Thoughts on Upper Arlington High School’s My Fair Lady, High School Theater, and Why Quadruple Casting Sounds Wack
Welcome back, everybody!
I’m back with the next installment of weird-records-I-bought on e-Bay, of which (spoiler alert!) there will be several.
This week, perfectly combining the source material of last month’s MY FUR LADY and April’s Catholic School Production of THE KING AND I, I have managed to get my hands on The Upper Arlington High School Senior Concert Choir’s production of MY FAIR LADY.
This one is sort of special for me because Upper Arlington High School is just outside of Columbus, Ohio — where I went to college. The cover of the record doesn’t give you much information beyond that. In fact, the cover only reads:
The Upper Arlington High School
Senior Concert Choir
MY FAIR LADY
Recorded by Hull Records
In an attempt to figure out when this production of My Fair Lady was from (and maybe just a tiny bit more information than the cover provided me with), I googled the info and came up with nothing— although the first five search results included both an article about Upper Arlington’s 2019 production of Mamma Mia (haha), and a review of a 2017 regional production of My Fair Lady… that I was in. Okay.
After remembering that I am capable of much more than a surface google, I immediately went into my default Nancy-Drew-Girl-Detective-of-the-Internet mode. After googling some cast member’s names, finding a graduation date, and then returning to my now trusty online yearbook database, I was finally able to figure out that this production was staged in the spring of 1966.
Was that worth it? Does anyone care? Nope. But now you know. And don’t ever hide information from me on the internet because I WILL find it. I live for a good internet sleuth-session.
I also found out something else, something I heavily suspected after reading the track listings.
The show was quadruple cast.
Not double. Not triple. QUADRUPLE.
The cast list will also have you know the role of The Queen was double cast, and I will have you know that the Queen has 1 line : “Charming… Charming.”
I would say that double-casting is fairly standard practice for large or large-ish high schools, and it makes a lot of sense— it means more students have the opportunity to have a sizable role in the show. My High School of around 1500 students decided to double cast the (female) leads my senior year. Even with two kids alternately playing one role, it had its downsides. It was hard to keep track of who had learned the blocking for which scene, whose turn it was to perform in the run-through, and who would get to perform on the coveted opening night. All this to say, I cannot IMAGINE how difficult it would be to juggle FOUR different casts for ALL of the leads in the show.
I also feel pretty comfortable assuming that the reason why this cast was so big was due to the fact that this production was put on by the choral department. My High School had a similar rule — if you were in the choir, you automatically had to audition for the musical. Which, on the one hand, meant that you didn’t have to struggle to fill out the casts of the musicals, but on the other, you had kids (boys especially) who would have rather been ANYWHERE ELSE, but had to be there because they needed an arts credit.
Enough about High School politics, on to the musical itself!
Me, thinking about adding a gif here, and then realizing I already wasted all the good My Fair Lady gifs on my My FUR Lady blog.
If you aren’t familiar with the plot of My Fair Lady, what better way to familiarize yourself than with this synopsis so lovingly provided by the editors of Upper Arlington’s 1966 yearbook:
“The Plot of Lerner and Loewe’s musical concerns a boast made by Professor Henry Higgins, a noted British linguist, that he could elevate Eliza Doolittle, a cockney flower girl, to high society by changing her speech. After a near catastrophe in her first appearance in society, Eliza succeeds in passing as a lady at a lavish ball given in honor of the Queen of Transylvania.”
This, of course, really only outlines the first act of the nearly 3-hour doozy of a musical, but you get the point. The 1956 show is adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion, with the stage musical originally starring Rex Harrison and a young Julie Andrews, and the 1964 film adaptation starring Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.
On the one hand, as with my last blog post’s production of Fiddler on the Roof, this high school is really lucking out with the hip material— how many schools get to do musicals 2 years after the movie comes out? On the other hand, perhaps they are not so lucky, because aside from the title character, the musical is notably lacking in female characters, and if there’s one thing high schools are full of, its young girls who want to be leads in musicals.
In the name of privacy and the fact that there may be a handful of 70-year-olds who are pretending they’ve never stooped so low as to be in a high school musical and would hate to have that facade ruined by a 20-something snarky actor writing a blog, I will refer to these actors as HigginsA, HigginsB, and so on.
I’m sure I’m reading into this too much, but I might be detecting some potential snark by these yearbook editors. The My Fair Lady page is accompanied by pictures of the four sets of Eliza/Higgins pairings, each with a caption underneath.
“ Higgins A played opposite Eliza A on opening night.”
“ Higgins B and Eliza B proved to be a successful team.”
“ Higgins C and Eliza C captured the spirit of My Fair Lady.”
“ In the course of the musical, Higgins D changed Eliza D from a common flower girl into a lady.”
