Hit West End musical My Fair Lady is making an eagerly-awaited return to Manchester with a new tour. The lavish new production has kicked off in Dublin this week, and will head to Manchester's Palace Theatre in May 2023.
The show follows the exploits of Cockney flower girl Eliza Dolittle, played by Charlotte Kennedy, and will see EastEnders icon Adam Woodyatt in one of the leading roles as Eliza's dustman dad Alfred P Doolittle. It has been some years since the musical was last performed here in Manchester, making it an eagerly-awaited return for theatre fans.
The musical tells the story of Eliza who is taken under the wing of Henry Higgins (Michael D. Xavier), a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a “proper lady”. But as the story unfolds the audiences is invited to wonder who is really being transformed?
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EastEnders star Adam is making his big return to musical theatre for the first time since 1980 and has spoken of his excitement at joining the new tour. He left the BBC soap as Ian Beale on an "extended break" in 2021 and has said there are no current plans to return.
Playing the character of lovably layabout Alfred P Doolittle will give Adam the chance to show off his musical chops in two of the show's most famous songs - With a Little Bit of Luck and Get Me To The Church On Time.
Bartlett Sher’s critically acclaimed and multi award-winning production of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady is heading on tour fresh from rave reviews on the West End at London's Palladium Theatre. The touring cast also including Heather Jackson as Mrs Higgins, John Middleton as Colonel Pickering and Tom Liggins as Freddy Eynsford-Hill.
They are joined by Dammi Aregbeshola, Bernadette Bangura, Joseph Claus, Jordan Crouch, Jamie Cruttenden, Francessca Daniella-Baker, Barry Drummond, Bethany Huckle, Emma Johnson, Sinead Kenny, Jenny Legg, Rebekah Lowings, Carl Patrick, Tom Ping, Dominique Planter, Joseph Poulton, John Stacey, Joshua Steel, Oliver Tester, Adam Vaughan, Annie Wensak and Paul Westwood as the ensemble.
The show boasts some of the best-loved songs in musical theatre in a score that includes I Could Have Danced All Night, Get Me to the Church on Time, Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, On the Street Where You Live, The Rain in Spain, and I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.
Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture Pygmalion , Lerner & Loewe’s My Fair Lady premiered on Broadway in March 1956, winning 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and becoming the longest-running musical in Broadway history at the time. Following this success, the production transferred to London in 1958, where it played in the West End for five and a half years.
It has seen many notable revivals and adaptations, including the acclaimed 1964 film starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, which won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Most recently on the London stage, Cameron Mackintosh’s 2001 revival at Theatre Royal Drury Lane won three Olivier Awards, and later toured across the UK and Ireland in 2005.
The tour started this week at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin where it plays until the end of the month. It then heads to Cardiff in November, Edinburgh in December, Southampton in January, Sunderland and Bristol in February and Birmingham in March.
Manchester will be the final theatre on the tour, playing at the Palace Theatre from Wednesday March 22 to Saturday April 1, 2023. Tickets for the Manchester run have not yet been released, with theatre bossses set to announce the on-sale date later this month.
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