My Fair Lady plays Denver’s Buell Theatre Nov 15-27, 2022. Test your knowledge about this iconic production of the stage and screen.

Photo by Joan Marcus

1. My Fair Lady was a stage musical before it became a famous feature film.

• • True
  • False

2. What actor played Henry Higgins in the original stage production AND the film?

• • Richard Burton
  • Rex Harrison
  • Clark Gable

3. What actress created the role of Eliza Doolittle in the original stage production, but was not considered a “big” enough name — at the time — to star in the subsequent movie?

• • Shirley Jones
  • Mary Martin
  • Julie Andrews

4. What playwright wrote the play Pygmalion, that My Fair Lady is based upon?

• • Oscar Wilde
  • George Bernard Shaw
  • Charles Dickens

_____

Photo by Joan Marcus

ANSWERS

• • My Fair Lady was first produced on Broadway in 1956 and won six Tony Awards including Best Musical. When it closed in 1962 after 2,717 performances, the original production set the record for the longest running Broadway show at that time. It was made into a film in 1964 and won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
  • Rex Harrison. He originated the role on Broadway and won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He recreated his role for the 1964 film and won the Oscar for Best Actor.
  • Julie Andrews. The role was originally offered to Mary Martin, who turned it down. The musical’s producers then offered it to Julie Andrews, who had just made her US stage debut on Broadway in The Boy Friend. While portraying Eliza on Broadway in My Fair Lady is considered Julie Andrews’ break-out role, Hollywood did not consider her a big enough name to star in the movie. Audrey Hepburn was cast in the role, with her singing vocals dubbed by Marni Nixon.
  • George Bernard Shaw. Considered his most famous play, Pygmalion was first presented on stage in 1913 (My Fair Lady is set in London in 1913) and is still performed in theatres to this day!

DETAILS
My Fair Lady
Nov 15-27 • Buell Theatre
TICKETS