MY FAIR LADY (1956) -- Plot Synopsis (Musical numbers in Bold Italics)
(Overture). The play opens on rainy night outside the Covent Garden Opera House. Across the street under the columns of St Paul's Church, Prof. Henry Higgins, a phonetics expert, is taking down notes of people's speech as they emerge from the opera. He meets Colonel Hugh Pickering who is also a linguistics expert on leave from his post in India. Admitting their mutual admiration, Higgins invites Pickering to stay at his home. But before they can leave Higgins is irritated by the cockney accent of the flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and the variety of other almost unintelligible English speakers on the scene (Why Can't the English). He gets into an argument with Eliza who thinks he is spying on her. However, she is intrigued when Higgins off-handedly tells Pickering that he could pass Eliza off as a lady by merely changing her speech. After Higgins and Pickering leave, Eliza laments her sad state with the overnight garden workers and longs for a situation where she can enjoy simple body comforts (Wouldn't It be Loverly). Her father, Alfred P. Doolittle, "a common dustman", arrives on the scene broke after a night of bar-hopping with his deadbeat cronies and asks Eliza for some pocket money from her earnings that evening. He expresses his personal philosophy of getting by in life without putting up much personal effort (With a Little Bit of Luck). The next day, Eliza unexpectedly arrives at Higgins' house demanding that he take her money and teach her to speak properly so that she can one day better herself by opening a flower shop. At first he threatens to throw her out, but he relents when he decides to make a bet with Pickering that he can teach her to speak so well that she will be accepted at a court ball. She will have to stay for some time at his house and avoid going home while this transformation is perfected. When Doolittle gets word of this situation, he arrives with the expectation that Higgins will give him some money for raising a daughter who has now "gained the attention" of men like Higgins and Pickering. The Colonel is outraged but Higgins is amused by Doolittle and sends him on his way with a bit of money. Both Higgins (I'm an Ordinary Man) and Eliza (Just You Wait) become frustrated with each other as Higgins dogged and high-handed attempts to improve her speech seem to be failing. But late one night as Higgins and Pickering are laying about exhausted from the training, Eliza slowly gets it right. The three of them partake in a joyous dance of celebration (The Rain in Spain). Afterward, Eliza tells the head housekeeper, Mrs. Pierce, how much she enjoyed the experience (I Could Have Danced All Night). Higgins decides that the first public test of Eliza's new proper speech will be at the annual opening of the posh Ascot Race Track (Ascot Gavotte). The day is not a complete success as Eliza occasionally slips back into her cockney speech at inopportune times, but she does attract the adoring attention of the well-mannered and eligible, if less-than-bright, upperclass young bachelor Freddie Eynsford-Hill. He is soon delivering flowers by hand to her door and waiting outside hoping to catch a glimpse of her (). Higgins decides that the big test for Eliza is to be the annual Embassy Ball (Embassy Waltz). The night proves to be a great success, and back at the house Higgins and Pickering celebrate by recounting the events of the evening (You Did It) and congratulating themselves while ignoring Eliza who can hardly contain her anger at their selfish abandonment. When she and Higgins are left alone and he asks her where his slippers are, she angrily throws them at him. She leaves the house and runs into Freddy who tries to express his love in high-flown words but she interrupts, suspecting that he, like Higgins, is all talk (Show Me). She asks Freddy to take her back to her old neighborhood of Covent Garden. At first she is hardly recognized with her corrected English and nice clothes when she arrives there. Doolittle appears on the scene near the end of a night of drinking and carousing for the last time. He has been "shoved into the middle class" he says because Higgins has written to a wealthy American philanthropist who has awarded Doolittle a large sum of money as "the most original thinker in England." Doolittle says he hasn't the nerve to refuse the money and will marry Eliza's stepmother in the morning because she is demanding respectability, too (Get Me to the Church on Time). Higgins awakens to find Eliza gone and he and Pickering start a frantic search to see where she might be. Higgins berates her in absentia as being an emotional and irrational woman (A Hymn to Him). Higgins finally finds Eliza at his mother's house where she has gone to receive a little understanding and sympathy. Eliza refuses Higgins offer of a truce if she will "just stop behaving like a fool." She proclaims that life will go on quite nicely without him whether he realizes it or not (Without You). As he slowly walks home alone after refusing to admit he was wrong, Higgins begins to realize how much he has lost (I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face). When he returns home he turns on his voice recorders and hears his early disparaging remarks about Eliza and obviously senses how inconsiderate, cruel, and stupid he was. Then he realizes that Eliza is standing at the door. He sits down in his easy chair and shouts for his slippers. Eliza stands with a bemused smile on her face as the final curtain falls.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Plot & Song Synopsis BRIGADOON & PAINT YOUR WAGON
