Skip to page content
  • HB
  • JOHN LITHGOW, MELISSA ERRICO, ROGER DALTREY AND ROSEMARY HARRIS STAR IN "MY FAIR LADY"
  • Aug. 3, 2003
  • WITH HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA LED BY PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR JOHN MAUCERI

    Semi-Staged Production of Lerner and Loewe's Classic Musical Directed by Gordon Hunt

    SUNDAY, AUGUST 3 AT 7:30 PM

    Sponsored by Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts

    Award winning film, television and stage star John Lithgow, Broadway luminary Melissa Errico, rock 'n' roll icon Roger Daltrey, and Tony and Emmy Award-winning actress Rosemary Harris headline the cast for a special performance of MY FAIR LADY on Sunday, August 3, 7:30 PM, at the Hollywood Bowl. The semi-staged concert adaptation, part of the Sunday Sunset Performance series, is directed by Gordon Hunt and features Principal Conductor John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, with the Mitch Hanlon Singers, Mitch Hanlon, Director. Kay Cole choreographs the production.

    2003 Tony nominee Errico, who starred with Richard Chamberlain in the 1993 Broadway revival of the Lerner and Loewe classic, reprises her role as Eliza Doolittle opposite 2002 Tony winner Lithgow as Henry Higgins. Daltrey, who performed at the Hollywood Bowl in 2002 fronting The Who and was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame on June 27 of this year, departs from his "mike-twirling" persona to play Alfred P. Doolittle, and Harris portrays Mrs. Higgins.

    The cast announced to date also includes Paxton Whitehead as Col. Pickering, also reprising his 1993 Broadway revival role, Kevin Earley as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Lauri Johnson as Mrs. Pearce, and Jody Ashworth, Brooke Aston, Chad Borden, Larry Cedar, Nikki Crawford, Melissa Driscol, Eddie Driscoll, Andy Ferrara, Phil Gold, Henry Graham, Seth Hampton, Richard Israel, Diana Kavalis, Linda Kerns,
    Frank Kopyc, Robert Lauder, Jr., Roy Leake, Jr., Don Lucas, Bets Malone, Robert Marra, Claci Miller, Jill Morrison, Joanne O'Brien, Jindra Payne, Robert Pendilla, Tracy Powell, Barbi Lynn Rinks, Johanna Sapakie, Wayne Scherzer and Carol Swarbrick.

    Program Sponsor is Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts, and Media Sponsors are KPCC 89.3 FM and K-SURF 1260 AM.

    JOHN LITHGOW's (Henry Higgins) Broadway credits include Sweet Smell of Success (Tony), M. Butterfly (Tony nomination), Requiem for a Heavyweight (Tony nomination), The Front Page, The Changing Room (Tony), My Fat Friend, Comedians, Anna Christie, Once in a Lifetime, and Kaufman at Large. On television he starred in 3rd Rock from the Sun (three Emmys, a Golden Globe, an American Comedy Award, two SAG Awards), and has appeared on Don Quixote (SAG nomination), The Day After (Emmy nomination), Amazing Stories (Emmy), The Resting Place (Emmy nomination), Traveling Man (ACE nomination), Oldest Living Graduate, and Baby Girl Scott. Among his films are Shrek, Cliffhanger, The Pelican Brief, The World According to Garp (Oscar nomination), Terms of Endearment (Oscar nomination), Memphis Belle, Footloose, Raising Cain, The Manhattan Project, Harry and the Hendersons, Twilight Zone, and All That Jazz. He has directed at the Long Wharf, Phoenix, McCarter and Baltimore Center Stage. He is the author of three New York Times best-selling children's books: Micawber, The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Marsupial Sue. He recently wrote and performed the narration for a new work for the New York City Ballet. It is called Carnival of the Animals; in it he also dances the role of The Elephant. This fall, Lithgow returns to Broadway, starring in The Retreat from Moscow.

