I'D call a sweet deal with a hot older man, especially if he was played by Sexy Rexy! Delish, I'm shurr! I'm referring to the original play, of course, and to the movie, and NOT to the "New Age Feminist" rendition of the play.

Thanks in advance for your replies.