Casting News: Full Casting Announced for “My Fair Lady”

Shereen Ahmed and Laird Mackintosh

Nederlander Presentations, Inc., James L. Nederlander, President, has announced complete casting for the upcoming North American tour of Lincoln Center Theater’s critically-acclaimed production of Lerner & Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY.

Joining the previously announced Shereen Ahmed as Eliza Doolittle and Laird Mackintosh as Professor Henry Higgins will be Leslie Alexander as Mrs. Higgins, Adam Grupper as Alfred P. Doolittle, Wade McCollum as Professor Zoltan Karpathy, Kevin Pariseau as Colonel Pickering, Gayton Scott as Mrs. Pearce, and Sam Simahk as Freddy Eynsford-Hill.  Directed by Bartlett Sher, the tour will tech and launch in Syracuse, NY before officially opening at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The production’s ensemble will feature Mark Aldrich, Rajeer Alford, Colin Anderson, Polly Baird, Mark Banik, Michael Biren, Shavey Brown, Anne Brummel, Henry Byalikov, Mary Callanan, Jennifer Evans, Nicole Ferguson, Kaitlyn Frank, Juliane Godfrey, Colleen Grate, Patrick Kerr, Brandon Leffler, Nathalie Marrable, William Michals, Rommel Pierre O’Choa, JoAnna Rhinehart, Sarah Quinn Taylor, Fana Tesfagiorgis, Michael Williams, and John T. Wolfe.

Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Lerner & Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY is the winner of 5 Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best Revival of Musical and was nominated for 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival, 5 Drama Desk Awards including Best Musical Revival and 3 Drama League Awards including Best Musical Revival.  The production, which premiered in the spring of 2018, recently ended its long run at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater on July 7, 2019 after playing 548 performances.

Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture Pygmalion, MY FAIR LADY, with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, premiered on Broadway on March 15, 1956. The legendary original production won 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical and ran for 2,717 performances making it, at the time, the longest-running musical in Broadway history. 

Boasting a score that contains such now-classic songs as “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “The Rain in Spain,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” Lincoln Center Theater’s production of MY FAIR LADY was hailed by The New York Times as “Thrilling, glorious and better than it ever was.  A marvelous and transformative revival.” New York Magazine described it as ‘Enthralling,” adding that “Bartlett Sher’s glowing revival proves that a beloved musical from another era can keep on kicking.” And Entertainment Weekly raved “A sumptuous new revival of the most perfect musical of all time. A masterful piece of entertainment.”  

Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Lerner & Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY features choreography by Christopher Gattelli, and has sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Donald Holder and sound by Marc Salzberg.  Music supervision is by Ted Sperling, featuring MY FAIR LADY’s original musical arrangements by Robert Russell Bennett and Phil Lang, and dance arrangements by Trude Rittmann.  Orchestration adaptation is by Josh Clayton and music direction is by John Bell.

The North American tour of Lincoln Center Theater’s production of Lerner & Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY will be produced by Nederlander Presentations, Inc.

For the complete 2019-20 Tour Schedule, please visit: www.myfairladyontour.com

CAST BIOGRAPHIES

LAIRD MACKINTOSH  Broadway: The Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom and Monsieur André), Jekyll & Hyde (John Utterson), Mary Poppins (Mr. Banks). Off-Broadway: 1776 (James Wilson; City Centre Encores!). Regional: Titanic (Bruce Ismay) P.C.L.O., Private Lives (Victor Prynne; Pittsburgh Public). The Stratford Festival: My One and Only (Billy Buck Chandler); Fuente Ovejuna (Leonelo); To Kill a Mockingbird (Boo Radley); South Pacific (Lieutenant Cable); Hello, Dolly! (Cornelius Hackl); Into the Woods (Rapunzel’s Prince); Anything Goes (Lord Evelyn Oakleigh); My Fair Lady (Freddy Eynsford-Hill).  Other: The Drowsy Chaperone (Robert Martin), White Christmas (Phil Davis), Arcadia (Septimus Hodge). Mr. Mackintosh began his career as a dancer in the National Ballet of Canada. www.lairdmackintosh.com  Ig: @lairdmackintosh

SHEREEN AHMED made her Broadway debut as Ms. Clara Eynsford-Hill/Ensemble and Eliza understudy in Lincoln Center Theater’s production of My Fair Lady.  Her regional credits include Legally Blonde (Vivienne), West Side Story (Anita), Shrek (Princess Fiona) and Jekyll & Hyde (Lucy). She holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology & Anthropology with a concentration in Criminal Justice from Towson University. Much love and gratitude to my family and friends for their support, Telsey + Company, and the My Fair Lady team.   www.shereenahmedonline.com  Ig: @shereen_ahmed

