On the Street Where You Live

“On the Street Where You Live” is a song with music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner from the 1956 Broadway musical My Fair Lady. It is sung in the musical by the character Freddy Eynsford-Hill, who was portrayed by John Michael King in the original production. In the 1964 film version, it was sung by Bill Shirley, dubbing for actor Jeremy Brett.My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The show was introduced on Broadway in 1956 to much acclaim and commercial success, setting a record for the longest run (2,717 performances over 6 ½ years) of any Broadway show up to that time. The original Broadway and West End productions starred Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. “On the Street Where You Live” is sung by the character Freddie Eynsford-Hill, played in New York by John Michael King and in London by Leonard Weir. When the stage play was produced as a Warner movie musical in 1964, there was some controversy about Audrey Hepburn’s vocals being dubbed by Marni Nixon. Less attention was paid to the vocal of Jeremy Brett as Freddy Eynsford-Hill being dubbed by Bill Shirley over the objections of Jeremy Brett, who was indeed a good singer. (Bill Shirley – an Indianapolis native – also provided the voice of Prince Phillip in Walt Disney’s 1959 animated classic Sleeping Beauty. In that film he sang another iconic classic, “Once Upon a Dream,” with Mary Costa as Princess Aurora.) Vic Damone recorded his rendition of “On the Street Where You Live” around the time the stage play opened in 1956. It reached #4 on the Billboard chart. Eddie Fisher also released the song that year, and his record reached #18. As the My Fair Lady film came out in 1964, Andy Williams released a record of the song that reached #3 on the adult contemporary chart and #28 on the Billboard Top 100.“On the Street Where You Live” has been performed and recorded in a wide range of styles, from showy Broadway to cabaret style, to jazz vocal and instrumental. I like the song’s love-struck sentiment and bright, singable melody. It has earned a place in “My All-time Greatest Songs.”