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| My Fair Lady (20th Anniversary Broadway Cast) | 
 enlarge | Artists: Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe (composers), Ian Richardson, Christine Andreas, George Rose, Robert Coote
Label: Sony
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $9.63
You Save: $4.35 (31%)
New (16) Used (7) from $7.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 147277
Format: Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 88392
UPC: 828768839225
EAN: 0828768839225
ASIN: B000GRTQX4
Release Date: August 29, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Act 1. Overture / Why Can't The English | | • | Act 1. Wouldn't It Be Loverly | | • | Act 1. With A Little Bit Of Luck | | • | Act 1. I'm An Ordinary Man | | • | Act 1. Just You Wait | | • | Act 1. The Rain In Spain | | • | Act 1. I Could Have Danced All Night | | • | Act 1. Ascot Gavotte | | • | Act 1. On The Street Where You Live | | • | Act 1. Embassy Waltz | | • | Act 2. You Did It | | • | Act 2. Show Me | | • | Act 2. Get Me To The Church On Time | | • | Act 2. A Hymn To Him | | • | Act 2. Without You | | • | Act 2. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
A young Christine Andreas made her Broadway debut in the 1976 revival of Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady and she's terrific as Eliza Doolittle. She's joined by Ian Richardson's fierce and sputtering Henry Higgins, George Rose as her father, Jerry Lanning as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, and Robert Coote reprising his Colonel Pickering from the original Broadway cast. The original cast starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison will always be definitive, but this is an excellent alternative. Three years later, Andreas was tapped to play Laurie in the revival of Oklahoma!, and set her on the way to stardom. Produced by the legendary Goddard Lieberson, with cover art by Al Hirschfeld. --David Horiuchi
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 I thought it had been forgotten April 13, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I saw this production of "My Fair Lady" and loved every moment. My seat was in the middle of the first row, and at intermission, members of the orchestra asked me if I was enjoying the show. A very treasured memory of a wonderful and fresh production.
 1976 20TH ANNIVERSARY BELONGS ON THE SHELF BESIDE CLASSIC 1956 ORIGINAL March 21, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a HUGE fan of classic Broadway musicals. In my opinion, MY FAIR LADY and WEST SIDE STORY tie for the
#1 spot as Best Musical Of All Time. I've seen several productions of Lerner amd Loewe's loverly masterpiece,; both professional and
community theatre, and I enjoy collecting various recordings of Broadway musicals. Both the original cast recordings of MY FAIR LADY and WEST SIDE STORY were recorded at Columbia's historic 30th Street Studios-- as
was this 1976 20th Anniversary recording of MY FAIR LADY.
The Anniversary production achieved a respectable
run of 384 performances. Goddard Lieberson, who produced the classic original 1956 Broadway Cast Album, again serves as producer here.
This 20th Anniversary recording used to be available at my local public library. I grew up listening to the 1956 Broadway Cast Album,
but I remember also being delighted with "20th Anniversary."
I used to own this version on audio cassette tape.
I was delighted to discover that Amazon.com offered "20th Anniverrsary" remastered on CD, and I purchased it immediately.
First, I must praise Didier C. Deutsch for the outstanding reissue and and digital remastering job he has done here and on countless other titles for Sony Broadway Masterworks. The sound quality here is sparkling and crisp.
Lightening did not exactly strike twice in terms of casting. Those hoping for another Higgins and Eliza to equal the magical theatrical partnership of Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews will be somewhat disappointed. Ian Richardson is bloody annoying and flat-out weird as Higgins. Christine Andreas, however, is thrilling as Eliza.
I know Higgins is supposed to be passionate about the proper pronouncation of the English language to the
exclusion of all else-- but Richardson has a habit of over-emphasizing/over-pronouncing almost every single word and musical phrase. The overall effect is--
there's simply no other way to describe it-- bizarre and weird! Higgins is a snobby male chauvanist-- but I never thought of him as a crackpot until I heard Richardson again. As Alan Jay Lerner so wittily wrote in his lyrics:
"An Englishman's way of speaking absolutely classifies him. The moment he talks, he makes some other Englishman despise him!"
Richardson's performance proves this point perfectly.
But even Richardson going wildly over the top never brings this recording down. There are other compensations and splendid performances galore.
Robert Coote makes a welcome return to his original role as Col, Pickering. He sounds like he hasn't aged a
day. Good old Coote is as vital and vibrant as ever.
I have never been fond of Freddy's song "On The Street Where You Live"; feeling it is just a filler while the actors portraying Higgins and Eliza get dressed for the Embassy Ball. But Jerry Lanning (the adult "Patrick"
opposite Angela Lansbury in the original Broadway cast of "MAME") sings it beautifully. George Rose is especially robust as Eliza's drunk, garbage-man dad Alfred P. Doolittle. I love how Rose bursts into tears on his final phrase of, "I'm gettin' married in the mornin'. Ding- Dong! The bells (sob! sob!) are-- (complete crying collapse) gonna chime!" It's the perfection illustration of the old joke: Q: "What's the difference between
a wedding and a funeral?" A: "Perception."
While Julie Andrews will always be the definitive Eliza Doolittle (her performance won rapturous reviews and
deservedly became a theatrical legend), Christine Andreas is, in my opinion, the only other Eliza worthy enough to follow her--
and the only other Eliza worth listening to on a recording.
Her performances of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?", "I Could Have Danced All Night", and particularly, "Show Me," are outstanding.
Christine Andreas's musical phrasing and dramatic emphasis show a thorough and complete understanding of Eliza. After an emotional argument with Higgins at the start of Act Two,
Eliza runs into the street to find love-struck Freddy waiting for her like a puppy dog. Caught between the chauvanist snob professor who refuses to show her the slightest human respect
and the dim-wit suitor who will not stop fawning over her, Eliza explodes with rage.
Christine Andreas is perfect as she explodes at Freddy, "I get words all day through--
first from HIM, now from YOU! Is that all you blighters can do?"
In short, whereas Ian Richardson goes miserably wrong as Henry Higgins, Christine Andreas is absolutely right as Eliza Doolittle.
This 20th Anniversary recording still earns its place where it belongs-- on the shelf next to the classic 1956 Broadway Cast Recording.
 Still Loverly January 4, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The only reason I purchased this recording was because of Christine Andreas who may be one of the most talented singers from the theatre and her Eliza is totally believable due to the fact that she had four very big shoes to fill such as with Ms.Andrews and Ms.Hepburn. However I was a little disappointed in Ian Richardson's portrayal as Henry Higgins I did not think he had the personality as Sir Rex Harrison displayed in his numbers. Also Jerry Lanning as Freddy also disappointing his version of "On the Street Where you Live" was weak and just does not live up to John Michael King or Jeremy Brett's versions. In all honesty that is my favorite song in this entire score.Part of the reason I like different recordings is because of the different takes on songs and characters but this is just my little old opinion. George Rose is charming as Mr.Doliitle at times you would think Stanley Holloway was on this recording. All in all if you are a musical theatre lover such as myself and want to hear everything go ahead and splurge. If you are a bit more selective than perhaps you should look through the amazon catalog a little more until you find the perfect something.
AT LAST! September 22, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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!
NEARLY PERFECT RECORDING OF THE NEARLY PERFECT MUSICAL . . . . . September 5, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
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."
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