O'Hare Is My Fair Lady in North American Tour Commencing Sept. 12

By Andrew Gans
and Kenneth Jones
September 12, 2007

The national tour of the legendary Lerner & Loewe musical My Fair Lady, which kicks off Sept. 12 at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, stars acclaimed British theatre actors Christopher Cazenove and Lisa O'Hare, who earned rave reviews for their dynamic performances as, respectively, Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle in the U.K.

This production of My Fair Lady is based on the Cameron Mackintosh/National Theatre of Great Britain's award-winning London staging. That Fair Lady production opened at the National Theatre of Great Britain in March 2001 before transferring to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in July 2001. The show won five Laurence Olivier Awards, including Outstanding Musical Production.

The U.S. Equity tour brings together the original U.K. artistic team with direction by Trevor Nunn (Les Miserables), choreography and musical staging by Matthew Bourne (Mary Poppins), production design by Anthony Ward and lighting design by David Hersey. Stephen Brooker is musical supervisor; orchestrations are by William David Brohn with dance arrangements by Chris Walker. The creative team also includes Paul Groothuis (sound designer), Fergus Logan (associate choreographer) and Shaun Kerrison (associate director).

O'Hare and Cazenove are joined onstage by Walter Charles as Colonel Hugh Pickering, Sally Ann Howes as Mrs. Higgins, Tim Jerome as Alfred P. Doolittle, Alma Cuervo as Mrs. Pearce and Justin Bohon as Freddy Eynsford-Hill. At some performances the role of Eliza will be played by Dana DeLisa.

The ensemble comprises David Abeles, John Paul Almon, Harlen Bengel, Eric Briarley, Ronald L. Brown, Debra Cardona, Kyle DesChamps, Bill Dietrich, Warren Freeman, Jazmin Gorsline, Robin Haynes, Marnee Hollis, Lisa Kassay, Adam Laird, Lainie Munro, Christine Negherbon, Cathy Newman, Georga Osborne, Lauren Pastorek, John Schacchetti, Byron St. Cyr, Jesse Swimm, David Tankersley, Stephanie Van Duynhoven, Erin Willis and Lee Zarrett.

As previously announced, Marni Nixon will succeed Howes in the role of Mrs. Higgins when the tour begins performances at Chicago's Palace Theatre in January 2008.

My Fair Lady is based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and features a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The original Broadway production opened on March 15, 1956, ran for over six years and won nine Tony Awards, including one for Best Musical. The score contains such Broadway classics as "I Could Have Danced All Night," "On the Street Where You Live," "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" and "Get Me to the Church on Time."

Tour dates, as of press time, follow:
Sept. 12-15 at the Tampa Bay PAC in Tampa, FL
Sept. 18-23 at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, PA
Sept. 25-Oct. 7 at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, OH
Oct. 9-14 at the Marcus Center in Milwaukee, WI
Oct. 16-21 at the Fox Cities PAC in Appleton, WI
Oct. 23-28 at the TPAC in Nashville, TN
Oct. 30-Nov. 4 at the Kravis Center in Palm Beach, FL
Nov. 6-18 at the Hippodrome in Baltimore, MD
Nov. 20–25 at the The Peace Center in Greenville, SC
Nov. 27–Dec. 2 at the Progress Energy Center in Raleigh, NC
Dec. 4-9 at the Carr PAC in Orlando, FL
Dec. 12-15 at the Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City, IA
Dec. 18-23 at the Carnival Center in Miami, FL
Dec. 27, 2007-Jan. 20, 2008 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC
Jan. 22-Feb. 3 at the Palace Theatre in Chicago, IL
Feb. 5-17 at the Opera House in Boston, MA
Feb. 20–March 2 at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, MN
March 4-9 at Clowes Hall in Indianapolis, IN
March 11-16 at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, PA
March 18-23 at the NJPAC in Newark, NJ
April 9-27 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, CA
May 8-31 at the Toronto Centre in Toronto, Ontario
June 4-15 at the OCPAC in Costa Mesa, CA
June 17-22 at the ASU Gammage in Tempe, AZ

For more information visit www.myfairladythemusical.com.