 Musical theater writers Richard Rodgers (I) (qv) and  Oscar Hammerstein II (qv) had attempted to adapt  George Bernard Shaw (qv)s "pygmalion" as a musical long before  Alan Jay Lerner (qv) and Frederick Loewe (qv), but had abandoned  the project as unadaptable. Rogers and Hammerstien felt that Shaws  style of writing intellectual dialog and the emotionless character  of Henry Higgins did not lend themselves to a musical. Lerner and  Lowe overcame these problems by leaving Shaws duologue largely  intact, and working under the notion that Higgins must be played by  a great actor, not a great singer. Thus, the wrote the role  especially for Rex Harrison (I) (qv), and adopted the idea that  Higgins should not sing outright, but talk on pitch, less an  expression of emotions than ideas.