Tony-winning actor Laura Benanti has released a video on the My Fair Lady Twitter page rehearsing for her upcoming role in the Tony-nominated revival.
As previously announced, Benanti will take over the leading role of Eliza Doolittle from Tony nominee Lauren Ambrose in the Lincoln Center Theater Broadway production beginning October 23.
Preparing for her upcoming star turn, Benanti rehearsed “I Could Have Danced All Night” at home—her young daughter on her lap at the piano.
Hear @LauraBenanti rehearsing "I Could Have Danced All Night" with a little rehearsal assistance from her daughter. ���� See her star as Eliza Doolittle in #MyFairLady at @LCTheater beginning October 23! �� pic.twitter.com/Sg6xIHaiMG
— My Fair Lady (@MyFairLadyBway) September 26, 2018
Benanti will join My Fair Lady Tony nominees Harry Hadden-Paton as Henry Higgins and Norbert Leo Butz as Alfred P. Doolittle, as well as Rosemary Harris, Allan Corduner, Jordan Donica, Linda Mugleston, and Clarke Thorell. Benanti will play the role seven performances each week, with understudy Kerstin Anderson, who had been playing Eliza on Sunday matinees, who will assume the role at all Tuesday evening performances beginning October 30.
The production is directed by Tony winner Barlett Sher and choreographed by Tony winner Christopher Gattelli.
Benanti most recently appeared on Broadway in Steve Martin’s comedy Meteor Shower. Prior to that, she starred as Amalia Balash in Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2016 revival of She Loves Me, for which she earned a Tony nomination. The actor appeared as Candela in Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in 2010, also directed by Sher and choreographed by Gattelli, and Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room.
She won her Tony Award as Louise in Gypsy, starring opposite Patti LuPone. Her additional Broadway credits include The Wedding Singer, Nine, Tony-nominated performances in Into the Woods and Swing!, and The Sound of Music. Recently, Benanti has been working in television on series such as Nashville, Supergirl, and a guest arc on the current season of Younger starring Sutton Foster.
Boyd Gaines, Laura Benanti, and Patti LuPone in Gypsy