BRIGADOON (1947) -- Plot Synopsis (Songs in Bold Italics)
(Overture) As the curtain rises, offstage voices are heard introducing the play's plot (Once in the Highlands). Two American tourists -- Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas -- lost in a forest in Scotland briefly argue when Jeff speaks about the value of accepting only what your rational mind and senses tell you and Tommy argues there is possibly something deeper to expericnce in life than just the realistic surface. Tommy also confides that he feels there is "something wrong" or missing in his feelings for his fiancee back in New York. Tommy and Jeff hear distant voices singing (Brigadoon), then see a village come into view through the haze although it is strangely not on their maps. Entering it, they come to a square where a colorful local fair is taking place (Vendors' Calls; Down on MacConnachy Square). Andrew MacLaren has come there with his two daughters, Fiona and Jean. The latter is soon to be married to Charlie Dalrymple, much to the displeasure of Harry Beaton, who is also in love with her. Meg Brockie, a bold young woman, expresses surprise that Fiona is not jealous of her sister's betrothal. Fiona explains that she is waiting for a true love (Waitin' for My Dearie). When strangers Jeff and Tommy come upon the square, the villagers are stunned, but warily accept the strangers in their midst. The attention now goes to bridegroom Charlie who reveals that he is giving up his roving eye and looking forward to his new life with his betrothed (I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean). Tommy is attracted to Fiona, who at first declines when Tommy asks if he can join her to go gather heather for her sister's wedding, but relents after his further persuasion (The Heather on the Hill). In the next scene, amorous Meg makes advances to Jeff and tells him of her many failed attempts to catch a man and keep him (The Love of My Life). Later, in the MacLaren home, the village girls help Jean pack her things in preparation for her imminent wedding (Jeannie's Packin' Up). Bridegroom Charlie comes to inscribe his name in the MacLaren family bible and is told he cannot see his bride until it is time for the wedding (Come to Me, Bend to Me). Fiona and Tommy return from their heather-gathering expedition, late and happy. Fiona goes into the next room with Jean and Tommy confides to Jeff his joy at being with Fiona that day and she returns to join him in these thoughts (Almost Like Being in Love). Glancing through the McLaren family bible, Tommy and Jeff are startled to read that Fiona and Jean were apparently born 200 years before in the eighteenth century. Fiona refuses to enlighten them about this strange circumstance but introduces them to the town schoolmaster, Mr. Lundie. He tells them that Brigadoon was saved from the possible destruction of a witch's curse by the miracle of only coming to life one day every 100 years. However, if any of the townspeople left, the whole village would disappear forever, although Lundie reassures Jeff that any strangers who happened on the town could leave without any negative effects on the town. Upon Tommy's questioning, Lundie also confides that if a stranger did decide to stay because of his love for one of the villagers that person could become a citizen of the town but also could never leave without destroying the town. With the burden of these disclosures on their minds, Tommy and Jeff attend the festive wedding ceremony of Jean and Charlie. Suddenly Jean's other suitor, Harry Beaton, arrives. After making an unsuccessful pass at Jean, Beaton runs away vowing to leave Brigadoon which will, of course, destroy the town forever. All the men, including Tommy and Jeff, chase after him, but they eventually find him dead -- fallen on a hard rock (The Chase). When Tommy returns after the chase, he confesses his love to Fiona and says he wants to stay in Brigadoon with her (There But For You Go I). In the next scene, there is comic relief as Meg confides that there were other weddings that were "far more daft than this" (My Mother's Wedding Day). As night approaches, Jeff convinces Tommy that it is impossible for Tommy to live in a dream, that reality dictates Tommy must return home to New York and marry his fiancée. Tommy sadly accepts the seeming rational truth of Jeff's words. He bids Fiona a tender farewell (From This Day On) and leaves Brigadoon with Jeff. Some months later in a New York bar, Tommy's finacee rebukes him for having failed to "come to me" and letting her know that he was in town. The words "come to me" strike a responsive chord with Tommy. In a mist he sees Fiona before him in Brigadoon and there is a mystic reprise of many of the previous songs from his time in Brigadoon. This vision convinces him that he must break with his financee and return to Scotland no matter how vain such a trip might be. With Jeff once again as his companion, Tommy is back in the forest outside Brigadoon. Suddenly Tommy and Jeff hear voices in the distance (Brigadoon reprise) and see Mr. Lundie approaching them. He takes Tommy by the hand to lead him back to Brigadoon. "You see," explains Mr. Lundie, "love can do anything -- even miracles." Waving farewell to Jeff who stands in astonishment, Tommy follows Mr. Lundie into the Highland mists as the music swells and the play ends.
