pygmalion and my fair lady
2007-02-04 05:33:59 · 5 answers · asked by limely1234 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Theater & Acting
The problem with your question is that 'works better' is a matter of individual taste.
Pygmalion is a Greek myth, the name of a sculptor who fashioned such a beautiful sculpture that he named her Galatea and fell in love with her. Rameau turned this story into an opera in 1748 and GB Shaw wrote his play in 1912 - an adaptation of the original story.
My Fair Lady debuted in 1956 and was adapted from Shaw by Lerner & Loewe.
A musical, by its very nature, is likely not as intellectually demanding as a play, and its themes are more limited. This is especially the case in adapting Shaw who's themes in Pygmalion are far more socially and culturally ambitious than the musical who's theme is essentially a romantic comedy.
Similarly, West Side Story has more limited themes than its source material, Romeo & Juliet (and Shakespeare didn't invent Romeo & Juliet either, but used source material common to his day).
On the other hand, the music in both shows is so superior and so sublime that, for many, it is the music that captures the imagination and the soul in ways that the original plays cannot.
It's not a question, than, as to which is better. Writers and artists are constantly adapting and reinventing source material and shaping it according to their own talents and their audiences entertainment. Rent is an adaptation of La Boheme. Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker is based on Moliere's The Miser, and of course The Matchmaker turned into Hello Dolly!
It is better to embrace all of them, than to simply keep score as to which one works better.
2007-02-04 07:48:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
My Fair Lady is an amazing musical, and Audrey Hepburn is simply dreamy in the part of Eliza Doolittle.
That said, Pygmalion is a very different story, especially the ending. George Bernard Shaw would not have approved of the happy ending that Hollywood gave to his biting play about class mores.
Shaw is one of my favorite playwrites and I loved reading and seeing several of his plays. Pygmalion is not even his best work.
2007-02-04 05:45:51 · answer #2 · answered by AxelMTA 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They're both successful...but they're entirely different things.
In general, I'd say that musicals have more of a widespread appeal to the general public...and, as all serious theatre-goers can attest, G.B. Shaw is a bit of an aquired taste. Modern audiences aren't used to the sheer IDEA content of your basic Shaw play, and the plays tend to be rather more dialogue driven than centered on significant dramatic action.
2007-02-04 07:20:14 · answer #3 · answered by shkspr 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, Shaw is quite... exceedingly loquatious at times. The music definately helps with the entertainment value and breaking up spoken parts, which despite being brilliant can get tedious. I am a bit biased, though. Im a musical theater geek.
2007-02-04 05:41:38 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes, but never as bad as these. My girlfriend is the one who says most things without actually thinking and then everyone has a good laugh once they realise what she has just said. One happened last night actually. It wasn't in public and I didn't bother telling the girl or laughing at her as I got enough satisfaction and a good old laugh to myself. We have a pet tortoise and some of my girlfriends mates came round last night to see her. I was watching TV when they came in and one of them said, "Oh yea, that's the turtle in the corner." So one of the other girls came over to investigate him and upon closer inspection said, "I like turtles. They look so different to tortoises." I carried on watching TV with a big grin on my face thinking you have just been looking at a tortoise you numpty. As I say, not as good as a full public stupid thing to say but it amused me
2016-05-24 04:10:33 · answer #5 · answered by Elizabeth 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