"I Could Have Danced All Night" is a song from the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'', with music written by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner,"'My Fair Lady' Listing
InternetBroadwayDatabase, accessed August 23, 2011 published in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

. The song is sung by the musical's heroine, Eliza Doolittle, expressing her exhilaration and excitement after an impromptu dance with her tutor, Henry Higgins, in the small hours of the morning. In a

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

during the second of 3 rounds, two maids and the housekeeper, Mrs. Pearce, urge Eliza to go to bed, but she ignores them. It was first performed by

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

in the original Broadway production of ''My Fair Lady''. In the 1964 film adaptation of the musical, the song was sung by Marni Nixon, dubbing the singing voice of

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

, who played Eliza Doolittle. In 2004, Nixon's version finished at #17 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

Notable recordings

Hit versions of the song were recorded by Sylvia Syms,

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

, Angélica María, Ben E. King as an

ATCO Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...

single,

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

, Rosemary Clooney, and

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

. It was featured in '' The Birdcage'' sung by

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been Nathan Lane on screen and stage, on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Na ...

Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor and producer. He is known for voicing many characters in the long-running animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' since 1989, including Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Superintendent Chalmer ...

, Gene Hackman,

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comedie ...

and Dianne Wiest. Many actresses have also sung the song in the stage version of the musical including Martine McCutcheon, Laura Michelle Kelly,

Amy Nuttall Amy Abigail Nuttall (born 7 June 1982) is an English actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Chloe Atkinson in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' (2000–2005), housemaid Ethel Parks in the ITV/ PBS period drama ''Downton Abbey'' (201 ...

, Lisa O'Hare, and Lauren Ambrose. Harry Stradling-Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

recorded a Cha-cha-cha version on her 1960 album '' Latin ala Lee!''.

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

covered the song on his 1964 album ''The Great Songs from My Fair Lady and Other Broadway Hits''.

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

recorded and released this song on two 1965 albums, including "Shirley Stops The Shows" released in the UK, and 'Shirley Bassey Belts The Best' released in the USA.

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

recorded a version for her

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

album '' The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener''. The song was performed by Jane Powell in the 1959 NBC television special ''Sunday Showcase'' "Give My Regards to Broadway", for which a

kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...

recording still exists. In 1976, Florence Henderson performed the song on '' The Brady Bunch Variety Hour''. The song was performed by Jayma Mays as her character Emma Pillsbury on the FOX television show ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'' in the episode " Mash-Up". ''I Could Have Danced All Night'' was performed by young British

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Hollie Steel during her audition on Britain's Got Talent. She later recorded the song on her debut album. Noted Wagnerian soprano Birgit Nilsson recorded the song for the 1960 gala performance recording of Johann Strauss's operetta '' Die Fledermaus'' on the Decca/London label. Herbert von Karajan conducted the recording of the operetta, but the conductor of this excerpt, as well as that of most of the other gala excerpts included, is not identified.

Jane Ira Bloom Jane Ira Bloom (born January 12, 1955) is an American jazz soprano saxophonist and composer. Early years Bloom was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Joel and Evelyn Bloom. She began as a pianist and drummer, later switching to the alto saxophon ...

included the song in her 2011 album '' Wingwalker''.

Covers and parodies

*On the children's show ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', Count von Count, his wife the Countess, and her mother Mama Countess sing a song called "I Could Have Counted All Night", which spoofs "I Could Have Danced All Night". *On the 2006 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' episode " The Girl in the Fireplace", the Tenth Doctor (played by

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

) drunkenly sings a few lines from the chorus.

References

External links

* , '' 2001 London revival'' * , ''from Kristin Chenoweth album Coming Home'' * , ''

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

Over the Rainbow feat. Lauren Samuels'' * , ''

feat.

Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet (TV series), The Green Hornet'' (1966), ''The Mod Squad (TV series), T ...

& His Orchestra'' * , '' Mantovani & His Orchestra'' (instrumental) {{DEFAULTSORT:I Could Have Danced All Night 1956 songs Songs with music by Frederick Loewe Songs with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner Ella Fitzgerald songs Andy Williams songs Songs from My Fair Lady Songs about dancing