My Fair Lady At the first preview Rex Harrison, who was unaccustomed to singing in front of a live orchestra, "announced that under no circumstances would he go on that night...with those thirty-two interlopers in the pit". He locked himself in his dressing room and came out little more than an hour before curtain time. The whole company had been dismissed but were recalled, and opening night was a success. "My Fair Lady" then played for four weeks at the Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia, beginning on February 15, 1956. The musical premiered on Broadway March 15, 1956, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in
My Fair Lady (Shelly Manne album) issued on the Contemporary label. "My Fair Lady" itself was redone over the years by other jazz artists, starting very soon after the Manne hit. Billy Taylor and Quincy Jones brought out "My Fair Lady Loves Jazz" in 1957, and this was followed by albums of "My Fair Lady" music by Nat King Cole ("Nat King Cole Sings My Fair Lady") ; Wild Bill Davis; Dick Hyman with Ruby Braff; Oscar Peterson ("The Oscar Peterson Trio Plays "My Fair Lady""); and others. Manne himself worked with arranger John Williams to present a different whole-album treatment of the musical in 1964,