Loverly:The Life and Times of My Fair Lady (Broadway Legacies) (17 page)

His role in act 2 was similarly adjusted: his speech leading into the verse of “Show Me” was originally longer, including the lines “You’re beautiful and delicate and warm and desirable. Every night I look up at these very stars and dream of being near you. Eliza, you don’t know how potty I am about you” (
RS
, 2-2-12). It fits into the overall remodeling of Freddy’s character that this was removed; the rhetoric of “beautiful and delicate and warm and desirable” shows a sensibility far more intensely romantic than Freddy is ultimately capable of, while his nightly dreams of being “near” Eliza insinuate a potent sexuality that is incoherent with the rest of his behavior. Here, we can see once and for all how Lerner watered down Freddy’s personality to render him an impossible choice of suitor for Eliza, thereby introducing the parting of ways with the published epilogue to
Pygmalion
, in which the two are united in marriage.

The final three scenes of act 1 underwent the largest number of changes during rehearsals and previews, especially scene 9 of
RS
, which takes place “simultaneously with the preceding scene” (that is, at the same time as “On the Street Where You Live”) and shows us the aftermath of the Ascot scene. As the curtain rises, we see Mrs. Pearce comforting Eliza who, significantly, says, “I failed him.” As before, this makes the emotional connection between Eliza and Higgins stronger and gives her the air of someone who has failed the man she loves. The rest of the scene involves three musical numbers: “Come to the Ball,” in which Higgins seductively persuades Eliza to return to her lessons; the ballet, in which she receives dancing instruction, better posture, a cosmetician, and “the best hairdresser in London” (1-9-66); and “Say a Prayer for Me Tonight,” in which Eliza tells the servants of her anxieties.

Lerner’s solution to the need to replace this long sequence of music with something much shorter—and in the process, go back to the original scenario for the scene as described in Outline 1—changed several emphases. Scene 9 of
PS
takes place “six weeks later” than the Ascot scene, whereas
RS
places the races in July and the ball in October. Therefore, Higgins’s work has involved much more pressure in the final version, giving him only a few weeks rather than a quarter of a year. Furthermore, although we perhaps lose out by not witnessing the pain gone through to complete Eliza’s education, the status of the Eliza-Higgins relationship is kept far more consistent by removing all flagrant suggestions of their emotional attachment. A subtle but important gesture is added, however. Eliza arrives at the top of the stairs in her gown; Pickering says that she looks beautiful, and then goes on to prompt Higgins to agree with him. According to the stage directions, “Eliza turns to
Higgins hopefully,” and Higgins, “having decided the gown is quite all right,” declares that it is “Not bad at all” (91). Eliza’s “hopefulness” is the salient point here, replacing the spoken line in
RS
about having failed
him
with the implication that she has dressed beautifully for
him
. Then come two of the most resounding gestures in the musical. First, having refused Pickering’s offer of port a couple of minutes previously, implying that he is not nervous about the ball, Higgins “looks furtively around to make certain Pickering doesn’t see him” and “pours himself a quick glass of port.” In itself this shows a more human side to Higgins, but what follows is even more surprising. As he starts for the door, “he pauses, turns and gazes at Eliza. He returns to her and offers his arm. She takes it and they go out of the door, Pickering following after.” Through this action, Higgins acknowledges Eliza’s dignity for the first time, going through the door
with
her rather than before her. This shows Lerner at his most brilliant and imaginative (the scene is a complete deviation from
Pygmalion
): one of the longest scenes in the play, including three musical numbers, is replaced by one of the shortest, yet in this instance gesture serves the overall drama more effectively than twenty minutes of song and dance.

The first scene of the second act is one of the most crucial in the show, and it was changed in numerous ways during rehearsals, nearly always to adjust this climax in the Eliza-Higgins relationship. First, Higgins’s initial speech of reaction to Eliza’s admission that she is worried about “what is to become of her” was originally slightly shorter. One might take the addition of the line “Oh, I shouldn’t bother about that if I were you” (
PS
, 110) as a comfort to Eliza—suggesting that she has nothing to worry about—but at the same time, it also has an air of dismissal, as if her future is not worth contemplating. The rephrasing of the subsequent line from “You’ll settle yourself somewhere or other” (
RS
, 2-1-8) into “I should imagine you won’t have much difficulty in settling yourself somewhere or other” also hints at a split meaning: the first part becomes softer, but “somewhere or other” maintains Higgins’s apparently indifference towards Eliza’s precise fate (though this indifference could be perceived to be feigned).