Okay. Is anyone noticing that the last entry is just… a fact? The other groups are “a successful team” and “captured a spirit.” Team A performed opening night, which usually implies a leg up. What’s up with Team D? Did they have nothing nice to say? Maybe ElizaD stole the editor’s boyfriend. Or maybe Eliza/HigginsD is a weak link? Or maybe I’m making this all up? Or maybe the editor of the yearbook actually never saw the musical and so they were just regurgitating the information they could glean from that brief plot synopsis? Only a listen will tell.
As with my last entry, I will be including plot notes before each song, just in case you’ve managed to avoid having to sit through the 3-hour romp that is My Fair Lady. Feel free to skip these if you don’t need them.
SIDE 1
1. Overture
It’s an Overture, yo.
“This overture sounds exceptional!” — my friend Chris, listening with me. And he’s right. Really, really good for a high school. A little strict on some rhythms— this conductor is NOT TAKING ANY LIBERTIES. Also, someone coughs during it, so that’s how you know it’s live. Or something.
2. Why Can’t the English? — HigginsD
Henry Higgins wonders why all English people have awful accents.
I FORGOT UNTIL THIS VERY MOMENT THAT I WOULD HAVE THE PLEASURE OF HEARING AMERICAN TEENAGERS DO BRITISH ACCENTS. This tempo is SO FAST. You can shave 30 minutes off any musical if you hurry, am I right?
My Fair Lady is an interesting show because it was written for Rex Harrison, who wasn’t really really wasn’t a singer. If you listen to him perform Henry Higgins, he’s basically rapping in a musical before people were rapping in musicals (or rapping at all!). He’s speaking vaguely on pitch. But when you look at the score, all of Higgins’ songs have notes. So you can immediately tell the difference between someone who is a big fan of the cast albums, and someone who had a music director who insisted that Higgins sing the notes on the page. This Higgins kind of sounds like his music director told him to sing the notes on the page, and he decided to disregard that after about a week.
At right, I’ve included both Rex Harrison’s performance (virtually no singing), along with Jeremy Irons’ performance (the closest I could find to fully sung— he sings about 75% of it). Compare these to one another, and then to HigginsD below (and check out his fairly decent accent and his zippy, ZIPPY tempo!).
3. Wouldn’t it be Loverly? — ElizaD
Eliza dreams of a better life, one that includes chocolate and not being so cold all the time.
This number opens with an a cappella section (with high school boys!), and it goes pretty well. Whichever boy delivers the line “Where you bound for this spring, Eliza? Biarritz?,” manages to make it sound like he’s saying… honestly I’m not really sure what, but not that.
And then… oh no. Eliza is… quiet. And a little wobbly at first. But honestly… the longer it goes on for, the better it sounds? She has a very interesting mix quality. However, her quiet sound makes it truly FRIGHTENING when the WHOLE ENSEMBLE joins her in the second chorus. SO LOUD. Not sure if it’s an issue with her mic or what, but it sounds like ElizaD may be performing from the inside of a tin can. She sounds great. I’m not sure what the rest of the record will bring, but I think I may have been wrong in my assessment of TeamD being weak links.
4.With a Little Bit of Luck — DoolittleD (Second Half) — DoolittleA
Eliza’s free-wheeling Dad, Alfred, explains his free-wheeling way of life.
SO FREAKING FAST. The first kid’s accent is on point (if not, dare I say, a little too thick, but I applaud the commitment). I was wondering if I was going to be able to tell when the actors switched, but… I shouldn’t have. It was very obvious, there was even applause between the two boys (although the first kid got a lot more song time…). The second kid’s accent is a little too posh. He’s doing a hilarious grovelly thing though. Like Harvey Fierstein. (This is my second mention of Harvey Fierstein in two posts! What is that about? I like the guy, but not that much! So far what I’ve learned is that two different high school boys were doing Harvey Fierstein before Harvey Fierstein was doing Harvey Fierstein!) Both boys have nice voices…but you don’t have to take my word for it.
5. I’m Just an Ordinary Man — HigginsA
Higgins explains that he’s just a normal bachelor, whose life would be thoroughly ruined if he invited a (gasp!) woman into it.
In terms of an accent, HigginsA is giving us an interesting British/American hybrid. I legitimately laughed out loud at his nonchalant delivery of the line “I’m a very gentle man,” so props to him for still being funny more than 50 years later. It’s hard to judge the Higgins’ because (as previously stated) they don’t really sing? They make like Rex Harrison and just expressively rap over the music. And no judgement on this kid, because I always feel this way, but OOF this song is long. No tempo is fast enough to save you from just how long this song is. I only included about a third of it below and even that feels long.
