I can sing most of the songs and play them on the piano frequently (my favorite is On The Street Where You Live). Lest you think I am a bit of a curmudgeon, let me reassure you that I am not. She not only does it for a few phrases, but in very short order her spontaneous speech, as well, is flawless! I use a similar method with my clients, though not with a lit flame!Īmazingly, in a short time, Eliza begins speaking with the accent Professor Higgins desires, and all is well. If the flame wavered (i.e., she was aspirating the /h/ sound properly), she was pronouncing the /h/ correctly. To learn not to drop the /h/ sound at the beginning of words, Higgins had Eliza speak the phrase, “In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen” with a lit candle in front of her. One of Professor Higgins’s accent coaching methods was clever, though. Presumably, this was to help her enunciate more clearly. Professor Higgins also stuffed Eliza’s mouth with marbles and had her speak. The /t/ sound in the word ‘tea’ is made with the tongue up behind the front teeth, but this was not what the good professor appeared to be saying. What? What could he have been referring to? The sounds in ‘cup’ are not made with the forward part of the tongue. The professor tells her to put her tongue in the front part of her mouth. It was nothing short of miraculous, that Eliza Doolittle learned to speak in the “proper British manner” at all!Ĭan I point out another poor accent coaching method?Īt another point, Eliza is attempting to say ‘cup cup cup of of of ’. Nonetheless, I was squirming in my seat as I watched his teaching methods. I am an accent coach who helps people change their speech patterns. While the phrase made for a jaunty and lovely show tune, poor Eliza had no further help with this exercise than being asked to repeat and being reprimanded for incorrect pronunciation! Same with “The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain,” the famous phrase meant to each the /e/ sound. She said them with a Cockney accent and he reprimanded her. He had her repeat the vowel names over and over (“a – e – i – o- u”). She speaks with a strong Cockney accent.Īfter an encounter with Professor Henry Higgins, he agrees as a bet to teach her to speak like a “proper lady” in six months time.Īll was lovely with this play until Professor Higgins began his teaching with Eliza. As you might recall, the story is about Eliza Doolittle, a poor flower girl from the East side of London.
The singing was outstanding, the actors perfect, the set design creative and engaging.
It was performed at the Lyric Opera here in Chicago.
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing My Fair Lady, the classic Broadway musical, based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play, Pygmalion.
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