Musical Theatre West Opens 2015-2016 Season with MY FAIR LADY This Weekend

Musical Theatre West (MTW) opens its 2015-2016 season with Lerner and Loewe's Tony Award-winning musical My Fair Lady, October 23 - November 8, 2015, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Tickets are now on sale, as well as season subscription packages (to include West Side Story, Sister Act, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) for subscription savings. For tickets, go to www.musical.org or call (562) 856-1999, ext. 4. Tickets start at $20.

When Professor Henry Higgins bets he can transform Cockney guttersnipe Eliza Doolittle into a proper English lady, he gets far more than he wagered. One of Broadway's most beloved musicals, the Lerner and Loewe classic boasts a delectable score of memorable songs, including I Could Have Danced All Night, Wouldn't It Be Loverly?, Get Me to the Church on Time, and The Rain in Spain.

Broadway veteran Martin Kildare stars as Professor Henry Higgins. On Broadway, Kildare co-starred as the ominous Scar in Disney's The Lion King as well as the critically acclaimed A Raisin in the Sun, Timon of Athens, The Government Inspector, and The Herbal Bed. His Off-Broadway credits include Pride's Crossing, Honor and the River, Candida, and Labor Day. Local audiences enjoyed Kildare's turn as Bill Austin in the national tour of Mamma Mia! and last season's Mary Poppins and Good People for MRE/LaMirada. Television audiences will recognize Kildare for his numerous appearances on Law and Order, Desperate Housewives, Big Love, and CSI: New York. Raised in Seal Beach, he is a graduate of Stanford University and the American Conservatory Theatre, and has studied acting with Mark Rylance at Shakespeare's Globe in London.

As Eliza Doolittle, Katharine McDonough returns to MTW following her role as Dinah in last season's production of South Pacific. Other recent credits include Natalie in All Shook Up (Moonlight Stage), Kitty Bennet in Pride & Prejudice (MRE/LaMirada), Eponine in LES MISERABLES (Anchorage Concert Association), Sara Crewe in Andrew Lippa's A Little Princess (a Southern California Premiere), Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Covina CPA), and Julia in The Wedding Singer (Papermill Theatre).

Rounding out the cast is Richard Gould (Colonel Pickering), Matthew Henderson (Alfred P. Doolittle), Eric Michael Parker (Freddy Eynsford-Hill), Mary Gordon Murray (Mrs. Higgins), and

Debra Cardona (Mrs. Pearce). Daniel Pelzig serves as director/choreographer, with musical direction under the helm of Julie Lamoureux. MTW's production is made possible thanks to the support of Honorary Producers Mari Hopper and the Ken Reiner Memorial Fund; Associate Producers the Ackerman Family/Evalyn M. Bauer Foundation, Dr. David Federick, and Joan Wells; Youth Performance Underwriters Larry and Shari Nemirow, and Leo and Judith Vanderlans. Presented through special arrangement with Tams-Witmark Music Library.

Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady set Broadway records when it premiered in 1956, going on to become the longest running musical for its time. The Original Cast Recording became the best-selling album in the country, spending more than 300 weeks on the charts, many of them at #1. The production swept the Tony Awards, winning "Best Musical," "Best Direction of a Musical," "Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical" (Rex Harrison), "Best Scenic Design," and "Best Costume Design." It also marked a nomination for a young Julie Andrews for "Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical," as well as three additional nominations.

In 1964 "My Fair Lady" was brought to the big screen starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. The film earned the Academy Award for "Best Picture," along with seven additional Academy Awards, including "Best Actor" (Rex Harrison) and "Best Director" (George Cukor). The film also earned three additional Oscar nominations, including "Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium" for Alan Jay Lerner.

Tickets for Musical Theatre West's production of My Fair Lady are now on sale. For tickets, go to www.musical.org or call (562) 856-1999 ext. 4.

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