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Laura Benanti will star as Eliza in My Fair Lady on Broadway at the Lincoln Center
Laura Benanti will star as Eliza in My Fair Lady on Broadway at the Lincoln Center

Laura Benanti to Join My Fair Lady

Tony-winning actress Laura Benanti, known for critically acclaimed work in such productions as Nine, Into the Woods, Gypsy, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and She Loves Me, has found her next Broadway role. Beginning October 23, 2018, Benanti will take over the role of Eliza Doolittle in the Lincoln Center revival of My Fair Lady. She will succeed Lauren Ambrose who departs the production on October 21.

Benanti will join a cast that includes Harry Hadden-Paton as Professor Henry Higgins, Norbert Leo Butz as Alfred P. Doolittle, Rosemary Harris as Mrs. Higgins, Allan Corduner as Colonel Pickering, Linda Mugleston as Mrs. Pierce, Clarke Thorell as Zolan Kaparthy, and Jordan Donica as Freddy Eynsford-Hill.  The production is directed by Bartlett Sher.

Benanti’s other Broadway credits include Swing!, The Sound of Music, The Wedding Singer, and last season’s Meteor Shower. She also starred in Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room. Her television work includes Nashville, Supergirl, and Younger. She played the Baroness in NBC’s The Sound of Music Live! Benanti won a 2008 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a musical for playing burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee in the musical Gypsy starring Patti LuPone.

Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals, The Disney Song Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.

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