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By Kenneth Jones
23 May 2003

Cameron Mackintosh told Playbill On-Line in 2002 that Broadway would see his hit London staging of My Fair Lady, but not before fall 2003. According to The New York Times May 23, the impresario behind Cats, The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables is still aiming Higgins, Eliza and company for New York, likely for early 2004 if details can be worked out.

Mackintosh told The Times that if casting and a theatre cannot be worked out in time for a spring 2004 start, he "can't do it" — his plate is full. His next project, partnering with Disney, is a stage version of Mary Poppins, which he told the paper begins London rehearsals in July 2004.

Trevor Nunn directed the revival of My Fair Lady, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical version of Shaw's Pygmalion, for the Royal National Theatre in 2001. Jonathan Pryce (of Mackintosh's Oliver! and Miss Saigon) starred as the blustery grammarian Henry Higgins. The commercial run at the West End's Drury Lane ends this summer (Anthony Andrews, who famously played Sebastian in TV's "Brideshead Revisited" is the current Higgins). Alex Jennings has also played the role in London.

Mackintosh told the Times he'd like the show to remain an "English production" with casting of British actors in choice roles.

News that Mackintosh is working on a Broadway run of the show is sure to have show fans on the internet posting wish-lists of possible Higginses, though one would speculate that Tony Award-winner Pryce (who snagged the Broadway awards for Comedians and Miss Saigon) would be an obvious candidate.

The last revival of My Fair Lady was 1993, when Richard Chamberlain and Melissa Errico played Higgins and Eliza. Ian Richardson played opposite Christine Andreas in the 25th anniversary staging (recorded for a cast album that has yet to be released on CD), and in 1981 Rex Harrison returned to the role he had created in 1956-57. That run lasted 124 performances.

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