MY FAIR LADY, Starring Anthony Andrews and Alexandra Silber, Launches the Muny's 97th Season Tonight

My Fair Lady (running tonight, June 15, through June 21) is the opening production of The Muny's 97th summer season.

The complete cast for The Muny's production of Alan Jay Lerner (book & lyrics) and Frederick Loewe's (music) classic My Fair Lady features Anthony Andrews (Henry Higgins), Alexandra Silber (Eliza Doolittle), Paxton Whitehead (Colonel Pickering), Michael McCormick (Alfred P. Doolittle), Matthew Scott (Freddy Eynsford-Hill), Zoe Vonder Haar (Mrs. Higgins) and Peggy Billo (Mrs. Pearce).

With Lori Barrett-Pagano, Leah Berry, Anna Blair, Steve Czarnecki, Thom Dancy, Colby Dezelick, Samantha Farrow, Matt Faucher, Ellie Fishman, Tanya Haglund, Michael Hartung, Steve Isom, Jacob Lacopo, Lee Anne Mathews, Russell McCook, Kaela O'Connor, Rich Pisarkiewicz and Paul Scanlan.

The production will be directed by Marc Bruni, choreographed by Chris Bailey and music directed by Ben Whiteley.

Not seen at The Muny since 2008, My Fair Lady tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a lady. Based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, My Fair Lady features such classic songs as "On The Street Where You Live," "I Could Have Danced All Night," "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" and "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?"

Scenic design is by Timothy R. Mackabee, with costume design by Amy Clark, lighting design by John Lasiter, sound design by John Shivers and Hugh Sweeney and video design by Nathan W. Scheuer. Wig design is by Leah J. Loukas and the production stage manager is Nevin Hedley.

ANTHONY ANDREWS (Henry Higgins) received worldwide recognition for his portrayal of the doomed Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited for which he won the BAFTA and the Golden Globe® and received an Emmy® nomination for best actor. He made his West End theatre debut in Alan Bennett's Forty Years On. Theatre credits include spells with the New Shakespeare Company, including Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Royal National Theatre productions of Coming in to Land; Dragon Variations at the Duke of York's Theatre; One of Us; Vertigo and Ghosts. West End: The Woman In White, My Fair Lady. Select Television credits include Jewels (Golden Globe® nomination); A Beast with Two Backs;The Fortunes of Nigel; London Assurance; French Without Tears; Superstition; The Pallisers,Upstairs, Downstairs; The Duchess of Duke Street; Danger UXB; The Law Lord; Heartstones; Z for Zacharia; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (ACE Award nomination); Sparkling Cyanide; David Copperfield; Love in a Cold Climate and Cambridge Spies. His films include The King's Speech (SAG Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture), Operation Daybreak, A War of Children, Ivanhoe, The Scarlet Pimpernel, QB VII, Suspicion,Under the Volcano, The Holcroft Covenant, Hannah's War, The Lighthorsemen, Second Victoryand Mothertime.

ALEXANDRA SILBER (Eliza Doolittle) is a 2014 Grammy® nominee for West Side Story with the San Francisco Symphony. The Detroit native made her Broadway debut in Master Class,and has become a familiar presence in NY theater in Hello, Again, She Loves Me and Arlingtonat the Vineyard Theater, for which she received an Outer Critics Circle nomination. On London's West End she starred in The Woman In White, Fiddler on The Roof and Carousel (JulieJordan), which she triumphantly reprised in LA. Television credits include Mysteries Of Laura; all the Law & Orders series; Kiss Me, Kate (BBC) and The Grammys. Alexandra has appeared in concerts with the San Francisco and Detroit symphonies, Carnegie Hall, Caramoor and the London Proms.

PAXTON WHITEHEAD (Colonel Pickering) NYC: David Ives's The Heir Apparent; The Importance of Being Earnest; Absurd Person Singular; Bill Irwin's Harlequin Studies; Suite in Two Keys; London Suite; My Fair Lady (Helen Hayes nomination); Lettice and Loveage; Artist Descending a Staircase; A Little Hotel on the Side; Run for Your Wife; Noises Off (Drama Desk Award); Camelot (Tony® nomination); The Crucifer of Blood; Habeas Corpus; Candide; Beyond the Fringe; The Affair. London: Heartbreak House. Artistic director, Shaw Festival, 1967-1978. Associate artist, Old Globe (Malvolio, Richard III, The Miser, etc.). Many regional theatres, including: The Habit of Art (Helen Hayes nomination, D.C.); What the Butler Saw, Los Angeles and Boston (Norton Award); AEH in Stoppard's The Invention of Love (Jefferson nomination, Chicago); Travesties and King Lear (Manitoba Theatre Centre); The Circle (South Coast Rep and Westport); three Ayckbourn plays at The Westport Playhouse and She Stoops to Conquerat the McCarter Theatre and Williamstown.