    MELISSA ERRICO (Eliza Doolittle) was nominated this year for a Tony and an Outer Critics Circle Award for "Best Actress in a Musical" and a Drama League Honor award for her work in Amour and received a Helen Hayes nomination for her performance in The Kennedy Center/Sondheim Celebration of Sunday in the Park with George. She recently released her first CD on Manhattan/EMI records entitled Blue Like That, which was a collaboration with Grammy Producer of the Year Arif Mardin. After four sold-out weeks at Joe's Pub and The Cutting Room in New York City, Errico and her band continue to play-out at clubs across the country bringing her new interpretation of music to her fans and introducing herself to a new audience along the way. She will give the Los Angeles debut of Blue Like That August 5-8 at Feinstein's at The Roosevelt Hotel. Errico will also appear in the new NBC series, Miss Match opposite Alicia Silverstone in the fall. Errico burst upon the professional theater scene while a freshman at Yale, landing the lead in the Premier National Touring Company of Trevor Nunn's Les Miserables. After graduating she then went on to become the toast of Broadway musical theater, with critically acclaimed starring roles in Anna Karenina, My Fair Lady (opposite Richard Chamberlain), and High Society. After a season as one of the stars of Darren Starr's CBS television series Central Park West, Errico returned to the stage in such productions as One Touch of Venus and Tony Walton's productions of Major Barbara and The Importance of Being Earnest for the Irish Repertory Theater. On film, she portrayed Angelina Jolie's best friend in the film Life or Something Like It, and other credits include the infamous ex-wife to Ed Stevens and the love interest to comedian Norm MacDonald on The Norm Show. Errico lives in Manhattan and is married to tennis player, sports commentator and US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe.

    ROGER DALTREY (Alfred P. Doolittle) has been a world-famous star since the early 1960s when he began his career as the lead singer of The Who and has since become one of the most popular vocalists in rock music history. The band has sold 100 million records and toured the world several times, including gigs at New York's Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall. During the 1970s and 1990s, Roger enjoyed a very successful solo career that yielded several hit singles. Roger has also maintained a successful acting career since the 1970s. A Golden Globe nominee for his portrayal of the title character in Tommy (the filmed adaptation of The Who's famous rock opera), he has amassed a multitude of film and television credits, ranging from Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors and Jonathan Miller's The Beggar's Opera to That '70s Show. He is currently shooting Extreme History, a series for The History Channel. His stage credits include A Christmas Carol and The Wizard of Oz. He has been presented with The Brit, Ivor Novello, and Nordoff Robbins' awards, all honors for special achievement in popular music, and The Who have been inducted into The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. In 2003, Time magazine honored him with one of their Humanitarian Awards for his extensive work with the Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity that builds specialized wards for teenagers afflicted with cancer.

    ROSEMARY HARRIS' (Mrs. Higgins) graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and made her London debut in The Seven Year Itch having already starred in Moss Hart's Climate of Eden on Broadway. Following a season at the Bristol Old Vic in the British premiere of The Crucible, she joined the London Old Vic to play Desdemona opposite Richard Burton in Othello and followed that by playing Cressida in Tyrone Guthrie's production of Troilus and Cressida. When Ellis Rabb formed the APA in 1960, she joined the company and appeared in productions on Broadway. She also played the title role in Peter Pan in an open air production. She has appeared in Laurence Olivier's Company at the Chichester Festival Theatre, she joined the National Theatre to play Ophelia opposite Peter O'Toole in Laurence Olivier's inaugural production of Hamlet, and she created the part of Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter on Broadway, for which she won a Tony award. She has also appeared opposite Jack Lemmon in Idiot's Delight at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, Old Times on Broadway, A Streetcar Named Desire and The Merchant of Venice at the Lincoln Center Repertory Theatre, and The Seagull at the Public Theatre, among numerous other stage appearances. Most recently, she starred in Waiting in the Wings on Broadway with Lauren Bacall for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. Her numerous television credits include Notorious Woman, for which she received an Emmy for Best Actress, and she was awarded a Golen Globe for her portrayal of Berte Weiss in Holocaust. She also starred in Summer Day's Dream with Sir John Gielgud. Her films include The Boys from Brazil, Beau Brummel, A Flea in Her Ear, The Ploughman's Lunch, and Tom and Viv, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. She lectures at Oxford University.

    No stranger to My Fair Lady, PAXTON WHITEHEAD (Col. Pickering) was Col. Pickering to Richard Chamberlain's Henry Higgins in the Broadway revival and on the national tour. He also substituted for Mr. Chamberlain for a few New York performances. Other Broadway roles include Lettice and Lovage; A Little Hotel on the Side; Artist Descending a Staircase; Run for Your Wife; Noises Off; The Crucifer of Blood; Camelot; Habeas Corpus, Beyond the Fringe and The Affair. In Los Angeles, he has appeared in Woman in Mind with Helen Mirren, The Rocky Horror Show and How the Other Half Loves as well as duplicating some of his Broadway roles. He is an Associate Artist of the Old Globe, San Diego, and his leading roles there include The Miser and Richard III. From 1967 to 1977 he was Artistic Director of Canada's Shaw Festival where he played Hector in Heartbreak House with Jessica Tandy, a role he repeated at London's Theatre Royal in the Haymarket with Rex Harrison and Diana Rigg. He has made guest appearances on many television programs including Mad About You, The West Wing, Frasier, Ellen, Friends, 3rd Rock From the Sun and Dinosaurs; television films such as Tales from the Hollywood Hills, An Inconvenient Woman and Trick of the Eye; and as a regular on the series Marblehead Manor and Simon. His most notable theatrical films are the Rodney Dangerfield comedy Back to School and Kate and Leopold.

