Julie Andrews
We could not possibly be luckier. It was announced this morning that Dame Julie Andrews herself (you know, big time musical star, you might have heard of her?) is coming to Australia to direct a new production of My Fair Lady, inspired by the original Broadway production in which she starred.
And she’s not coming alone! She’s bringing Tony-award winning choreographer Christopher Gattelli (Newsies), whose work we last saw in Australia in the stunning Opera Australia/Lincoln Center revival of South Pacific.
Leading theatre producer John Frost and Opera Australia will gift us with this Australian, Sydney exclusive from August 2016, at the Joan Sutherland Theatre at the Sydney Opera House.
John Frost said, “To think that Broadway’s original Eliza Doolittle, Julie Andrews, will direct our new production at the Sydney Opera House 60 years later will, I’m sure, excite both Australian and international audiences.”
Lyndon Terracini, artistic director of Opera Australia, added, “I can’t think of a more fitting musical to present with John Frost in Opera Australia’s 60th birthday year. I am delighted and it is indeed a privilege to work with Dame Julie Andrews as she creates a new My Fair Lady that will capture the magic of the world’s greatest musical for a new generation of classic musical lovers.”
My Fair Lady is an enduring theatrical classic. One of the many loving adaptations (this a cheerier one) of George Bernard Shaw’s sharp play Pygmalion, it’s the story of a Cockney flower girl named Eliza Doolittle, and Henry Higgins, the phoneticist who wants to turn her into a lady.
The book and lyrics are by Alan Lerner and the score by Frederick Lowe. Many of the show’s songs are now songbook standards, like “I Could Have Danced All Night.”
Dame Julie Andrews, said, “I am thrilled to have been asked to direct My Fair Lady at the Sydney Opera House in August 2016.
“I look forward to coming to Sydney this November to cast the production and begin the process of bringing this great musical to life once again.”
Julie Andrews has directed shows close to her heart before. In 2003, she directed a new production of her Broadway debut, The Boy Friend. Her career has of course transcended from regular frame into something more intrinsically embraced and understood, having starred in beloved films like Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, and on Broadway in shows like My Fair Lady and Carousel.
For more information and priority bookings, join the waitlist at myfairladymusical.com.au.
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A little mistake at the bottom of the story... Julie Andrwes never played in the musical Carousel. It must be mixed up with Camelot (also starting with a C). Other than that it's great news and I wished I could come and see it