Theater News

Will Julie Andrews Direct Kelli O'Hara in Broadway Revival of My Fair Lady?

Andrews is directing an Australian production of the classic musical, which has its sights set on Broadway.

Kelli O'Hara and Kelsey Grammer in the New York Philharmonic's 2007 production of My Fair Lady.
Kelli O'Hara and Kelsey Grammer in the New York Philharmonic's 2007 production of My Fair Lady.
(© Chris Lee)

Stage and screen icon Julie Andrews will direct a production of the classic musical My Fair Lady at the Sydney Opera House in August 2016, and if all goes well, the production is expected to come to New York in 2017, according to the website Showbiz411.

While the Australian production is expected to star talent native to that country, the New York mounting could feature Tony winner Kelli O'Hara (The King and I) and Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer (Finding Neverland) leading the company. The pair starred in a successful mounting of the musical with the New York Philharmonic in March 2007. Grammer played the fussy Henry Higgins, with O'Hara as the Cockney flower seller, Eliza Doolittle.

With a score by Frederick Loewe and book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, My Fair Lady is based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. Andrews played Eliza in the original 1956 Broadway production of the musical, but was replaced on-screen by Audrey Hepburn.

Showbiz411 reports that Andrews now co-owns the rights to the show. The Sydney production will feature choreography by Tony winner Christopher Gattelli (Newsies).