Search - Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe (Composers), Ian Richardson, Christine Andreas :: My Fair Lady (20th Anniversary Broadway Cast)

NEARLY PERFECT RECORDING OF THE NEARLY PERFECT MUSICAL . . .

J. T Waldmann | Carmel, IN, home to the fabulous new Regional Perf | 09/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay. Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews will always be the definitive Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolitle. But if there's one recording that might make you reconsider, it's this recording of the 20th Anniversary Broadway Revival. "Bravo" to Sony/BMG for this excellent, first-time-on-CD release.



Even though George Rose received a well-deserved Tony for his turn as Alfred P. Doolittle (his performance is truly remarkable), it is Ian Richardson and Christine Andreas who make this recording as special as it is. First of all, as wonderful as Julie Andrews was in the role of Eliza, her real-life personna was just a little too refined, too lady-like for me to truly believe her as a gutter snipe. Not so with Ms. Andreas. Her cockney may not be as good, but there is a degree of course-ness to her flower girl that makes her transformation really special. I wish I had been in the audience to experience the moment. Teetering betweeen two worlds, it's not jarring when Andreas/Eliza reverts to her former speech patterns during "Show Me" and "Without You." Very believable characterization.



Richardson's take on his character is a revelation. Yes, he's an upper-class snob, and yes, he sees himself superior to Eliza and everyone she represents, but he's also terribly conceited and honestly believes that he doesn't need anyone in his life. When he says, "Why can't a woman be like me," he truly believes it. Therefore, "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" is a true cathartic moment for him, and I guarantee you'll get a lump in your throat - to match the on in Richardson's - when he delivers the final lines of the show: "Eliza? Where the devil are my slippers?" It's one of those magic moments every theater-goer prays for.



Added bonuses are Jerry Lanning's excellently sung Freddie, and an extremely well-played and beautifully-recorded "Embassy Waltz."



Masterworks/Broadway engineers have done a superlative job of remastering, achieving the same three-dimensional multi-layered effect as on THE KING AND I. Not only does it enable one to pick out individual instruments and follow each vocal or instrumental line, but it also helps us to appreciate better the outstanding Robert Russell Bennett & Phil Lang orchestrations and the choral arrangements by Gino Smart. Theodore Saidenberg's tempi are sometimes more brisk than Franz Allers', but everything works overall.



VERY highly recommended.



PS. If you want to hear another interesting version of MY FAIR LADY, I recommend the Original Israeli Cast recording. After all, they had " . . . to learn it backwards, which is absolutely frightening."

"

Christine Andreas as Eliza...simply "loverly"

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 09/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In 1976, MY FAIR LADY returned to Broadway, in a revival touted as the "20th Anniversary" production. Perhaps most famously, this particular revival was the first big professional splash of a young soprano called Christine Andreas...



At long last, this much sought-after cast album gets its CD premiere. Christine Andreas is one of the best Eliza's ever captured on disc, and Ian Richardson's performance as beleaguered tutor Higgins is full of wit and humour. George Rose (in a Tony-winning turn as Eliza's dustman father) is very enjoyable in his main numbers "With a Little Bit of Luck" and "Get Me to the Church on Time". Jerry Lanning also makes for a fine Freddy, with the winsome "On the Street Where You Live". This recording also features the "Embassy Waltz" sequence, which was never included on the OBC, and only featured as a bonus track on the reissue of the OLC.



The production itself heavily recreated the original production, complete with Oliver Smith's sets and Cecil Beaton's costumes. Hanya Holm's choreography was revived thanks to original dance captain Crandall Diehl. Christine Andreas picked up a Theatre World Award for her breakthrough performance. The show opened at the St. James Theatre on March 25th 1976, but later moved to the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre where it closed the following year after 377 performances.



The following year, Andreas returned to Broadway in another important revival, the 1978 production of "Oklahoma!" in which she made a thrilling Laurey (cast album available on RCA); before cememting her position as Broadway's ingenue of choice, with the role of Frankie Frayne in the 1983 revival of "On Your Toes" (cast album available on Jay/TER). More recently, she played Marguerite St. Just, in the original company of Frank Wildhorn's flawed "Scarlet Pimpernel" (cast album available on Atlantic).



I heartily recommend this particular MY FAIR LADY."

AT LAST!

PNF | VT USA | 09/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this production on B'way twice, and it really was lover-ly. The leading players were perfectly cast, and Christine Andreas sang beautifully. I've been waiting for this CD ever since...and despaired that it would ever be released. Thank you, Sony and Amazon, for making a wish come true!"