OSP will perform ‘My Fair Lady’
One of America’s iconic musicals, “My Fair Lady,” will open Friday for a two-weekend run by the Old Schoolhouse Players in the Bud Allison Auditorium at the Mt. Pleasant Township Community Center.
The Alan Lerner and Fredrick Loewe musical, based on George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalian,” opened on Broadway in 1956. It was an instant success, starring Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews in only her second Broadway role.
The musical ran for more than 2,500 performances, setting the record for the longest-running play in Broadway history.
The story follows Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she can pass as a lady.
Director James Meyers said “My Fair Lady” is known as the “game-changer” for how musicals were constructed.
“All of the songs and dances are crafted into the storyline in such a manner that they progress the story to a delightful conclusion,” Meyers said. “Some people consider it to be the perfect musical, and it isn’t hard to see why.”
Meyers said in some cases before “My Fair Lady,” the songs interrupted the plot rather than moved it forward.
Meyers said what makes the musical such a favorite with audiences is the memorable songs – songs that have audiences humming when they exit the theater.
Those songs include: “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “The Rain in Spain,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?”
“You go home humming them,” Meyers said. “Several of the songs have had lives outside of the production, like “I Could Have Danced All Night,” which has been recorded by several vocal artists over the years.”
The OSP production will run July 14-16 and 21-23. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. Tickets are $17 for adults, $14 for senior citizens and students and $8 for children 12 and younger. For reservations, call 724-344-7467 or email tickets@osptheater.com.