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Lerner & Loewe's My Fair LadyDallas Summer Musicals at the Music Hall at Fair Park August 6-18Edited by Madelyn MillerAn all-new stage production of Lerner & Loewe’s classic musical, MY FAIR LADY, will be presented and co-produced by Dallas Summer Musicals at the Music Hall at Fair Park Aug. 6-18. The new touring production will star Marla Schaffel as Eliza Doolittle and Norman Large as Henry Higgins. Single tickets are priced from $10-$56, and are available at The Box Office at 542 Preston Royal Shopping Center or any Ticketmaster outlet. Call 214-691-7200 or 214-641-ARTS for more information. The new touring production will star Marla Schaffel as Eliza Doolittle and Norman Large as Henry Higgins. MY FAIR LADY is based on a play called Pygmalion, which was written by George Bernard Shaw in 1912. The play was the product of two inspirations: Shaw’s intense interest in phonetics, and his desire to create the perfect vehicle for one of London’s leading actresses, Mrs. Patrick Campbell. The play was a huge success. In 1938, the play was made into a film version by producer and director, Gabriel Pascal. In the early 1950s, Pascal decided to create a new stage version of Pygmalion, and proposed the project to Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. (Other Lerner & Loewe collaborations include Paint Your Wagon and Camelot). Pascal died in 1954, but Lerner and Loewe decided to continue with the musical. The show opened to rave reviews on Broadway in 1956 with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews in the starring roles, and went on to win 10 Tony Awards. In 1964, Warner Bros. Pictures released a film version starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, and it was a huge blockbuster hit. Memorable musical numbers from MY FAIR LADY include romantic ballads and songs that are just plain fun. Audiences are sure to enjoy “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me To The Church On Time,” “The Rain In Spain,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face.” The story of MY FAIR LADY centers around the blossoming relationship between Professor Henry Higgins, and his student, Eliza Doolittle. The first encounter between Professor Higgins, the brilliant, but crotchety, middle-aged bachelor who is England’s leading phoneticist, and Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney girl who sells flowers, takes place one evening near the Royal Opera House. Eliza is selling violets, and Higgins is out listening for new varieties of London speech. He is intrigued by Eliza’s Cockney accent. Shortly thereafter, Eliza comes to Higgins’ flat to be instructed in the English language. During the visit, Higgins’ houseguest, Colonel Pickering, challenges Higgins’ to transform the guttersnipe into a lady. Higgins looks upon Eliza not as a young woman, but simply as raw material for his experiment…and naturally things begin to go awry! Marla Schaffel’s leading role on Broadway in Jane Eyre earned her a number of accolades, including a Tony Award nomination, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. Her other Broadway credits include Titanic and Les Miserables, and she starred in the national tour of Evita. She had a leading role in the critically acclaimed independent feature, “I Love You! Don’t Touch Me” and was last seen in the Tim Robbins’ movie, “The Cradle Will Rock.” Though Norman Large is probably best known for his role as the ruler of the Romulan Empire on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” he is an extremely accomplished actor with impressive credits on stage, television and in film. On Broadway, he was in the original cast of Les Miserables, and starred in A Doll’s Life and Silverlake. He originated the role of Gus the Theater Cat in the L.A. production of CATS, and starred as Tony in the International Tour of West Side Story. Also in L.A. he starred in Sweeney Todd, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, Sunday in the Park with George and Phantom of the Opera. Norman has sung in every major concert venue in New York, including Carnegie Hall, and performed as principal artist with the New York City Opera for four years. He was in “Pretty Woman” with Julia Roberts and in “Repossessed” with Leslie Nielson. In addition to starring on television in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” he has appeared on “Ally McBeal,” “NYPD Blue,” “JAG,” “Nash Bridges,” “Arliss,” “Seinfield,” “Melrose Place,” and “Deep Space Nine.” The superb supporting cast of MY FAIR LADY features Barry Ingham as Colonel Pickering, Ed Dixon as Doolittle, Jim Weitzer in the role of Freddy, Linda Stephens as Mrs. Higgins, and also includes Eleanor Glockner, Kim Cornell, James Young, and Benji Randall. The creative team for this production is Drew Scott Harris as Director, Lisa Guignard as Choreographer, Raymond Allen as Musical Director, John McLain as Lighting Designer, Abe Jacob as Sound Designer, Michael Anania as Scenic Designer, and Greg A. Poplyk as Costume Designer. MY FAIR LADY will be presented at the Music Hall at Fair Park from August 6-18. Performances the first week are scheduled for Tuesday-Sunday Aug. 6- 11 at 8 p.m., with matinees on Saturday Aug. 10 and Sunday, Aug. 11 at 2 p.m. Performances the second week are at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13 through Saturday, Aug. 17, with matinees at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, Sat., Aug. 17, and Sun. Aug. 18. There will be no performance Monday, Aug. 12, and there will be no evening performance on Sunday, Aug. 18. Ticket prices range from $10-$56, and are available at The Box Office, 542 Preston Royal Shopping Center, or through Ticketmaster. Purchases at Ticketmaster can be made in three ways: stop by any Ticketmaster outlet, including The Majestic Theatre Box Office, Fiesta or Foley’s Stores, Sound Wherehouse Music or Tower Records; call 214-631-ARTS; or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For group ticket sales, call Dallas Summer Musicals at 21-426-GROUP. Dallas Summer Musicals continues its family-friendly season with 42ND STREET, winner of the 2001 Tony® Award for Best Musical Revival, Aug. 20-Sept. 1, followed by Disney’s THE LION KING, Sept. 13-Oct. 20, which will also be the State Fair of Texas 2002 presentation. Season sponsors for Dallas Summer Musicals are The Dallas Morning News, WFAA TV Channel 8, KLUV Radio and American Airlines. For more information about Dallas Summer Musicals, call 214-421-5678. Dallas Summer Musicals is celebrating its 62nd Anniversary this year as one of the nation’s premiere presenters of musical theater productions. |
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