When My Fair Lady debuted on Broadway on March 15, 1956, it made a star of 20-year-old Julie Andrews, kicked off what would become the longest theatrical run in the history of musical theater (at least for a while) and introduced Americans to some of the most quotable elocution lessons in history. The adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion would go on to rake in six Tony Awards and later be adapted into an Oscar-winning film with Audrey Hepburn in its central role.
When LIFE ran a photo essay of Leonard McCombe’s images of the musical, the magazine praised Andrews’ charming Eliza Doolittle and Rex Harrison’s exacting Henry Higgins. But the true star of the production it called “one of the finest American musicals in years” was “the Witty Shaw himself.” Though the playwright died six years before the adaptation premiered, “the spirit of Shaw,” LIFE wrote, “makes Fair Lady a Broadway event.”
March 26, 1956 cover of LIFE magazine.Leonard McCombe—LIFE Magazine
Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.
Caption from LIFE. The young Cockney lady above who is dropping her Hs in a tongue-twister about hurricanes in Hartford is trying to improve her English with a speech professor.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesA scene from the Broadway musical "My Fair Lady" with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesJulie Andrews and cast in the Broadway production of "My Fair Lady," 1956.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Eliza's plunge into society takes place at the Ascot races where she has tea with Higgins' mother (Cathleen Nesbitt). An elegant admirer moons over her (left) while she chatters in her newly acquired accents about her aunt's weakness for gin. In amused dismay Higgins balances a teacup on his head.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesA scene from "My Fair Lady" with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Off to his wedding, Eliza's father, Alfred Doolittle (Stanley Holloway), has a last beer and a farewell fling with cronies in Covent Garden flower market. He bewails the money given to him by a philanthropist, which forces him to live respectably and marry the woman he lived with happily for years.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. On to the altar, the reluctant Alfred is carried in a stiffened condition on the shoulders of his cheering friends as he finishes bellowing, "Get Me to the Church on Time." The song goes, "Ding! Dong! The bells are gonna chime. Feather and tar me; Call out the Army; But get me to the church on time!"Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. In a dazzling gown Eliza confronts Higgins and his friend Pickering (Robert Coote, left) who are ready to present her at a grand ball.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Smug Higgins, praised by his friend and servants for Eliza's success at the ball, tells how he did it while she stands by, furious and forgotten.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Angry Eliza, hurt because Higgins gave her no credit, berates him bitterly and prepares to hurl his bedroom slippers at him before stalking out.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Lonely pair have a reunion when Eliza returns to Higgins, finds him listening to her voice on gramophone and realizes they cannot get along apart.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesRex Harrison as Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady."Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
