My Fair Martine Is Already Gone???

The official news on Friday was that Martine McCutcheon would give her last performance as Eliza Doolittle on 8 December, after which she'd be replaced by Joanna Riding. But almost as soon as the word was committed to press release paper by the My Fair Lady marketing department, there were reports in some media that in fact McCutcheon would not be returning at all. The situation still remains murky. McCutcheon's own publicist, Simon Jones, told Whatsonstage.com that the star would be meeting with doctors every morning until 8 December to decide what to do that day. Jones was also careful to emphasise that Martine is not physically unwell. "It's a health issue not a voice issue", he says; the stage role has simply been too much of a strain for her young vocal cords. Since Friday, however, McCutcheon has herself been quoted in the press saying that she has indeed hung up her corset for good and is now planning, after a few months off, to tackle some Hollywood film projects. So, for anyone still hoping to see McCutcheon on stage, get used to making daily check-up calls to the box office whose recording, rather unencouragingly, intones that up until 8 December, "there is no guarantee as to which performances (McCutcheon) will play". Ticketholders who already booked to see Martine can apply for a full refund, as long as they do so before 30 November.

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