Addressing a similar issue, Eliza has a line in
RS
that was then cut: she says to Higgins, “I wish you’d left me where you found me” (2-1-8). This intensifies the character’s grief and fear, and in particular illustrates her realization that she is now too self-aware either to resume her former life or to fit comfortably into middle-class society. The climax to the scene (from “Damn Mrs. Pearce” on,
PS
, 114) was also slightly changed for
PS
. Crucially, Higgins does not
“damn” Eliza in the original version of this speech. This makes a huge difference; never before has Higgins so flagrantly shown his lack of regard for Eliza than in this direct insult, and it is no wonder that the scene ends with her breaking down into “uncontrollable sobs.” The other change is the addition of the word “my” in reference to Higgins’s comment about “lavish[ing] hard-earned knowledge” (
PS
, 114) on her, thereby intensifying his resentment.

Julie Andrews (Eliza) and Rex Harrison (Higgins) (Springer/Photofest)

This trend is continued in the revision of the scene in which Higgins and Pickering discover that Eliza has fled (something not shown in
Pygmalion
). Again, the most important changes involve explicit discussion of Higgins’s
feelings for Eliza. Pickering suggests that “Eliza could have met some bounder at the ball and eloped with him.” Higgins calls this “an idiotic notion” but is clearly perturbed by the idea because he soon asks Pickering: “Was there some chap or other she paid particular attention to? Or he to her?” They discuss a “toothy Spaniard” who Higgins noted was “quite attentive,” but Pickering assures him that he “didn’t speak a word of English,” to which Higgins responds—“to himself”—“Good. Good” (
RS
, 2-4-24). Yet again, we can see how the issue of romance between Higgins and Eliza was to have been more unambiguous.

When the two meet again at Mrs. Higgins’s house, the battle continues, and once more Lerner made some effective changes during rehearsals. Originally, Mrs. Higgins’s advice to Eliza was simply to “Remember, last night you danced with a prince” (2-5-28), but the published version turns this into “Remember, last night you not only danced with a prince, but you behaved like a princess” (140). The alteration adds dignity and power to Eliza, raising her status because of her own behavior rather than by association with a man. By contrast, when Higgins’s original insult of “You mean I’m to put on my Sunday manners for this creature I picked out of the mud?” (2-5-29) was changed to “You mean I’m to put on my Sunday manners for this thing I created out of the squashed cabbage leaves of Covent Garden?” the affront to Eliza was made far graver. Lerner also added the tense exchange in which Eliza and Higgins contrast the Professor’s manners with those of Pickering; Higgins advocates “having the same manner for all human souls” (
PS
, 143). This presents rather a stark revelation of Higgins’s true character: a man with no respect for anyone. Such a portrayal helps tip the balance of the scene even more in Eliza’s favor, since he backs himself into a corner with his foolish words.

Eliza is generally much stronger in
PS
. For instance, originally she said to Higgins, “It would make no difference to you if I were there or not, and it’s cruel of you to pretend that it would” (2-5-31), yet the published text has her say instead, “But I can get along without you. Don’t think I can’t” (143). The original has Eliza describe her worth in terms of what she means to Higgins while the replacement has her declare her independence from him. The adjustment makes it necessary for Higgins to respond to this new statement: “You never wondered, I suppose, whether I could get along without you,” he asks her. But she replies that he will “have to,” and he immediately returns to his normal defiant stance: “And so I can. Without you or any soul on earth” (
PS
, 143). This makes the battle even more interesting, with Higgins acknowledging Eliza’s power and contemplating his dependence on her. She takes this to be emotional blackmail, yet in truth Higgins has let down his guard
and spoken his true feelings for her—a rare example of romantic intensification in
PS
. Then again,
RS
has Eliza address something that is not dealt with in
PS
: “You can twist the heart in a girl as easy as some could twist her arms to hurt her. Mrs. Pearce warned me. Time and again she has wanted to leave you; and you always got around her at the last minute. And you don’t care a bit for her. And you don’t care a bit for me. I won’t care for anybody that doesn’t care for me” (
RS
, 2-5-31). Here, Lerner seems to have considered sketching a new aspect of Mrs. Pearce’s relationship with Higgins: we do not otherwise know that she has nearly left him several times, nor do we realize that Eliza and Mrs. Pearce are confidantes who have discussed the Professor’s behavior. This fact is not unimportant, since it explains why Mrs. Pearce is not surprised at Eliza’s bolting, as well as telling us why she did not prevent her from doing so.

