But the success of this adaptation ultimately hurt the creator of its source material. In 1908, composer Oscar Straus amazed audiences with The Chocolate Soldier, an operetta based on Shaw’s 1894 play Arms and the Man. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW DIDN’T WANT PYGMALION TO GET THE MUSICAL THEATER TREATMENT. Similarly, the male lead in Shaw’s Pygmalion-phonetics professor Henry Higgins-tries to “sculpt” a lower-class working girl into a well-spoken English lady. A product of ancient Greek folklore, this character would later be immortalized by the Roman poet Ovid, who wrote about him in Book 10 of The Metamorphoses. Pygmalion is named after a mythical artist who supposedly sculpted an ideal woman-only to fall in love with the statue. Adapted from Shaw’s masterpiece, the new show dazzled critics and audiences alike-and, a few years later, was turned into an award winning movie featuring Audrey Hepburn. Here are a few facts about the crowd pleaser in honor of its birthday. Sixty years ago today, My Fair Lady made its Broadway debut.

Then, in 1956, it was adapted into the definitive musical. For decades, George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion looked like a play that could never be turned into a musical.

George bernard shaw my fair lady