 | |
List Price: $11.98 | | Label: Sony
Salesrank: 61931
Released: October 25, 1990 |
| Our Price: $5.24 |
| Used Price: $2.95 |
|
| Media: Audio CD |
|
My Fair Lady (1956 Original Broadway Cast) Track Listing:
1. Overture: Orchestra/Why Can't the English? - Julie Andrews, Robert Coote, Rex Harrison
2. Wouldn't It Be Loverly? - Julie Andrews, Glenn Kezer, James Morris, Reid Shelton, Herb Surface
3. With a Little Bit of Luck - Gordon Dilworth, Stanley Holloway, Rod McLennan
4. I'm an Ordinary Man - Rex Harrison
5. Just You Wait - Julie Andrews
6. Rain in Spain - Julie Andrews, Robert Coote, Rex Harrison
7. I Could Have Danced All Night - Julie Andrews, Philippa Bevans
8. Ascot Gavotte - Julie Andrews
9. On the Street Where You Live - John Michael King
10. You Did It - Philippa Bevans, Robert Coote, Rex Harrison
11. Show Me - Rex Harrison, John Michael King
12. Get Me to the Church on Time - Gordon Dilworth, Stanley Holloway, Rod McLennan
13. Hymn to Him - Rex Harrison
14. Without You - Julie Andrews
15. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face - Rex Harrison
Editorial Review:
This recording was produced more than 40 years ago, only in mono, but from the day it was released it was a deserved phenomenon. It out-grossed the mega-hit show for months, and it still holds the record for the most weeks as a Billboard Top 40 album: 292. The reasons are many. Start with the 20-year-old Julie Andrews in peak voice, singing no fewer than eight sensational Lerner and Loewe songs, soaring most memorably to high C in "I Could Have Danced All Night." Rex Harrison perfected the art of talk-singing in a clutch of equally captivating numbers written especially for his voice, of which the most indelibly delivered is "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face." And Stanley Holloway brought the best English music-hall style to an eager American audience with "A Little Bit of Luck" and "Get Me to the Church on Time." There were no scene-changers in Frederick Loewe's best score, and Alan Jay Lerner managed to fashion his libretto and lyrics so close to the language of George Bernard Shaw (on whose play Pygmalion the musical was based) that experts couldn't tell where Shaw left off and Lerner took over. Every song created character and advanced the plot. My Fair Lady was a show you "got"--and still get--on first listening--without having seen it. The London cast album (with the same leads) can give you stereo; the movie version, a fuller orchestra, Harrison and Holloway in full sail, and Marni Nixon dubbing Audrey Hepburn. But the Broadway cast album is still the one to have, and the one absolute must in any musical collector's CD library. --Robert Windeler
My Fair Lady (1956 Original Broadway Cast) Reviews:
My Fair Lady (1956) DVD 
2009-10-07 - Very satisfied. DVD arrived very timely and in excellent condition. Would purchase from this seller again.
Call me old fashioned, but...
2009-10-04 - Everytime I see the film "My Fair Lady" I think of the film that might have been. I'm sorry, fans of Audrey Hepburn, but that role was Julie Andrews'. She made it work on Broadway. She made it work in London, and if Jack Warner had any sense at all, he would have hired her for the film. He didn't. Mores the pity. When you listen to this soundtrack, one can only visualize how the film would have swept the Oscars that year. Instead, it tore the Hollywood community apart. Many Academy members knew of the rift and had seen Andrews in her famous role. Poor Audrey was caught in the middle. Years later, Andrews sounded gracious over her chance to perform for Disney instead (for which she received the Best Actress of the Year Oscar). However, we all know that listening to Marnie Nixon sing "Wouldn't it be loverly" is the not the same as Julie's incredible voice. Just as Warner ruined "Camelot" the same way, "My Fair Lady" will always be a Julie Andrews vehicle. Her clear perfect tones, wonderful girlish charm, and graceful style of acting outshined her roles in "Mary Poppins" "The Sound of Music" and "Victor, Victoria." Sadly, "My Fair Lady" and "Camelot" are not part of her great visual lexicon. Buy the Broadway soundtrack, close your eyes, and try to picture a young ingénue Julie Andrews in the role that made her a star.
My Fair Lady Never Lost Its Charm
2009-03-29 - After 53 years, My Fair Lady, Starring Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews, featuring the incomparable Stanley Holloway, never lost its charm. George Bernard Shaw's classic tale, Pygmalion, comes to life under the genius direction of Moss Hart. Rex Harrison oozes charm from every pore, in his masterful portrayal of Henry Higgins. And, by George, Julie Andrews really got it as she sings like an angel in her rendition of Eliza Doolittle.
Even Al Hirschfeld, famous theatrical satirical caricaturist of the New York Times, outdid himself in his graphic representation of the master play-right, George Bernard Show, manipulating the master linguist, Professor Higgins, who in turn attempts to manipulate the fate of a poor Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, in wagering a bet with the gracious colonel Pickering. Indeed, one of Broadway's dearest shows.
When I hear Julie Andrews' wonderful voice next to the immortal talking songs of Rex Harrison I cannot imagine a more perfect duo. It's like Ginger Rogers--Fred Astaire dancing through their vocal chords. Add to that, Alan Jay Lerner's incredible lyrics and Frederick Loewe's delicious score, and you have theatrical magic! No theatre lover's collection is complete without this disc.
One of the first long play records we purchased after our marriage.
2009-03-02 - We were delighted with this musical over 50 years ago -- with all the "pops" and distortions of the olf vinyl records. How sweet it is to hear this remastered version. Love it!
Break On Through
2008-03-21 - In a watershed moment for Columbia Records, this original Broadway cast recording began the rapid climb of the company into the stratosphere of pop culture consciousness.
Produced by company president Goddard Lieberson, it sold five million copies and spent a staggering 480 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart. To place the album in an accurate historical perspective, it was the Thriller of its generation.
It is timeless music - due to the rich arrangements & performances - with the numbers encapsulating the musical for those who only have the album as the point of reference.
There are few albums that truly define the American music industry. This is certainly one which has space on that lofty mantel.
