Sally Murphy, Andrew Long Set for Signature's My Fair Lady

Broadway's Sally Murphy and DC theatre veteran Andrew Long will headline Signature Theatre's upcoming production of the Lerner and Loewe classic My Fair Lady, running from September 26th through November 19th.

Directed by Signature Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (Kennedy Center Mame, Putting It Together), the Arlington, VA production will star Murphy as Eliza Doolittle and Long as sharp-tongued linguistics professor Henry Higgins, who turns Eliza from a Cockney flower girl to a proper lady in order to win a bet. 

The two-piano version of My Fair Lady will be Signature's last production in their current space before the acclaimed company moves into their new two-theatre complex in the Village in Shirlington, VA.  It will be the first show of their 2006/2007 season.

Murphy, who last played Amelia in Bernarda Alba, has been seen on Broadway in Fiddler on the Roof, The Wild Party, The Grapes of Wrath and Carousel, as well as Off-Broadway in A Man of No Importance.  Long's numerous DC theatre credits include Frozen at Studio Theatre, and Lady Windemere's Fan, Macbeth and Cyrano de Bergerac at the Shakespeare Theatre.

My Fair Lady, based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, opened on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 15th, 1956; it would run for 2,717 performances and win 6 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. With music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner, My Fair Lady originally starred Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison. A 1964 film version directed by George Cukor starrEd Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. A 50th anniversary production based on the smash 2001 Trevor Nunn production is reportedly Broadway-bound.

Signature's hit production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's Assassins--which is completely sold out--ends its run on July 30th. 

Visit www.sig-online.org for more information on the theatre.