Glory Crampton and Paul Schoeffler Lead MY FAIR LADY, Beginning Tonight at Music Circus

The musical theater masterpiece My Fair Lady, with music by Frederick Loewe and book/lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, kicks off the 2015 Music Circus season at Wells Fargo Pavilion, the 65th season for the venerable Sacramento institution. Performances are tonight, June 9 through Sunday, June 14, kicking off the season two weeks earlier than usual. The stellar cast includes a number of Broadway veterans and Music Circus audience favorites.

Based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, Lerner and Loewe's witty and wonderful Tony Award-winning classic is filled with unforgettable songs. Critics call it "miraculous...timeless...the Rolls Royce of American musicals." When aristocratic professor Henry Higgins takes in Cockney pupil Eliza Doolittle on a bet, he gets far more than he wagered. Featuring "I Could Have Danced All Night," "On the Street Where You Live" and "The Rain in Spain."

Tickets for My Fair Lady range from $40 to $83, and are available by phone at (916) 557-1999, online at Tickets.com, or in person at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office, 1419 H Street in Sacramento. Evening performances are Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Matinee performances are Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For more information visit SacramentoMusicCircus.com.

In this production of My Fair Lady, the role of Henry Higgins will be reprised at Music Circus by Paul Schoeffler, who marks his eighth season at Music Circus, and who has performed on Broadway in Rock of Ages, Sweet Charity, Peter Pan and Beauty and the Beast, among others. Eliza Doolittle will be played by leading lady Glory Crampton, who earned critical acclaim playing in The Fantasticks and Carnival off-Broadway and has a solo singing career through which she has performed for Former President Bush and the Royal Crown Prince of Luxembourg. William Parry, playing Colonel Pickering, originated roles in ten Broadway productions, including Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George and Passion, and has performed alongside powerhouses Bernadette Peters and Meryl Streep. Broadway veteran Stephen Berger, who is currently appearing on Broadway in Kinky Boots, and whose other Broadway experience includes roles in The Pajama Game, Into the Woods, The Dinner Party, True West, Laughter on 23rd Street and Little Me, joins the cast as Alfred P. Doolittle. Jason Forbach, who is currently in the Broadway revival of LES MISERABLES after playing the role of Enjolras in the touring production of the show, and who appeared in The Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas, will play the love-sick Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Playing Mrs. Pearce will be Mary Jo Mecca, who has performed in a number of regional theatre productions across the country in addition to film and television roles. Making her Music Circus debut as Mrs. Higgins, Toni Sawyer has extensive regional theatre experience and can be seen in the films "The Thirteenth Floor," "Sweet Dreams," "My Life" and "Mask." Returning to Music Circus for his eighth season to play Professor Zoltan Karpathy is Shannon Stoeke, who has toured nationally in Camelot, Peter Pan and Hair.

The My Fair Lady cast also includes Kristine Bennett, who is making her Music Circus debut and has played in such regional shows as The Little Mermaid, Hello, Dolly! and The Fantasticks. Returning to Music Circus to reprise their roles in My Fair Lady after touring in The Music Man - In Concert are sisters Janna Cardia, who toured in Cinderella with Broadway Asia, and Julie Cardia, who was in the national tour of Annie. Doug Carfrae has not only performed on Broadway in Music Is and The Pajama Game, but also spent six years in Las Vegas in The Phantom of the Opera. Quebecer Chanel Edwards-Frederick is making her Music Circus debut after performing in numerous regional productions. Nessarose from the first national tour of Wicked, Jenny Florkowski is returning to Music Circus where she was last seen in Fiddler on the Roof. Sacramento's own Danielle Hansen recently toured with Shirley Jones in The Music Man - In Concert and is coming back to Music Circus for her third season. Known for touring in Joseph ... Dreamcoat as Judah, Music Circus veteran Ivory McKay is returning after performing in Show Boat in the 2013 season.

Kevin McMahon, a Wicked tour veteran, has been featured in a host of Music Circus productions including Grease, Annie, South Pacific and Sweeney Todd. Mark Bradley Miller has extensive international and national theater experience in productions such as South Pacific, Funny Girl, Closer Than Ever and Beauty and the Beast. After performing on Broadway in Irving Berlin's White Christmas and touring in The Little Mermaid, Dennis O'Bannion is back in his home state to perform at Music Circus. Returning for her sixth Music Circus season is Lisa Rohinsky, who has appeared on Broadway in Gypsy and in the national tours of Irving Berlin's White Christmas and Hello, Dolly! Angelina Sark was recently seen on the New York stage in Sitting Pretty and is returning to Music Circus for the first time since 2008. New to Music Circus, Joseph Spieldenner joins the cast after touring in LES MISERABLES and South Pacific. Sam Tanabe, who has performed in Red Eye of Love off-Broadway, is coming to Music Circus for the first time. Banzai from the national of tour of The Lion King and member of Music Circus' Show Boat in 2013, Sacramento's own Omari Tau joins the cast.

The Director for My Fair Lady is Glenn Casale, who has been Artistic Director for California Musical Theatre since 2008 and has directed more than 50 productions for Music Circus and Broadway Sacramento over the past 20 years. Choreographer is Music Circus veteran Bob Richard, who has choreographed Broadway, off-Broadway, touring and regional theatre shows, as well as a variety of television specials. Musical Director is Craig Barna, who has been with Music Circus for almost 30 years and has conducted on Broadway, in L.A. and for several prominent stock and regional theaters across the country.

Music Circus is produced under the leadership of Artistic Director Glenn Casale and Executive Producer Scott Klier. California Musical Theatre President and CEO is Richard Lewis.

Pictured: Richard B. Watson as Henry Higgins and Kate Baldwin as Eliza Doolittle in the Music Circus production of My Fair Lady at the Wells Fargo Pavilion in 2008. Photo by Charr Crail.