Anna O’Byrne, who played Christine in the Australian premiere of Love Never Dies (which was later filmed for DVD release), has been cast in the role of Laura Fairlie in the Charing Cross Theatre’s revival of The Woman in White, featuring a revised score and libretto from composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist David Zippel.
O’Byrne also received the 2017 Helpmann Award for her performance as Eliza Doolittle in the 60th anniversary production of My Fair Lady at Sydney Opera House directed by Julie Andrews.
Casting for the Thom Southerland-helmed production will also include Chris Peluso as Sir Percival Glyde, Carolyn Maitland as Marian Halcombe, Ashley Stillburn as Walter Hartright, Greg Castiglioni as Count Fosco, and Sophie Reeves as Anne Catherick.
The Woman in White, which played on Broadway in 2005 and received a Tony nomination for Best Score, features music by Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Zippel, and a book by Charlotte Jones.
The musical is set to begin previews at London's Charing Cross November 20 ahead of a December 4 opening night. The 12-week engagement will run through February 10, 2018.
“I am so excited about this new production. The Woman in White is a wildly exciting romantic thriller which is frequently tender and personal,” commented Southerland in an earlier statement. “The music is grand, sweeping and instantly captivating. Having long been an admirer of The Woman in White, I know that Charing Cross Theatre is the ideal intimate space for audiences to experience it for the first time or rediscover this lush Victorian Gothic thriller.”
The story follows a young tutor who arrives at an English country estate to teach art to two orphaned half-sisters, who've fallen under the spell of an eerie, fortune-hunting nobleman. The musical premiered on the West End in 2004 ahead of its Broadway debut.
The creative team also includes movement director Cressida Carré, set designer Morgan Large, costume designer Jonathan Lipman, lighting designer Rick Fisher, and sound designer Andrew Johnso. Casting is by David Grindrod Associates, and orchestrations are by David Cullen.
The Woman in White is produced by Patrick Gracey, Steven M. Levy, and Vaughan Williams by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Limited.
For more information visit TheWomaninWhite.co.uk.
