Lerner and Loewe: British Imitations and Fading Empire

This chapter explores the success, critical response, and cultural influences of the work of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe at the Lane, including My Fair Lady (1958) and Camelot (1964). After a brief comparison to the reception of Brigadoon (1949) to establish the context of Lerner and Loewe’s reception in Britain, it then turns to the production history of My Fair Lady and Camelot. The arrival of Lerner and Loewe at Drury Lane demonstrated a new complexity in terms of the cultural assimilation of the American musical into British culture. The British theme and the star-studded cast of Lerner and Loewe’s reworking of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion (1913) brought in audiences in droves, even sparking a black market for tickets.