My Fair Lady - Broadway

Baz has just replied to a tweet from one of our board members saying My Fair Lady has been measured up for a theatre in the West End, but it will not happen until, at the earliest, late 2019.

I imagine it’ll need a fairly big theatre, would be good for Drury Lane or the Dominion

Hello! That member was meeeeee.
Dolly is being looked at for a possible summer run next year (a la King and I) from what I understand. Where though I don’t know.
The only place I can think that you could stage My fair Lady in London so that it’s almost Lincoln centre identical would be the New London in my head? But I don’t know if the stage is big enough for the mo after set.

Just have to say though, I genuinely think My Fair Lady was the best thing I’ve ever seen. Eliza’s entrance (no pun intended @ryan !) as the gauze goes up, stage revolves and the overture reaches its end knocked me senseless and I burst in to tears. It was such a visual spectacle, and I think that the piece itself is one of the greatest, if not the greatest Ever written.

And the variation on the ending was absolutely as I always believed it should be. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s how I always felt it should be.

I think if MFL does transfer, they’d have Harry Hadden Paton, Allan Corduner and maybe Diana Rigg reprise their roles.

I would like to see Rosalie Craig as Eliza.

Baz’s article actually states they’re looking at the Dominion which would make sense considering Nederlander is one of the producers of the current revival although as I’d prefer Drury Lane given that’s the show original London Home.

The Dominion would mean that Bat Out of Hell would be no more, not surprising as not many people there when I saw it.

I was underwhelmed when I saw this on Broadway and understand why it didn’t win the Tony,moor both leads Lauren and Harry were insipid, however the support from Norbert and Diana where brilliant, so uneven casting.

Cameroon Mackintosh will have a say what theatre this will end up at.

Laura Benanti is replacing Ambrose from October: www.nytimes.com/2018/08/23/theater/laura-benanti-my-fair-lady-broadway.html

She did it!

Benanti has been campaigning for Eliza for ages. She really wanted it, and was open about how she was turned down. She quoted the casting directors saying "that's a hard no."

But it looks like whatever she did finally worked. I find her perfect for the role though she reads a bit older than what people will expect. I also don't see her matching with HHP. This needs to be filmed for PBS though, and I would love for it to run until next year so I can see it!

It whould be noted Laura is only in the show until February and will continue, like Lauren, to perform 7 rather than 8 shows a week! Diana Rigg will be pissed.

Thrilled by this news, Laura will be amazing!

Laura Benanti. Eliza Dootlitle. It’s a literal match made in heaven.
She’ll be perfect. Sad she can’t win/at least be nominated for a Tony for it though

I don't know the ins and outs of the rules entirely, but I'm sure there has been cases where a takeover for a role has been nominated before, maybe not at the Tony's before. Its definately happened at the Oliviers with the likes of Mel C getting nominated for Blood Brothers, Martine and Joanna both nominated and winning for My Fair Lady and the three leads of Sunset getting nominated in consecutive years. I don't think the Tony's have come to think of it.

That said, Laura will of course deserve an award should she be amazing. She will probably be nominated for a Drama League Award or something, they nominated Lin twice for the same role, why not her? Then again, he is Lin, the rules are made up as they go along. 😂😂

You're right. The only exception to the "no Tony nominations for replacements" rule came when Larry Kert, who replaced Dean Jones as Bobby in the original production of Company a month after the show opened, was nominated for best actor in a musical. Presumably an exception was allowed in that case because Dean Jones was in the show for such a short time, most Tony voters would not have had a chance to see him in the role (which is obviously not the case with Ambrose/Benanti). In case anyone is wondering, Hal Linden won the Tony that year for The Rothschilds.