Mrs Patrick CampbellBeatrice Rose Stella Tanner (9 February 1865 – 9 April 1940), better known by her stage name Mrs Patrick Campbell or Mrs Pat, was an English stage actress, best known for appearing in plays by Shakespeare, Shaw and Barrie. These included Shaw's Pygmalion where she originated the role of Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle in the West End in 1914. She also toured the United States and appeared briefly in films.
Eliza DoolittleEliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, My Fair Lady. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flowerseller who comes to Professor Henry Higgins, asking for elocution lessons after a chance encounter at Covent Garden. Higgins goes along with it for the purposes of a wager: that he can turn her into the toast of elite London society.
His Majesty's Theatre, LondonHis Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The building, designed by Charles J. Phipps, was constructed in 1897 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at the theatre.
Pygmalion (mythology)In classical mythology, Pygmalion (; Ancient Greek: Πυγμαλίων Pugmalíōn, gen.: Πυγμαλίωνος; Phoenician: 𐤐𐤌𐤉𐤉𐤕𐤍Pūmayyātān) was a legendaryPhoenician figure of Cyprus. He is most familiar from Ovid's narrative poemMetamorphoses, in which Pygmalion was a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved. In OvidIn book 10 of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Pygmalion was a Cypriot sculptor who carved a woman out of ivory alabaster.
West End theatreWest End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London. West End theatre represents the highest level of commercial theatre in the United Kingdom and, along with New York City's Broadway theatre, the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London.My Fair Lady (film)My Fair Lady is a 1964 American musical comedy drama film adapted from Lerner and Loewe's 1956 stage musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 stage play Pygmalion.My Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion and on the 1938 film adaptation of the play, concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. Despite his cynical nature and difficulty understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her.
Herbert Beerbohm TreeSir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor-manager of the late Victorian era and Edwardian era. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the rebuilding, and became manager, of His Majesty's Theatre.
George Bernard ShawIrish playwright, critic, and polemicist (1856–1950)George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1913) and Saint Joan (1923).
Flower sellerA flower seller, traditionally a woman, sells flowers on the street. Often the flowers are carried in a basket, for example. The subject matter has been a favorite of artists. The profession has mostly died out in countries like the United Kingdom, but still exists in others such as India. The 1920s series of British Squibs films were constructed around the adventures of a London "flower girl" played by Betty Balfour.
BurgtheaterThe Burgtheater (German:; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the national theater of Austria, located in Vienna. It is the most important German-language theater and one of the most important theatres in the world.
CockneyVoice of Danny Baker, who grew up in Bermondsey, London, from the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island DiscsProblems playing this file? See .Voice of Michael Caine, who grew up in Southwark, London, from the BBC Radio 4 programme Front RowProblems playing this file? See .Cockney is a dialect of the English language spoken mainly in London, particularly by Londoners from working-class and lower-middle-class families.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.