Alan Jay Lerner: A Lyricist's Letters (8 page)

    
131
Burton Lane (1912–97) was a respected composer whose works include
Finian’s Rainbow
(1947) and
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
(1965). The
Huckleberry Finn
project had been offered to numerous writers, including E.Y. Harburg.

    
132
Brooks Atkinson, “At the Theatre,”
New York Times
, May 3, 1950, 36
.

    
133
Sam Zolotow, “Cheryl Crawford to Sponsor Show,”
New York Times
, May 26, 1950, 31
.

    
134
Thomas F. Brady, “Leslie Caron Gets Metro Film Role,”
New York Times
, June 3, 1950, 9
.

    
135
James Barton (1890–1962) was a popular figure from revue and vaudeville, but his theatrical credits also included Eugene O’Neill’s
The Iceman Cometh
(1946).
Sam Zolotow, “Broadway to See Sarah Churchill,”
New York Times
, January 5, 1951, 16
.

    
136
Thomas F. Brady, “Ferrer Is Leaving Play for Film Role,”
New York Times
, February 27, 1951, 39
.

    
137
Bosley Crowther, “The Screen in Review,”
New York Times
, March 9, 1951, 30
.

    
138
Lerner,
Street
, 140.

    
139
Thomas F. Brady, “
Brigadoon
Listed by Metro for Fall,”
New York Times
, March 12, 1951, 20
.

    
140
Kathryn Grayson (1922–2010) was one of MGM’s top stars, with screen appearances including
Show Boat
(1951) and
Kiss Me Kate
(1953).

    
141
Thomas F. Brady, “Paramount Names Stallings to Post,”
New York Times
, March 14, 1951, 52. Cyd Charisse (1922–2008) was a leading actress and dancer for MGM in the 1950s, with credits including
The Band Wagon
and
Silk Stockings
.

    
142
Louis Calta, “
Paint Your Wagon
Will Arrive Oct. 15,”
New York Times
, June 19, 1951, 33
.

    
143
Lewis Funke, “News and Gossip Gathered on the Rialto,”
New York Times
, September 2, 1951, 53
.

    
144
Sam Zolotow, “
Paint Your Wagon
to Open on November 5,”
New York Times
, September 26, 1951, 37
.

    
145
Oscar Levant (1906–72) was a pianist, screen actor, personality, and writer.

    
146
Leslie Caron (1931–) is an award-winning actress who later appeared in Lerner’s
Gigi
(1958).

    
147
Thomas M. Pryor, “Decca Would Buy Universal Stock,”
New York Times
, October 4, 1951, 38
.

    
148
Alan Jay Lerner, “Painting the Wagon,”
New York Times
, November 11, 1951, X1
.

    
149
Brooks Atkinson, “At the Theatre,”
New York Times
, November 13, 1951, 32
.

    
150
Brooks Atkinson, “Swell Folks,”
New York Times
, November 18, 1951, X1
.

    
151
Suskin,
Opening Night
, 531–532.

    
152
Joe E. Brown (1891–1973) was an American actor and comedian, perhaps best remembered today for his appearances in movies such as
Show Boat
(1951) and
Some Like It Hot
(1959).

    
153
Jack Oakie (1903–1978) was an American actor, whose Hollywood career lasted from the 1920s through to the Doris Day–Rock Hudson film
Lover Come Back
(1961).

    
154
Richard LaMarr was a regular casting agent for Lerner and Loewe’s Broadway productions, including the original productions of
The Day Before Spring
and
Brigadoon
.

    
155
Eddie Dowling (1889–1976) had a wide-ranging career as an actor, producer, director and writer. He appeared in, produced, and directed the original Broadway production of
The Glass Menagerie
.

    
156
Armand Aulicino, “A Musical that Kept on Growing,”
Theatre Arts
, December, 1952, 33–35
.

In March 1952, Lerner and Loewe entered into discussions with The Theatre Guild about the possibility of writing a musical version of George Bernard Shaw’s hit play
Pygmalion
(1912). The rights to the play were owned by Gabriel Pascal, the Hungarian producer who had been responsible for its 1938 film adaptation. Shaw had forbidden all attempts to write a musical version of any of his plays after the popularity of Oscar Straus’s operetta
The Chocolate Soldier
(1908) had completely eclipsed that of his play
Arms and the Man
(1894), on which it was based. But following Shaw’s death in 1950, Pascal joined forces with The Theatre Guild—the guiding force behind the early Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals
Oklahoma!
and
Carousel
—to try to bring about a musical
Pygmalion
. Rodgers and Hammerstein pondered the idea but could not find a way of developing the adaptation, then Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser, and Cole Porter all considered but turned down the project, mostly because they were too busy with other musicals.

    
However, Lerner and Loewe sensed the play might suit them and spent several months working on it in 1952. In the following letter, Lerner writes to Pascal about his initial ideas for the adaptation. He also expresses his eagerness for Mary Martin—the star of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
South Pacific
(1949),in which she was appearing in London’s West End at the time—to take the role of Eliza Doolittle:

    
To Gabriel Pascal

    
10 May 1952

    
Dear Gabriel,

    
I can’t find a typewriter on the premises so you’ll have to put up with my penmanship. If you have any trouble reading it, call the cryptology division of the F.B.I. and they’ll help you.

        
I had a lovely flight down and for the past two days I’ve been eating, sleeping, swimming, and sunbathing, and in general catering to all the sensual pleasures. In my books, Hawaii is one of the garden spots of the world. I love it dearly.