PAINT YOUR WAGON (1951) -- Plot Synopsis (Songs in Bold Italics)
The play, set in 1853 during the northern California gold rush, begins with Jennifer, Ben Rumson's uneducated sixteen-year-old daughter, discovering gold while running her hands through the dirt during a funeral. News travels fast and prospectors of many backgrounds and nationalities rush to Rumson Creek to make their fortune (I'm on My Way). Jennifer is the only female among 400 men, and in her youthful naivity does not understand why her untouchable presence frustrates so many miners (Rumson and What's Goin' on Here?). Eventually she strikes up a close relationship with a handsome young miner named Julio Valveras, who is forced to live out of town because he is Mexican (I Talk to the Trees). The lack of female companionship coupled with the cold harshness and loneliness of the geography is expressed by one of the miners (They Call the Wind Maria). Jennifer asks her father to tell her more about her deceased mother and Ben movingly complies (I Still See Elisa), but berates Jennifer when he sees her doing Julo's laundry and dancing with Julio's shirts (How Can I Wait?). Ben wants Jennifer to leave on the next Eastbound coach to be educated. But before this can happen, Jacob, a middle aged Mormon, arrives at Rumson and is told that he must auction off one of his two wives. Elizabeth is sold to Ben who tries to woo her (In Between). Ben is feted by the other miners on his wedding day (Whoop-Ti-Yay). Jennifer packs her bags and runs to Julio's cabin in the mountains, but Julio convinces her that she should indeed go East to school and give him time to make his fortune for them (Carino Mio). To the delight of the other miners, a minor named Jake sends for his girl friend (Cherry) and her fandango dancers and all celebrate (There's a Coach Comin' In and Hand Me Down That Can o' Beans). However, the gold begins to run out and everyone slowly begins to leave, including depressed Julio (Another Autumn). Elizabeth leaves Ben by running off with another man. Now educated and "civilized" Jennifer returns intending to marry Julio (All for Him) only to find that he has left looking for a strike somewhere else. Ben ruminates over his own earlier nomadic life (Wanderin' Star) but decides he cannot leave Rumson, the town he founded and is named after him. The play ends when Julio returns unexpectedly and, as he and Jennifer move toward each other on the stage, the whole expanse of California is revealed in backdrop with wagons and people on the move.
(Overture) As the curtain rises, offstage voices are heard introducing the play's plot (Once in the Highlands). Two American tourists -- Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas -- lost in a forest in Scotland briefly argue when Jeff speaks about the value of accepting only what your rational mind and senses tell you and Tommy argues there is possibly something deeper to expericnce in life than just the realistic surface. Tommy also confides that he feels there is "something wrong" or missing in his feelings for his fiancee back in New York. Tommy and Jeff hear distant voices singing (Brigadoon), then see a village come into view through the haze although it is strangely not on their maps. Entering it, they come to a square where a colorful local fair is taking place (Vendors' Calls; Down on MacConnachy Square). Andrew MacLaren has come there with his two daughters, Fiona and Jean. The latter is soon to be married to Charlie Dalrymple, much to the displeasure of Harry Beaton, who is also in love with her. Meg Brockie, a bold young woman, expresses surprise that Fiona is not jealous of her sister's betrothal. Fiona explains that she is waiting for a true love (Waitin' for My Dearie). When strangers Jeff and Tommy come upon the square, the villagers are stunned, but warily accept the strangers in their midst. The attention now goes to bridegroom Charlie who reveals that he is giving up his roving eye and looking forward to his new life with his betrothed (I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean). Tommy is attracted to Fiona, who at first declines when Tommy asks if he can join her to go gather heather for her sister's wedding, but relents after his further persuasion (The Heather on the Hill). In the next scene, amorous Meg makes advances to Jeff and tells him of her many failed attempts to catch a man and keep him (The Love of My Life). Later, in the MacLaren home, the village girls help Jean pack her things in preparation for her imminent wedding (Jeannie's Packin' Up). Bridegroom Charlie comes to inscribe his name in the MacLaren family bible and is told he cannot see his bride until it is time for the wedding (Come to Me, Bend to Me). Fiona and Tommy return from their heather-gathering expedition, late and happy. Fiona goes into the next room with Jean and Tommy confides to Jeff his joy at being with Fiona that day and she returns to join him in these thoughts (Almost Like Being in Love). Glancing through the McLaren family bible, Tommy and Jeff are startled to read that Fiona and Jean were apparently born 200 years before in the eighteenth century. Fiona refuses to enlighten them about