Will My Fair Lady Be Able to Do an Art???

It has certainly worked for the likes of Art, The Vagina Monologues and now, This Is Our Youth, but could the quick-rotation cast concept work for a big-budget musical? It's worked to an extent with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's supporting role of the Child Catcher, who, in less than a year, has been played by Richard O'Brien, Paul O'Grady, Peter Polycarpou and soon Derek Griffiths. Now, rumour has it, producer Cameron Mackintosh wants to give it a go with none other than the leads in Trevor Nunn's multi award-winning revival of My Fair Lady. The current Professor Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle - Alex Jennings and Joanna Riding - have both been nominated for Olivier awards this year, but they'll be off soon. They're expected to be replaced in March by Anthony Andrews (best remembered for the likes of Brideshead Revisited and Under the Volcano on television) and Laura Michelle Kelly (Mamma Mia!), but the length of those contracts, especially for Andrews, may be shorter than normal for a musical. Talks about taking on the role of the irritable linguistics professor for short stints have apparently been had with several big names, not least Jeremy Irons and original star Jonathan Pryce.

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