Rialto Chatter: Kelli O'Hara, Kelsey Grammer Set for Julie Andrews-Helmed MY FAIR LADY Revival?

By: Nov. 23, 2015
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Kelsey Grammer and Kelli O'Hara starring in a revival of MY FAIR LADY? Wouldn't it be loverly! According to Roger Friedman's Showbiz411, it just may be happening.

Julie Andrews, who rose to stardom as Eliza Doolittle on stage in the show's original production, now owns the rights to stage the classic musical. Frideman reports that the 80-year-old star will helm a revival of the Lerner and Loewe musical at the Sydney Opera House in 2016. The production will then hit the road throughout Australia and possibly Europe, before reaching the Great White Way in 2017 with Grammer as Henry Higgins and O'Hara as Eliza. Theater fans may recall that the duo portrayed the iconic roles for a one night only Lincoln Center fundraising event in 2007.

The site reports that both actors have publically shared their dreams of playing the roles on Broadway.

O'Hara can currently be seen in her Tony Award-winning role as Anna in Lincoln Center's revival of THE KING AND I. As BWW recently reported, this January, Grammer will return to his dual role of Captain Hook and Charles Frohman in Broadway's FINDING NEVERLAND.

What do you think of the casting?

My Fair Lady, the multi-award-winning musical, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lernerand music by Frederick Loewe, first appeared on Broadway on March 15, 1956.

Adapted from George Bernard Shaw's 1912 play and Gabrial Pascal's motion picture, Pygmalion, the musical sported songs such as "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," "With a Little Bit of Luck," "The Rain in Spain," "I Could Have Danced All Night," and "On the Street Where You Live." The show starred Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins, Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle, and Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle, and ran for 2,717 performances, winning numerous Tony Awards and other kudos. The story, about a Cockney flower girl who is trained by a bachelor linguistics expert to speak proper English in six months' time as part of a daring challenge, was also made into a 1964 film that starredAudrey Hepburn - whose singing voice was dubbed by Marni Nixon - with Rex Harrison and Stanley Hollowayreprising their stage roles.

The musical received numerous awards and nominations, including 1957 Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Rex Harrison), Best Scenic Design (Oliver Smith), Best Choreography (Hanya Holm), Conductor and Musical Director (Franz Allers), and Best Direction (Moss Hart).

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos


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