this strange circumstance but introduces them to the town schoolmaster, Mr. Lundie. He tells them that Brigadoon was saved from the possible destruction of a witch's curse by the miracle of only coming to life one day every 100 years. However, if any of the townspeople left, the whole village would disappear forever, although Lundie reassures Jeff that any strangers who happened on the town could leave without any negative effects on the town. Upon Tommy's questioning, Lundie also confides that if a stranger did decide to stay because of his love for one of the villagers that person could become a citizen of the town but also could never leave without destroying the town. With the burden of these disclosures on their minds, Tommy and Jeff attend the festive wedding ceremony of Jean and Charlie. Suddenly Jean's other suitor, Harry Beaton, arrives. After making an unsuccessful pass at Jean, Beaton runs away vowing to leave Brigadoon which will, of course, destroy the town forever. All the men, including Tommy and Jeff, chase after him, but they eventually find him dead -- fallen on a hard rock (The Chase). When Tommy returns after the chase, he confesses his love to Fiona and says he wants to stay in Brigadoon with her (There But For You Go I). In the next scene, there is comic relief as Meg confides that there were other weddings that were "far more daft than this" (My Mother's Wedding Day). As night approaches, Jeff convinces Tommy that it is impossible for Tommy to live in a dream, that reality dictates Tommy must return home to New York and marry his fiancée. Tommy sadly accepts the seeming rational truth of Jeff's words. He bids Fiona a tender farewell (From This Day On) and leaves Brigadoon with Jeff. Some months later in a New York bar, Tommy's finacee rebukes him for having failed to "come to me" and letting her know that he was in town. The words "come to me" strike a responsive chord with Tommy. In a mist he sees Fiona before him in Brigadoon and there is a mystic reprise of many of the previous songs from his time in Brigadoon. This vision convinces him that he must break with his financee and return to Scotland no matter how vain such a trip might be. With Jeff once again as his companion, Tommy is back in the forest outside Brigadoon. Suddenly Tommy and Jeff hear voices in the distance (Brigadoon reprise) and see Mr. Lundie approaching them. He takes Tommy by the hand to lead him back to Brigadoon. "You see," explains Mr. Lundie, "love can do anything -- even miracles." Waving farewell to Jeff who stands in astonishment, Tommy follows Mr. Lundie into the Highland mists as the music swells and the play ends.
PAINT YOUR WAGON (1951) -- Plot Synopsis (Songs in Bold Italics)
The play, set in 1853 during the northern California gold rush, begins with Jennifer, Ben Rumson's uneducated sixteen-year-old daughter, discovering gold while running her hands through the dirt during a funeral. News travels fast and prospectors of many backgrounds and nationalities rush to Rumson Creek to make their fortune (I'm on My Way). Jennifer is the only female among 400 men, and in her youthful naivity does not understand why her untouchable presence frustrates so many miners (Rumson and What's Goin' on Here?). Eventually she strikes up a close relationship with a handsome young miner named Julio Valveras, who is forced to live out of town because he is Mexican (I Talk to the Trees). The lack of female companionship coupled with the cold harshness and loneliness of the geography is expressed by one of the miners (They Call the Wind Maria). Jennifer asks her father to tell her more about her deceased mother and Ben movingly complies (I Still See Elisa), but berates Jennifer when he sees her doing Julo's laundry and dancing with Julio's shirts (How Can I Wait?). Ben wants Jennifer to leave on the next Eastbound coach to be educated. But before this can happen, Jacob, a middle aged Mormon, arrives at Rumson and is told that he must auction off one of his two wives. Elizabeth is sold to Ben who tries to woo her (In Between). Ben is feted by the other miners on his wedding day (Whoop-Ti-Yay). Jennifer packs her bags and runs to Julio's cabin in the mountains, but Julio convinces her that she should indeed go East to school and give him time to make his fortune for them (Carino Mio). To the delight of the other miners, a minor named Jake sends for his girl friend (Cherry) and her fandango dancers and all celebrate (There's a Coach Comin' In and Hand Me Down That Can o' Beans). However, the gold begins to run out and everyone slowly begins to leave, including depressed Julio (Another Autumn). Elizabeth leaves Ben by running off with another man. Now educated and "civilized" Jennifer returns intending to marry Julio (All for Him) only to find that he has left looking for a strike somewhere else. Ben ruminates over his own earlier nomadic life (Wanderin' Star) but decides he cannot leave Rumson, the town he founded and is named after him. The play ends when Julio returns unexpectedly and, as he and Jennifer move toward each other on the stage, the whole expanse of California is revealed in backdrop with wagons and people on the move.