    KEVIN EARLEY (Freddy Eynsford-Hill) was in the Quartet of last summer's Hollywood Bowl production of The Music Man. His credits also include the recently closed Broadway Company of Les Miserables, City of Angels, Carousel, TITANIC, Spit Fire Grill, Guys and Dolls, Most Happy Fella, Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, I Sent A Letter To My Love, La Cage, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Follies, Milk and Honey, The Sound of Music, and Shenandoah. Among his awards are the L.A. Drama Critic's Circle Award and Robby Award for his portrayal of Rutledge in 1776, the Joseph Jefferson Award for his work as the Balladeer in Assassins, and the Robby Award and an Ovation nomination for portraying Terry Connor in Side Show. Earley will perform later this month with Kim Huber and the California Philharmonic at the August 23 Festival on the Green.

    JOHN MAUCERI's accomplishments extend nationally and internationally, not only to the world's greatest opera companies and symphony orchestras, but also to the musical stages of Broadway and Hollywood, before large television and radio audiences, and in recording studios and major publications. Mauceri has received substantial recognition for his work as one of the principal forces behind the movement to preserve two of America's great art forms, the American musical and music for the American cinema. He is equally at home conducting artists ranging from Plácido Domingo (during a live broadcast of the Grammy Awards) to Madonna (with whom he recorded the soundtrack to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita), from Garth Brooks (an inaugural inductee into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame) to the Smashing Pumpkins (for the 1996 MTV Music Awards). Carol Burnett, Chicago, John Denver, Rodney Gilfry, Jonathan Pryce, Jane Eaglen, Jennifer Larmore, Patrick Stewart, Tito Puente, Charlotte Church, and Trisha Yearwood are among the multitude of artists who have performed with Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Mauceri's first recordings with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra reached the "Top Ten" in Billboard's crossover chart, and one received Germany's highest award, the Deutsche Schallplatten Prize. To date, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra has made four successful tours to Japan and one to Brazil. Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra have presented an astonishing number of premieres, and under Mauceri's tenure, opera and ballet returned to the Bowl's stage. In addition to his Hollywood Bowl position, Mauceri has served as music director for the Pittsburgh Opera since June 2000. The only American ever to have held the post of music director of an opera house in Great Britain and Italy, he served as music director of the Scottish Opera, and recently completed his three-year tenure as music director (direttore stabile) of the Teatro Reggio in Turino.

    One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of just under 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and, in 1991 gave its name to The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. A hit from its very first season, the Hollywood Bowl has remained popular and accessible to a wide cross-section of Southern California's diverse population. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 35th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and last summer, close to one million admissions were recorded. It is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festivals have become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers and Disneyland.

    Programs and artists subject to change.

    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

    Sunday, August 3, 7:30 PM

    HOLLYWOOD BOWL (2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood)

    My Fair Lady

    JOHN LITHGOW as Henry Higgins

    MELISSA ERRICO as Eliza Doolittle

    ROGER DALTREY as Alfred P. Doolittle

    ROSEMARY HARRIS as Mrs. Higgins

    PAXTON WHITEHEAD as Col. Pickering

    KEVIN EARLEY as Freddie Eynsford Hill

    HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA

    John Mauceri, Principal Conductor

    MITCH HANLON SINGERS

    Mitch Hanlon, Director

    Sponsored by Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts

    MEDIA SPONSORS: KPCC 89.3 FM and K-SURF 1260 AM

    Tickets ($3 - $105) are on sale now at the Hollywood Bowl box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, at all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations), or online at hollywoodbowl.com. Groups of 12 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details. For general information or to request a brochure, call 323.850.2000.

    # # #

  • Contact:

    Elizabeth Hinckley, 213.972.3034; Rachelle Roe, 213.972.7310; Laura Segal Stegman, 310.645.1755