Track Listing

1. Prologue
2. Why Can't The English?
3. Wouldn't It Be Loverly?
4. With A Little Bit Of Luck
5. I'm An Ordinary Man
6. Just You Wait
7. Poor Professor Higgins
8. The Rain In Spain
9. I Could Have Danced All Night
10. Ascot Gavotte
11. On The Street Where You Live
12. Eliza's Entrance
13. The Embassy Waltz
14. You Did It
15. Show Me
16. Get Me To The Church On Time
17. Get Me To The Church On Time (Reprise)
18. A Hymn To Him
19. Without You
20. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51128 in Music
• Released on: 2001-07-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's nice to get reacquainted with the stage orchestrations of this National Theatre production of My Fair Lady, after being so used to the sumptuous film score. The differences are most evident in "With a Little Bit of Luck", which is performed delightfully by Denis Waterman. Throughout, the music is revealed for the genius that it is, subtly underlining the protagonists with character--after all the driving force of this piece--to the fore. Jonathan Pryce as Higgins is completely spontaneous, rendering a fresh, witty and unique delivery of the oh-so-familiar songs. Martine McCutcheon's stage performance as Eliza Doolittle received mixed reviews--although the role is ideal for her, her limiting television experience showed and she didn't reach out to her audience as she should have done. But here she is perfect. Like Pryce, she has made the role her own. She's sweet and cheeky in the first half and successfully makes the transition to a very touching fair lady. And Mark Umbers as Freddy Eynsford-Hill does full justice to the beauty of the marvellous "On the Street Where You Live". All in all this more than stands up to earlier versions, with a delightfully designed booklet. --Antonia Couling

Customer Reviews

"You'll want to dance all night!"
This version of "My Fair Lady" is brilliant!!
The new improved 'Prologue' is so good, i can't stop listening to it.
Martine McCutcheon, although very different from the original Eliza, Julie Andrews, is very touching and her voice compliments Pryce's Higgins very much. Jonathan Pryce is fantastic as is Mark Umbers. The new orchestrations are all superb. This Album also includes some very important pieces of dialogue, as well as a very well presented accompanying inlay booklet (which includes lyrics, cast list and songlist as well as stunning pictures from the glamerous production in London's west end). A Must for any 'My Fair Lady' fan!

A Slight Fair Lady
Put Cameron Mackintosh and Trevor Nunn together to "re-invent" (their words) Lerner & Loewe's finest hour, "My Fair Lady" and you cannot go wrong, can you. Well, with a couple of qualifications, no they didn't.

On record, this production is lighter, slighter, from the very first bars of the overture which is delicate and skittish, as opposed to the imposing original which reflected the grandeur of the Royal Opera House opening scene. The sound is much more local provincial theatre rather than Theatre Royal Drury Lane; although the booklet lists nineteen main musicians and fourteen "additional players" they don't sound as if they were over-worked for their suppers.

Jonathon Pryce handles Rex Harrison's part of Higgins extremely well; he's become used to taking on such imposing comparisons (as in "Oliver" as Fagin) and makes the part his own, neither too much spoken nor too much sung. Mark Umbers as Freddie Eynsford-Hill is also impressive, in some contrast to the original.

My slight grumbles are with Martine McCutcheon and Dennis Waterman as Eliza and her father. I was unable to get to see this on stage, at which they were apparently both very good, while they were there. On disc, however, Martine's diction is less than clear, even after her transformation, and her high notes tend to bloom. Dennis's diction is, ironically, too clear - would a cockney dustman enunciate all his t's and d's and n's, I think not.

The booklet that comes with it is luxuriant, and contains all the lyrics, but the four pages of background to this new production are, again, slight, and describe more of the original stage and film than of this; Martine's contribution to the success of the show, truncated though it was, is all but ignored, which is a shame.

All in all a quite enjoyable, theatrical, version of the show. In no way does it surpass the original Broadway cast version (even after nearly 50 years!) but it is a fair stab at it.

Spoilt for choice!
I normally go for the original broadway cast, not a modern recording, but seemed highly interested in this 2001 cast recording. having read mixed reviews, i was a little "worried" about purchasing this item. HOW WRONG I WAS! This cast is splendid! many congratulations go to Martine, her Eliza brings its own warmth to the show, Jonathan pryce cannot be faulted. A top notch recording!