Categories: News

Dame Julie Andrews talks My Fair Lady, 60 years on

Dame Julie Andrews. Image by Cassie Tongue

My Fair Lady, based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, opened on Broadway in 1956. 60 years later, the production will be lovingly and meticulously recreated to resemble that initial production which made audiences gasp. The costumes and set will be the same, or as near as possible, and on hand to direct will be the first of My Fair Lady’s Elizas, Dame Julie Andrews.

Andrews barely needs any introduction. She is beloved for the films Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, but is well known in theatre circles for The Boy Friend, Camelot, Putting it Together, and Victor/Victoria.

The recreated museum piece of My Fair Lady will open at the Sydney Opera House in August 2016. Christopher Gattelli (South Pacific, Newsies) is set to choreograph, with musical direction by Guy Simpson and set design by Oliver Smith (the original, and now late, designer). John David Ridge will recreate the costumes seen in 1956.

For more Julie Andrews, check out Cassie Tongue’s instagram, or watch this video from the Ed Sullivan Show back in the day.

The My Fair Lady creative team is currently seeing approximately 1,000 performers for auditions, and tickets will go on sale on Friday 21 November. The season kicks off on 30 August 2016. For more information visit myfairladymusical.com.au, or follow the show on facebook, twitter, and instagram.

Cassie Tongue

Cassie is a theatre critic and arts writer in Sydney, and was the deputy editor of AussieTheatre. She has written for The Guardian, Time Out Sydney, Daily Review, and BroadwayWorld Australia. She is a voter for the Sydney Theatre Awards.