Romance becomes a topic again in the next part of the scene. There was originally a series of lines about Freddy’s advances toward Eliza: Higgins “damns his impudence,” Eliza says that “he has a right to” love her, Higgins declares that she has “no right to encourage him,” but she responds that “Every girl has a right to be loved.” Higgins refers to him as a “fool,” yet Eliza says that “if he’s weak and poor and wants me, maybe he’d make me happier than my betters that bully me and don’t want me” (
RS
, 2-5-32). Notwithstanding the reference to marrying Freddy, this exchange unequivocally foregrounds the possible Higgins-Eliza romance. Higgins’s overt grumpiness at the idea of Eliza having a young, foolish lover shows his own desire for her, while Eliza’s suggestion that Freddy might make her happier than her “betters that bully” her again nominates Higgins as her potential lover. Yet the replacement for this exchange appears to make the union impossible. Higgins proclaims, “Oh, in short, you want me to be as infatuated about you as he is. Is that it?” (
PS
, 146), and Eliza explains in response that she entered into the experiment “not for the dresses and the taxis” but “because we were pleasant together” and because she “came to care” for him. She says that she did not want him to “make love” to her or “forget the difference” between them but to be more friendly.

In a final change, after Eliza has sung “Without You” and exits, Higgins’s response was modified:
RS
has him say, “Eliza has left me! For good,” while
PS
changes it to “She’s gone!” (
PS
, 150). Yet again, the modification moves the script from language that implies a relationship (“left me”) to something less specific (“gone”). From beginning to end, this subject was systematically deleted or obscured during the rehearsal period, so that whereas
RS
charts a conventional Broadway romance between a man and a woman,
PS
forged a bond that was scarcely less strong yet much more difficult to define. In the
end, Lerner tantalizes us with the possibilities of an alliance between Eliza and Higgins, yet never quite delivers it.

The structural robustness of
My Fair Lady
is a major asset and it was clearly no accident. Its brilliance operates on several levels. First, the layout of the scenes takes us on a careful journey from one location to the next (see
table 3.6
). We meet the main protagonist, Eliza, at the very beginning of the first scene, and she is at Covent Garden market carrying a basket of flowers. The first moment of tension between her and Higgins occurs here, and it is no coincidence that the final clash between the two takes place in another sort of “artificial garden,” Mrs. Higgins’s conservatory. The market represents a space in which things come out into the open: Higgins’s and Eliza’s world-views emerge here, in “Why Can’t the English?” and “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” respectively, and Eliza’s return to the market in act 2, scene 3, is a moment of high emotion in which she realizes that she no longer belongs there. Higgins’s study is also pivotal to the unfolding of the story. It is a place of learning of all kinds: in a literal sense, Eliza’s lessons take place here, but this is also the place where we find out about Higgins’s attitude to women (act 1, scene 3), Doolittle’s background and lifestyle (act 1, scene 5), the relationship between Higgins and his household (act 1, scene 5), Higgins’s newfound respect for Eliza as they depart for the ball (act 1, scene 9), his overriding conceitedness and his new awareness of her true personality (act 2, scene I), and the final resolution of the story (act 1, scene 7). One might add to this list act 2, scene 4, which takes place in the “Upstairs hall of Higgins’s house” and is often staged on the same set as the study scenes. Here, Higgins learns that Eliza has bolted and realizes that she has gained complete independence from him.