Towards the end of the song, he sounds as though he is actively running away from the microphone, similar to ElizaD’s “Loverly From a Tin Can.” Is it possible they weren’t wearing body mics? Actually they probably weren’t?? What’s the history of body mics availability to average income high schools in the 60s? Does anyone know? (Talk about a niche article…)
6. With a Little Bit of Luck (Reprise) — DoolittleB
Lots of things have happened and Alfred is still singing this song.
This accent is also posh, but it’s hard to tell, as Doolittle only has 3 solo lines at the top of this number (how disappointed/insulted was this kid when they told him this is what he would get to sing on the recording?). For ABSOLUTELY NO REASON, the dance break includes a BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM. Listen with the volume down. It’s the stuff of nightmares. Add this to the list of sounds I’ve accumulated for playing outside my house at Halloween.
7. Just You Wait — ElizaB
Eliza dreams about the revenge that she is going to get on Higgins because she doesn’t want to make vowel sounds anymore.
ElizaB has a very fast, very interesting vibrato. She has a really interesting, fun retro sound. I wonder if she struggled on some of the higher numbers because every time this number gets up there in pitch she sort of speaks/shouts it. This is the only track we get from her, so we’ll never know.
8. The Rain in Spain — HigginsC, ElizaC, PickeringC
Eliza finally and miraculously sheds her Cockney accent through the power of song.
This track starts with a very STRANGE choice from our friend HigginsC. He sounds like he’s telling everyone that Eliza has gotten ahold of his gun and is pointing it at everyone when he yells “BY GEORGE SHE’S GOT IT!,” instead of being proud of her for finally learning to speak without a cockney accent. He also pronounces “Now once again, where does it rain?,” as “Now once aGEHN, where does it rain?,” and the fact that it ends up not rhyming is very… jarring. Something very strange happens in the middle of this track and all three singers sound lost. Eliza appears to hesitantly option down at one point. I’ll wait for ElizaC’s later number to decide what I think, because this whole track was a little bizarre.
9. I Could Have Danced All Night — ElizaA, Mrs.PearceA
Eliza refuses to go to sleep because Higgins briefly danced with her and now she’s changed her mind about what she said sang 30 minutes ago and thinks he’s the best.
Here we are at our last Eliza. She’s fine. She sounds perfectly wonderful for a high schooler. But at our mid-way point, I’m personally more enthused by Elizas B and D. I admit it, my predictions after reading the yearbook notes were ALL WRONG.
SIDE 2
1. Ascot Gavotte — Full Ensemble
A bunch of snobby Ascot-goers sing about going to Ascot.
GOD, THIS IS SO FAST. Maybe it’s because I recently saw the (brilliant) Broadway revival, which takes everything a touch slow (in my humble opinion), but WOW if there’s anything consistent during this whole record it’s the speedy tempos. Might as well have called it My Fast Lady.
Once the Ascot theme starts, the actors get entrance applause. Entrance applause?! I want to see these High School costumes. They must have been BRILLIANT if they got entrance applause.
2. On the Street Where You Live— FreddyD (Second Half), FreddyA
A young man named Freddy Eynsford-Hill saw Eliza make a fool of herself at Ascot, thought it was hilarious, and now wants to spend time on her street, even if he doesn’t see her.
HOLY OHIO ACCENT, BATMAN. FreddyD is not even trying on this accent. He gave up long ago. Maybe it’s because this song feels a little high for him anyway, and he never even wanted to be in this musical, he just needed the choir credit. This is a lot to put on poor FreddyD, but I feel like I can tell. Again, the two boys sound SO DIFFERENT. And that song was NOT split in half. FreddyA only got about 3 lines at the end, which is a shame, because I like the way that he sings.
End of Act 1
3. You Did It — HigginsB, PickeringB, Mrs.PearceB
Eliza was successfully mistaken for a real lady at a ball, and now Higgins and his friend/assistant/thing Pickering are giving credit and congratulations to everyone — except Eliza.
So Pickering enters and he starts this new act off with a BANG. He’s doing an old man voice. It’s AMAZING. He sounds ancient. He can’t quite keep up the same level of RIDICULOUS when he sings, but it’s hilarious. 10/10. HigginsB’s performance is a little bit compromised by the fact that this is the most scratched song on the record so it’s hard to get a sense of his skills, but seeing as this is his only track, it’ll have to do. He does sing a bit more than you usually hear on this song, which is nice. And he manages to make the lines where he doesn’t sing sound more natural.
4. On the Street Where You Live (Reprise) — FreddyB
Freddy is still hoping to catch a glimpse of Eliza on her street. Sad.
