When Professor Henry Higgins comes across a poor, uneducated Cockney girl named Eliza Doolittle, he makes a bet that he can take Eliza from the gutters of London and pass her off as a society lady, simply by teaching her the correct dialect in which to speak. Higgins soon discovers that this task involves much more than knowledge; it involves patience and most importantly, an understanding of affairs of the heart.
Pygmalion first appeared on Broadway in 1914 and was revived in 1927, 1938, 1945 and 1987. The play inspired the classic musical My Fair Lady, which premiered on Broadway in 1956. Roundabout Theatre Company has gathered a starry cast for this revival, the latest in its long association with the work of George Bernard Shaw: Claire Danes makes her Broadway debut as Eliza, matching wits with Tony-winning actor Jefferson Mays as Higgins.