LESLIE ALEXANDER  Broadway: The Boy From Oz (with Hugh Jackman), Mamma Mia!. North American Tour: Fiddler on the Roof (w/Topol, Fierstein, & Bikel). Off-Broadway: The Audience (Transport Group). Selected Regional: The Music Man (Eulalie Shinn; Arizona Theatre Co.); The Taming of the Shrew (The Widow); A Christmas Carol (Mrs. Cratchit), Rattlesnake Kate (Kate), (all Denver Center Theatre); Hello, Dolly! (Dolly Levi), Memphis (Gladys Calhoun), (both Gateway Playhouse); Sister Act (Mother Superior; Arts Center of Coastal Carolina); Macbeth (Lady Macbeth; Shakespeare Festival of Dallas). Film/TV: HBO’s “The Leftovers,” “One Life To Live,” The O’Clock. Video Games: Red Dead Redemption II, Grand Theft Auto V. leslie-alexander.com Ig: @txsdiva1 #lalesliealexander

ADAM GRUPPER  Broadway: My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, Wicked, The Addams Family, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Forty Five Seconds From Broadway, La Bohème, The Wild Party, Guys and Dolls, The Secret Garden, City of Angels, Into the Woods. Off-Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along; Down the Garden Paths; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Film/TV: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Homeland,” “Nightcap,” “Master of None,” “Rise,” “The Blacklist,” “Elementary,” all “Law & Orders,” “Ugly Betty,” “The Sopranos,” Two Weeks Notice, Music and Lyrics. Award-winning audiobook narrator with over 100 titles. For Maxine, Harry and Phoebe, with love. www.adamgrupper.com

WADE McCOLLUM  West End: It Happened in Key West (World Premiere). Broadway: Wicked. Broadway Chicago/Tour: Priscilla Queen of The Desert, Jersey Boys. Off-Broadway: Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Norton Award; Lortel Award nomination, can be seen on BroadwayHD), Triassic Parq, Fifty Million Frenchmen, Secondary Dominance.   Film/TV: “Madame Secretary,” “Prodigal Son,” “The Knick,” “At Home with Amy Sedaris,” “Nightcap,” “Submissions Only,” Delicate Instruments.  Recent Regional: Rob Askins’ The Carpenter (Alley Theatre; World Premiere), Michael Weller’s The Welcome Guest (CATF; World Premiere), Angels in America (Prior), A Lie Of The Mind (Jake), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck).  Ig: @Wademccollum Twitter: @Wadesong

KEVIN PARISEAU  Broadway/Off-Broadway: Ink (MTC); Grand Hotel (City Center Encores!); Legally Blonde (OBC); Show Boat (with the NY Philharmonic); The Explorers Club; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.  Regional: Anything Goes, Beatsville, Chicago, Nerds, The Producers, Annie, 1776, The Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Nashville), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, It’s a Wonderful Life, 9 to 5, Lend Me a Tenor (with Mickey Rooney). Film/TV: “Evil” (CBS), “Boardwalk Empire” (series finale), Tower Heist, Morning Glory.  Audiobooks: Over 130 recordings including Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War (Audie nomination), War and Remembrance, and The Kama Sutra.  www.kevinpariseau.com

GAYTON SCOTT  Broadway: Gypsy (with Bernadette Peters, director Sam Mendes); The Women (with Cynthia Nixon); Present Laughter (with Frank Langella).  Off-Broadway includes Abigail’s Party, Bunty Berman Presents (both at The New Group, directed by Scott Elliott); Side Street (Theater Lab); Indiscretions (Phoenix Theatre, director Jonathan Silverstein); and The Tutor (Prospect Theater).  First National Tour: An American in Paris (director Christopher Wheeldon).  Regional includes Cincinnati Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Pioneer Theater, Barrington Stage Company, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf.  Film/TV: “Law & Order: CI,” “As the World Turns,” “Guiding Light,” “Great Performances” on PBS, Forbidden Love, PS I Love You, Under the Light of the Silver Moon (short).  Gayton studied acting with the late William Esper.

SAM SIMAHK  Broadway: Carousel. Tours: The King and I (1st National), Miss Saigon (Midwest Tour). Regional: West Side Story (Tony standby), The King and I (Lun Tha), (both Lyric Opera Chicago); Oklahoma! (Curly; Theatre Under the Stars); Thoroughly Modern Millie (Ching Ho; Pittsburgh CLO); A Little Night Music (Frid; Huntington Theatre Company); Sweeney Todd (Anthony Hope;), Into the Woods (Rapunzel’s Prince), (both at Lyric Stage Company of Boston); Big Fish (Will Bloom; SpeakEasy Stage).  Many thanks to Bart and Sari, Telsey + Company, the team at BRS/Gage, and my incredibly supportive family and friends. sam-simahk.com Ig: @soapboxsam