Producer John Frost said that the troupe that will begin Feb. 11, 2011, at the Lyric Theatre, Star City, in Sydney (and then begin April 9 at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne), will feature Lucy Maunder as Lara; Taneel Van Zyl as Zhivago's wife Tonia; Martin Crewes as political radical Pasha Antipov; Bartholomew John as corrupt attorney Viktor Komarovsky; and Peter Carroll and Trisha Noble in the roles of Alexander and Anna, Tonia's parents.

Based on the famous 1958 Nobel Prize-winning novel by Russian author Boris Pasternak, Zhivago is set against the backdrop of the snowy country before and after the Russian Revolution. The work follows the story of a surgeon-poet and his muse Lara. It was adapted for the 1965 film starring Omar Shariff as the title character and Julie Christie as Lara.

The ensemble in Australia will include Johanna Allen, Gavin Andrew, Anton Berezin, Caitlin Berry, Tony Cogin, Todd Goddard, Natalie Gamsu, Frank Hansen, Scott Hili, Glenn Hill, Luke Joslin, Todd Keys, Ben Lewis, Elise McCann, Kathleen Moore, Shaun Murphy, Chris Scalzo, Annie Stanford, Belinda Wollaston and Jamie Ward.

The creative team includes director McAnuff (Jersey Boys, Tommy), composer Lucy Simon (The Secret Garden), lyricist Michael Korie (Grey Gardens) and Amy Powers (Lizzie Borden) and librettist Michael Weller (Moonchildren, Loose Ends). The work was seen in 2006 at La Jolla Playhouse in California.

Aussie star Anthony Warlow was Uncle Archie in an Australian production of The Secret Garden.

For more information, visit drzhivago.com.au.