        
Naturally, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to
Pygmalion
(or shall we start calling it
Lady Liza
?).
¹
The more I brood upon it the more excited I become. It really can be a great musical. It’s so unusual to find high comedy on such a touching, warm level. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the locale should remain England and that it should be designed and styled completely modern, with no references, however, to anything contemporary. At heart, it’s a timeless fable and bigger than any period. By treating it in a stylized modern fashion it can not only be a great treat to the eye but can give Liza the opportunity to wear magnificent clothes, all of which is very important dramatically as well as visually. In other words it can be sumptuous but, of course, in infinite taste.

        
As far as the actual conversion into musical form is concerned, there are two basic problems that I see at this moment—both of which [are] easily overcome. The first is to get it out of the drawing room and into the open; and the second is to tighten the story. By that I mean to give characters such as Mr. Doolittle a more important role in the plot and not just be a highly amusing interlude as he is now. Too, Freddie should be developed into more attractive a fellow so that he can become more of a real threat. In the first instance of getting it out of the drawing room, Fritz and I have several ideas which we didn’t have time to discuss with you. The scene in Mrs. Higgins’s home for example—the “gin to her was mother’s milk” scene—could be played at the opening of Ascot.
²
It could be extremely colorful and lend itself to great humor both musically and otherwise. The calmness of the British aristocracy at the races I always thought very funny. Now, of course, following the motion picture,
³
there are the ball scenes and the wonderfully touching sequence when she returns to Covent Garden and nobody recognizes her. A scene like that could be developed so that the second scene at Mrs. Higgins’s when the Professor finds her after his long search could
be obviated. The end of the first act, of course, can be one of the great moments of any musical I can remember. It should be Liza’s preparation for the ball, her excitement, her desire to please the Prof., her dressing, her rehearsing, her manners, etc. Musically it should be one of her big, big numbers—ending with her going off with the Prof. for the great and final test.
⁴
It could be really wonderful, don’t you think?

        
Of course, no matter how excited I get about the play, I always stop when I come to the question: can we get Mary Martin? Although there are undoubtedly others who could play it, I do feel anybody after Mary is second choice. Liza is one of the great parts for a woman ever written. In music it will be even greater. And Mary is obviously the greatest star the musical theater has produced—there’s no doubt about that. Somehow it seems like a perfect marriage. It doesn’t bother me at all that she is American because if the King’s English as taught to her by the Prof. doesn’t seem completely compatible with her, neither was it with Liza in the play. And the cockney she can do easily. From a show business point of view it would be a great tour-de-force for her. Then, too, Mary is the only one I know who has naturally that odd combination of the little girl and the great lady. I can’t think of another part when both these qualities could be better employed—or on the other side, when Mary could run more of a gamut of all her talents. This is one play that should be written
for
her and
with
her. If you could persuade her and Dick
⁵
to be as enthusiastic as we are, Fritz and I would gladly fly over and discuss it with her when we have the actual layout completed.

        
If you fail, Gabriel old boy, then fly right home and persuade me to write it anyhow. I know it’s a superb property but at the moment I’m stuck with Mary Martin in my head and in my heart.

        
On a secondary level of importance, I would love to get Michael Kidd
⁶
for the choreography. He could do wonderfully humorous things with the cockneys as well as “the swells” and he’d be first rate for Mary. (There I go again with Mary.) He’s about the only choreographer who thinks of the show first and thinks that by some chance the star may be more important than his itty-bitty dances. I’ve already mentioned the project to Mike and he’s highly enthusiastic.

        
Well, I guess that’s about all at the moment. The surf is beginning to call me so I think I’ll drop my tired body into the brine. Just wanted you to know that
Pygmalion
haunts me and that I’m hoping and praying God will be with you on your trip to London. Give Mary and Dick my love and tell them I’m ready to do anything short of homicide to see Mary as Liza. I’ll be leaving here Sunday, May 18th and I’ll be in N. Y. Tuesday, the 20th. Fritz and I have to fly home for a week on matters of
Paint My Wagon
[
sic
]. I’ll be at the Algonquin that week and then back on the coast the following Monday.

        
Bon voyage—and keep us posted.

Faithfully,

Alan

    
Lerner’s relish for the show is palpable. With the benefit of hindsight, it is curious to see how a couple of his initial ideas for the adaptation were very different from the finished product. In particular, the notion of designing the show in a “completely modern” setting seems at odds with the ultimate decision to set it in period (which is central to the depiction of Eliza’s social mobility in the show). Equally striking is Lerner’s emphasis on his original ideas for the first-act finale, which were woven into a ballet sequence and included in the show’s out-of-town tryout in New Haven in February 1956 but cut after one performance. The idea of “obviating” the great Eliza-Higgins encounter at Mrs. Higgins’s house is also surprising in light of the brilliance of the “Without You” scene in the finished show. Perhaps most interesting and amusing are the enthusiastic references to actress Mary Martin and choreographer Michael Kidd. According to Lerner’s memoir, both of them reacted critically to the show’s score when he and Loewe later performed it for them, and both turned it down. It’s clear he held this against them, because the accounts of their reactions in his memoir are comically exaggerated, but this letter shows that Lerner desperately wanted both of them at the beginning.
⁷
Further work on the show was announced in the press in June, but Lerner and Loewe temporarily abandoned it later in the year and only returned to it in 1954.
⁸