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Loverly: The Life and Times of My Fair Lady

My book offers by far the most comprehensive account of "My Fair Lady" by drawing on a wealth of primary sources that had not previously been explored. These include: the composer's manuscripts (Library of Congress), including several songs cut from the show before opening night that had not previously been identified; the arranger's scores, including outlines of a cut ballet number, which reveal the importance of the arranger to an extent that was previously ignored; the orchestral scores, which illustrate the role of the orchestrators in creating the show, as well as the compositional nature of their input; papers from the files of The Theatre Guild (Yale University), who were revealed to have attempted to stage the show before abandoning it; the production files of the eventual producer, Herman Levin (Wisconsin Historical Society), which include evidence of early casting ideas that contradict previous published accounts and of extensive changes made to the script in rehearsal; and papers of the designer, Cecil Beaton (Cambridge University), and choreographer, Hanya Holm (New York Public Library), shedding new light on their roles.

Indicators of impact of this research: I was invited keynote to the international Song, Stage & Screen Conference; I was asked to write programme notes for productions of the musical at the BBC Proms, Edinburgh Festival and Crucible, Sheffield, to act as consultant for a forthcoming BBCTV documentary on the show and to speak on a further BBCTV documentary (Michael Grade's Stars of the Musical Theatre) about it; I was invited to curate a small-sale exhibition on my research in the foyer of the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, during their production of the musical; a paperback edition has been commissioned for 2014 to meet high demand; the book has been reviewed in over ten publications, including The Washington Times.