BOOKS BY AND ABOUT LERNER & LOEWE
BOOKS BY OR ABOUT LERNER & LOEWE
Alan Jay Lerner, THE STREET WHERE I LIVE, 1978. A memoir whose first chapter includes his early relationship with his father and Larry Hart and then consists of three long chapters on the original productions of his three most popular works -- all from the glory years,1956-1960 -- the shows MY FAIR LADY and CAMELOT and the movie GIGI -- with occasional asides to his other works and associations.
Alan Jay Lerner, THE MUSICAL THEATER: A CELEBRATION, 1986. Written right before he died, Lerner delivers a lively history of the American musical from his perspective.
Benny Green, A HYMN TO HIM: THE LYRICS OF ALAN JAY LERNER, 1987. A compilation of many of Lerner's lyrics from his 18 shows and movies with each production usefully introduced, beginning with WHAT'S UP (1943) and ending with the unproduced MY MAN GODFREY at the end of his life.
Gene Lees, INVENTING CHAMPAGNE: THE WORLDS OF LERNER AND LOEWE, 1990. A very readable book with philosophical, psycholgical, historical overtones as well as L&L biography. Presents useful insights and information about the productions and interesting anecdotes concerning the author's own experiences with L&L and others associated with them. He also comments on how Lerner's creative work reflected his life and personal beliefs.
Doris Shapiro, WE DANCED ALL NIGHT: MY LIFE BEHIND THE SCENES WITH ALAN JAY LERNER, 1990. Written by Lerner's personal assistant in the middle 1950s-1960s period, noted mainly because of information about her and Lerner's doctor-injected drug use during the latter part of this period.
Edward Jablonski, ALAN JAY LERNER: A BIOGRAPHY, 1996. A thorough-going biography by the author of well-known books about other classic American popular song writers (the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, etc) and a number of books on other subjects.
Stephen Citron, THE WORDSMITHS: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN 2nd AND ALAN JAY LERNER, 1995. An interesting dual biography of the two lyricists.
Alan Jay Lerner, THE STREET WHERE I LIVE, 1978. A memoir whose first chapter includes his early relationship with his father and Larry Hart and then consists of three long chapters on the original productions of his three most popular works -- all from the glory years,1956-1960 -- the shows MY FAIR LADY and CAMELOT and the movie GIGI -- with occasional asides to his other works and associations.
Alan Jay Lerner, THE MUSICAL THEATER: A CELEBRATION, 1986. Written right before he died, Lerner delivers a lively history of the American musical from his perspective.
Benny Green, A HYMN TO HIM: THE LYRICS OF ALAN JAY LERNER, 1987. A compilation of many of Lerner's lyrics from his 18 shows and movies with each production usefully introduced, beginning with WHAT'S UP (1943) and ending with the unproduced MY MAN GODFREY at the end of his life.
Gene Lees, INVENTING CHAMPAGNE: THE WORLDS OF LERNER AND LOEWE, 1990. A very readable book with philosophical, psycholgical, historical overtones as well as L&L biography. Presents useful insights and information about the productions and interesting anecdotes concerning the author's own experiences with L&L and others associated with them. He also comments on how Lerner's creative work reflected his life and personal beliefs.
Doris Shapiro, WE DANCED ALL NIGHT: MY LIFE BEHIND THE SCENES WITH ALAN JAY LERNER, 1990. Written by Lerner's personal assistant in the middle 1950s-1960s period, noted mainly because of information about her and Lerner's doctor-injected drug use during the latter part of this period.
Edward Jablonski, ALAN JAY LERNER: A BIOGRAPHY, 1996. A thorough-going biography by the author of well-known books about other classic American popular song writers (the Gershwins, Harold Arlen, etc) and a number of books on other subjects.
Stephen Citron, THE WORDSMITHS: OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN 2nd AND ALAN JAY LERNER, 1995. An interesting dual biography of the two lyricists.
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