"It’s a fine show in every respect. I never took any of the criticism seriously. People expected another FAIR LADY and it wasn’t. But it was an intelligent, moving, beautifully written and scored."
It's great that you love it, but ever since the original production, there certainly does seem to have been enough criticism of the show -- especially the book -- that the criticism deserves to be taken seriously, which of course doesn't mean you have to agree with it.
Also, do think it's telling that huge cuts and changes continued to be made to the show even after the Broadway opening, not to mention the fact that Lerner himself made some pretty major, further revisions for stage productions as late as 1980 (and also for the screenplay, but I won't count those because I realize a movie is a different animal). |
