Pass the quiz, then see 'My Fair Lady' on stage

By Debra Yuen
TGIF Editor

Tricia Marciel is Eliza and Steve Wagenseller is her dad, Alfred P. Doolittle, in "My Fair Lady," which hits the stage at Windward Community College's Paliku Theatre beginning Thursday. Brad Goda 'My Fair Lady' Directed by Ron Bright Starring Tricia Marciel as Eliza, Patrick Torres as Henry Higgins, Steve Wagenseller as Alfred P. Doolittle, Ken Walter as Col. Pickering Premieres at 7:30 p.m. Thursday; repeats Thursdays-Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 16 $26 general, $22 seniors and military and $18 students and children Paliku Theatre, Windward Community College 235-7433

It's hard to resist the comedy about a Cockney flower girl in Covent Garden, Eliza Doolittle, who is transformed into a lady by the erudite linguist Professor Henry Higgins. Now, stage and film fans, just how much do you know about this lavish, loverly bit of entertainment history?

G'on, take our "My Fair Lady" quiz; all it takes is a little bit o' luck and little bit o' knowledge.

1. The musical is based on a play that was standard reading in many high school and college literature classes. Name it and its author.
2. So many musicals, so little time. But this one is NOT by the prolific Rodgers and Hammerstein. What other dynamic duo created "My Fair Lady"?
3. What year did it make its debut on Broadway and who was its leading lady and man?
4. We now turn to the 1964 film version, which won eight Academy Awards. Name its Eliza, Professor Higgins and Col. Pickering. While you're at it, name Freddy, Eliza's would-be suitor; and Eliza's dad, Alfred P. Doolittle. Who directed?
5. Who was called in to sing most of Eliza's numbers in the film version?
6. The transformed Eliza dances with the prince of what country?
7. "In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire ... hardly ever happen." Fill in the blank from one of Eliza's speech lessons.
8. "Lots of choc'late for me to eat / Lots of coal makin' lots of 'eat. / Warm face, warm 'ands, warm feet... " What song are these lyrics from?
9. Professor Higgins bets with Col. Pickering that he can pass off Eliza as a duchess in what amount of time?
10. "On the Street Where You Live" is sung by the earnest Freddy, who has fallen in love with the fair Eliza. What street is it?
11. Who is Zoltan Karpathy?
12. For the romantics of us, "My Fair Lady" is also a love story, although our hero and heroine never kiss. Higgins sings that he has grown accustomed to Eliza's -----, ----- and ----.

Answers:

1. "Pygmalion," by George Bernard Shaw, was also made into a nonmusical film in 1938, starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller. Pygmalion is a figure in Greek mythology, a sculptor who created the ideal woman.
2. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. The two also collaborated on the gems "Paint Your Wagon," "Brigadoon," "Camelot" and "Gigi."
3. 1956, Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison.
4. Audrey Hepburn as Eliza, Rex Harrison as Higgins, Wilfred Hyde-White as Pickering, Jeremy Brett (who much later starred in the long-running "Sherlock Holmes" mysteries on PBS) as Freddy, Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle. George Cukor directed. The film was nominated for a dozen awards and won for best picture, director and actor (Harrison), art direction, sound, scoring, costumes and color cinematography. Side note: Julie Andrews, who was denied the role of Eliza in the movie despite her accolades on stage, won the best actress Oscar for "Mary Poppins" that year. Hepburn wasn't even nominated.
5. Marni Nixon.
6. Transylvania.
7. Hurricanes. As for "Hereford," do the professor proud and pronounce it "he-re-ferd" (roll that first r!) in your best British.
8. "Wouldn't it Be Loverly?"
9. Six months
10. Wimpole Street. That's actually Higgins' home, where Eliza is taken in as a live-in student, first revealed when Higgins invites Pickering to lodge with him.
11. Zoltan is Higgins' former student. He boasts that he can sniff out pretenders to the upper class by their speech alone. In the film he is portrayed by Theodore Bikel.
12. Higgins has grown accustomed to her looks, voice and face.

Reach Debra Yuen at dyuen@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8057 or fax 525-8055.