MICHAEL McCORMICK (Alfred P. Doolittle) The Muny: LES MISERABLES (Thernardier).Broadway: Chaplin; Elf; Curtains; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; The Pajama Game; Kiss Me, Kate; 1776; Gypsy; Marie Christine; Kiss of the Spider Woman; La Bête. National Tours: La Cage aux Folles, The Producers, LES MISERABLES, Kiss of the Spider Woman. Off Broadway: Fly By Night, Tin Pan Alley Rag, A Man of No Importance, among others. TV: Gotham, Elementary, House of Cards, The Good Wife, Orange is the New Black, all three Law & Orders. Film: A Very Serious Person, The Producers. Michael has recorded 18 original Broadway and off-Broadway cast albums. He made his Broadway debut in 1965 in Oliver!

MATTHEW SCOTT (Freddy Eynsford-Hill) Broadway: Sondheim on Sondheim (cast album), Jersey Boys, A Catered Affair. The Muny: West Side Story (Kevin Kline nomination). Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, Old Globe, Signature Theatre, Goodspeed, Kennedy Center, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Alliance Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Co., and The O'Neill. Recordings: Jerome Kern: The Land Where the Good Songs Go and Noel and Cole.

ZOE VONDER HAAR (Mrs. Higgins) is thrilled to be part of the 2015 Muny season. Zoe toured in the first international company of A Chorus Line, and has since appeared in more than 100 productions. Favorite roles: Mama Rose in Gypsy; Mame in Mame; Dolly in Hello, Dolly! (Kevin Kline award); Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady (Kevin Kline nomination) and Ms. Pennywise inUrinetown (Kevin Kline nomination). After playing Louise in Always...Patsy Cline (Judy and Theater Circle Awards),Zoe will return to Stages St. Louis as Jeanette in The Full Monty. She is a cast member of The American Musical and Winter Wonderland. She teaches dance, directs and choreographs at several area schools.

PEGGY BILLO (Mrs. Pearce) is thrilled to make her Muny debut. Most recently she was seen as Violet in The Winslow Boy at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Other St. Louis credits include Ima Perry, The Immigrant, New Jewish Theatre (Kevin Kline Best Supporting Actress); Barbara Ellen, The New Century, Max & Louie Productions; Fiddler on the Roof, STAGES St. Louis. National tours: Annie, understudying Marcia Lewis as Miss Hannigan, A Christmas Carol. Regional: The Rubicon, TUTS, Cape Playhouse, Ogunquit Playhouse, and North Shore Music Theatre. TV: 3rd Rock from the Sun, 7th Heaven, and as Aunt Tilly on The Bold & The Beautiful.Member AEA/SAG/AFTRA.

CREATIVE BIOS

MARC BRUNI (Director) is currently represented on Broadway and the West End with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. He's delighted to return to The Muny for his seventh show (twice Kevin Kline nominated for direction). Other Muny productions include: Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Sound of Music, The Music Man, My One And Only, Legally Blonde, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Other credits: The Sound of Music (Chicago Lyric Opera), Paint Your Wagon, Pipe Dream, Fanny (Encores!), The Explorers Club (Manhattan Theater Club), Old Jews Telling Jokes (NY and Chicago, Jefferson Award nomination), Ordinary Days(Roundabout Theatre), Nerds (NC Theatre), Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Paper Mill Playhouse) and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Paper Mill).

CHRIS BAILEY (Choreographer) returns to The Muny after choreographing Tarzan (2014), West Side Story (2013) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (2012). Chris also choreographed the historic opening number of the 2013 Tony® Awards, and served as assistant choreographer for the 2013 and 2014 Academy Awards®. Chris was the associate choreographer for the Broadway revival of Evita; the Broadway productions of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Promises, Promises and Cry-Baby. In London's West End, Chris choreographedAssassins at the Menier Chocolate Factory, and was the associate choreographer for Guys and Dolls, Evita, Once in a Lifetime and Candide. Tour credits as choreographer include Evita, The Wedding Singer (US), Guys and Dolls (UK, Australia) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (UK). Chris was also the movement director for the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Cyrano De Bergerac on Broadway.

BEN WHITELEY (Music Director) Muny: The Addams Family, Spamalot, Pirates!, The Sound of Music (twice), Beauty and the Beast (this season makes it three), Kiss Me, Kate!, Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Meet Me in St. Louis, South Pacific. Broadway/National Tours: A Christmas Story, The Addams Family, Spamalot, The Full Monty, Cats (conducted final Broadway performance), Grand Hotel, Falsettos, Big. Carnegie Hall: Sail Away (with Elaine Stritch),Carnegie Hall Salutes Comden and Green. Choral Direction: Carousel (NY Philharmonic/PBS). City Center Encores!: Associate musical director and choral prep for 29 productions, including this season's Paint Your Wagon. Other: Paper Mill Playhouse, 5th Avenue Theater, University of Michigan. Recordings: Allegro, Boardwalk Empire (Grammy Award), Merrily We Roll Along.