āAre you going to use my voice for songs at all? Iāll work hard on my voice,ā Audrey said, adding that she would āhave as many lessons as you like. Itās all part of the business, to learn to sing and dance.ā Jack Warner and director George Cukor had told her that they had no doubt that she would render the songs magnificently and her voice would be used (but for a few minor interpolations). But this was an astonishing act of deliberate deception, and it would miscarry in a way that seriously diminished the effect of Elizaās character in the picture.Ā
On May 16, 1963, Cukor and Alan Jay Lerner had met privately with singer Marni Nixon to do a brief audition. She was asked to keep the matter regarding the dubbing strictly private. Audrey, who was still engrossed in singing lessons was unaware of this development. The decision had already been made to have Marni dub her voice and yet no one conveyed that news to Audrey, who continued to believe that, except for an occasional high note from Nixonās recordings, her own voice would be heard in the picture. Audrey dutifully worked on her vocalises for a half hour or so every morning, and the weeks went by. To make matters worse, Cukor, Lerner and AndrĆ© Previn listened to Audreyās singing and praised her lavishly, and Audrey, unfortunately, began to believe them. And when she completed the scene in which she performedĀ āWouldnāt It Be Loverly?ā to a prerecorded track, the bit players and crew applauded loudly.
āDid you hear that?ā Audrey asked Cukor excitedly at the end of the day. āThey actually applauded!ā āAudrey,ā Cukor said gently,Ā āthey thought it was you.ā Unknown to him, to Lerner and to Previn, the technician in charge of playback had indeed used her track instead of Nixonās.Ā āGeorge,ā Audrey replied, tears filling her eyes,Ā āit was me.ā
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