I honestly think they added a verse to this reprise? It feels really long. I have to consult my notes. They sure did! One bonus verse for FreddyB! They can do this for FreddyB, but FreddyA had to be a weird footnote in the other Freddy’s song? What?
5. Show Me — ElizaC, FreddyC
Eliza is over boys using their words. She tells Freddy that if he likes her, he should prove it (despite the fact that he’s been languishing outside her house for who knows how long…)
FreddyC and FreddyA should have rioted when it was announced what would get to be immortalized on the record. Despite being a big part of the staging of this song, Freddy only sings three lines at the top. What happened here? After Freddy’s brief interlude, ElizaC is here to defend her reputation, and despite an interesting British accent (“Wehrds, wehrds, wehrds!”), she comes out of the gate swinging. She sounds great. She has a clean, mix-y quality.
6. Get Me to the Church on Time — DoolittleC
Alfred has come into a bunch of money and now feels obligated to marry his common-law-wife. He enjoys one last night of free-wheeling.
The top of this song is usually only sung by the male ensemble, but are the women in this? The balance sounds very strange at the beginning here. This is Doolittle’s best number, and it was without a doubt given to the kid with the “Greatest Doolittle Accent.”. This song has a giant (like… five minutes long) dance break in the middle. I WAS SO hyped to listen to the dance break and instead we got a fade-out! What? Why? I wanted the dance break!! He also sings “BE SURE AND get me to the Church on time,” instead of the actual lyric, “FOR GOD’S SAKE, get me to the Church on time.” I guess the whole “God’s sake” thing was too risqué even for public school. Ah, Ohio.
It took me shuffling through the libretto for something else entirely to notice that Higgins’ song “A Hymn to Him,” which usually occupies this spot in the show, is gone. Why? Where did it go? Too sexist? Possibly, although it seems not likely for 1. the 1960s and 2. a show that includes a fairly openly sexist character like Higgins. Cut for time because the show was too long? Also possible, but of Higgins’ 3 SUPER LONG SONGS (I’m an Ordinary Man, A Hymn to Him, and I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face) this is easily the least boring. I’m not condoning making cuts to licensed shows, but if you can’t be stopped, why not cut “Ordinary Man?”
7. Without You — HigginsA, ElizaA
Eliza throws everything Higgins has taught her back in his face and assures him that she’ll get on just fine without him.
ElizaA is back and she, too, is really hitting her accent (“There’ll be spring every yeaaaaaah without you!”). For what it’s worth, I like her sound more here than I did on Danced All Night. There’s an interesting lyric change where Higgins refers to Eliza as a “brazen wretch” instead of a “brazen hussy,” as he does in the libretto. We can’t say hussy?? Perhaps hussy was too ~sexy~ of a word, but is wretch really the synonym you’re looking for? At this point of the show, Higgins is both irritated and sort of intrigued by Eliza. “Wretch” totally axes the fascination and makes her sound only like something he finds repulsive.
8. I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face — HigginsD
Famously cold Higgins realizes that he’s going to (gasp!) miss Eliza now that she’s left him.
As previously stated about “Ordinary Man,” these Higgins songs are just…so long. It doesn’t matter if you push the tempo, it doesn’t matter if I’m listening to it being performed by a high schooler approx. 55 years ago or watching a world-renowned actor acting his face off in front of me, it is just…very…long. This number especially because you are so SO close to the end of the show, and you’ve been sitting for three hours, and you can just tell that the only thing standing between you and a nice post-show dinner is five minutes of a guy slowly and calming singing rapping about how he’s made a mistake.
Once this number concludes, in the normal show, there is no more music. There’s a brief final moment between Eliza and Higgins, and then the show ends.
On this recording, they play the typical ending music, and there’s thunderous applause. Then a slow instrumental reprise of “I Could Have Danced All Night” with sporadic applause— it sounds like bows. Then, all of a sudden, the whole cast launches into a rousing group sing of “Danced All Night,” and it feels haphazard, possibly like they are confused about the timing. Why? Is it because it is slow, and NOTHING ALL NIGHT HAS BEEN? Then they reprise “Get Me To The Church.” How strange.
Is this a reprise for the parents? Did they add plot to this? Some sort of Eliza/Higgins fantasy wedding (ew)? Is this just like a fun mega-mix where they all come out in 70s jumpsuits like in Mamma Mia?? I’m so sad that I’ll never have an answer to these pressing questions.
The End.
That’s it, y’all. That’s the play.
Okay people, you’ve heard the recordings. You’ve read my thoughts. You’ve seen American Idol. It’s time to cast your votes. What’s the strongest line-up? If I gave you a time machine and the only thing that you could use it for would be to take it to see one performance of Upper Arlington High School’s production of My Fair Lady (lol sorry), which cast would you opt to see? Let me know in the comments below!
