Julie Andrews to direct Sydney show

Opera Australia artistic director Lyndon Terracini and John Frost travelled to Andrews’ home outside of New York city to seal the deal for My Fair Lady.

World-renowned actor and director Dame Julie Andrews will direct the 60th anniversary production of My Fair Lady in Sydney next year.

In a statement, the actress said that she was thrilled, adding, “I look forward to…beginning the process of bringing this great musical to life once again”.

A 21-year-old Andrews starred as heroine Eliza Doolittle in the original Broadway production of 1956. It was her second Broadway role, and one that helped launch her career.

She will be in Sydney later this year to start casting.

Based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, the musical featyres some of theatre’s most iconic songs including “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?’, “On The Street Where You Live”, “I Could Have Danced All Night” and ‘Get Me to the Church on Time”. The stage production features music by Frederick Loewe and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner.

It has since undergone numerous revivals and was adapted into a 1964 film starring Audrey Hepburn.

The production will premiere in August 2016, as part of the opera house’s 60th birthday celebrations.

My Fair Lady tells the story of young Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle and her phoneticist Professor Higgins.

This is the fourth major musical Opera Australia and John Frost have partnered to present, following South Pacific, The King and I and Anything Goes.

Opera Australia toured a production of My Fair Lady directed by Stuart Maunder in 2008 and 2009.