Full company announced for Chichester Festival Theatre's first ever production of MY FAIR LADY
A brand-new production of Lerner & Loewe's glorious, evergreen musical My Fair Lady which has never before been produced at Chichester will be directed by Rachel Kavanaugh and run from 6 July 5 September.
Hadley Fraser (Magic, The Pajama Game, City of Angels) plays Henry Higgins, with Keziah Ibe making her professional debut as Eliza Doolittle. Ben Culleton is Freddy Eynsford-Hill; Tony Jayawardena plays Colonel Pickering; Belinda Lang plays Mrs Higgins; Gary Milner is Alfred Doolittle; Finty Williams is Mrs Pearce. They are joined by Jonathan Bourne, Nic Cain, Shani Cantor, Mark DArcy, Talia Duff, Nicholas Duncan, Zack Guest, Joe Henry, Jennifer Louise Jones, Ella Kora, Reuben Lally, TJ Lloyd, Maggie Lynne, Anna McGarahan, Kody Mortimer, Rachel Stanley and Jessica Vaux.
Hadley Fraser (Henry Higgins) has just finished playing Houdini in Magic at CFT to great acclaim. Equally renowned for drama and musicals, he has previously appeared at Chichester in The Deep Blue Sea and The Pajama Game, while his many West End credits range from The Lehman Trilogy, 2:22 and Shaws Saint Joan to City of Angels, Young Frankenstein, Les Misèrables and Phantom of the Opera. Television includes The Gold, Endeavour and Gentleman Jack.
Keziah Ibe makes her professional debut as Eliza Doolittle, having graduated from Arts Educational Schools with a BA in Musical Theatre this year.
Ben Culleton (Freddy Eynsford-Hill) has appeared in many musicals in the West End and around the UK, including Mary Poppins, Les Misérables and La Cage aux Folles
Tony Jayawardena (Colonel Pickering)s extensive stage work includes Nye and The Father and the Assassin (National Theatre), Doctor Strangelove (West End) and, on television, Ackley Bridge and Ludwig.
Belinda Lang (Mrs Higgins) last appeared at Chichester in The Country Wife; her many television credits include the Sister Boniface and Inspector Alleyn Mysteries and 2point4 Children, while recent theatre work includes Little Women, Humble Boy andDuet for One.
Gary Milner returns to Chichester, where his previous appearances include The Music Man and How to Succeed in Business… as Alfred Doolittle. His recent theatre credits include Alfred Hitcock Presents (Theatre Royal Bath), Here & Now: The Steps Musical (UK tour), Kiss Me, Kate (Barbican) and Evita (Curve Leicester).
Finty Williams (Mrs Pearce) has recently appeared in Punch (Nottingham Playhouse/UK tour), Here & Now (UK tour), The Bakers Wife (Menier Chocolate Factory) and The Ocean at the End of the Lane (National Theatre/UK tour), and The Cranford Chronicles on television.
With an overflowing bouquet of ravishing songs including The Rain in Spain, I Could Have Danced All Night, With a Little Bit of Luck and Wouldnt It Be Loverly, sparkling dialogue, brilliant lyrics, witty story and gorgeous costumes, this 20th century masterpiece has been described as the perfect musical.
Cockney Eliza Doolittle scrapes a living selling flowers on the streets of London. Her dream of being a lady in a florist's shop is out of reach unless she can speak proper English. So when she encounters Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics, she seizes the chance to transform her life. Higgins blithely takes on a bet to turn the woman he dismisses as a squashed cabbage leaf into a high society paragon. But his impulsive wager becomes a journey of discovery for both him and Eliza.
Based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion, Lerner & Loewe's multi award-winning musical broke Broadway records when it opened in 1956 and was later adapted into the 1964 Oscar-winning film.
Director Rachel Kavanaughs previous Chichester productions include The Music Man, Shadowlands (which recently completed its West End run) and Half a Sixpence. The set and costumes will be designed by Peter McKintosh (Top Hat, South Pacific, Shadowlands), with choreography by Stephen Mear (Gypsy, Mack & Mabel, Kiss Me Kate).
The musical supervisor will be Stephen Ridley, musical director Cat Beveridge, lighting designer Howard Harrison, sound designer Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound, and casting director Stuart Burt CDG.
There will be a Dementia Friendly performance on 29 July and a Relaxed Performance on 1 September. A Summer Gala on 28 August will support our Stage the Future fundraising campaign for the next generation of theatre-makers.
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner Music by Frederick Loewe Adapted from George Bernard Shaw's play and Gabriel Pascal's motion picture Pygmalion. Original production directed and staged by Moss Hart
Directed by Rachel Kavanaugh
6 July - 5 September, Festival Theatre