Laura Benanti to replace Lauren Ambrose in MY FAIR LADY — Page 18

I was looking at tickets for late March, and pulled up a Tuesday to look at availability. There was an alert in red indicating that "Kerstin Anderson will perform the role of Eliza Doolittle at this performance."

Now, I'm sure there's just something in the coding where Telecharge has posted that message for every Tuesday, but it seems they shouldn't be saying that for the dates after Laura Benanti leaves the show unless they already know that the replacement Eliza will be missing Tuesday night performances as well.  

I've been holding off purchasing until they announce the new Eliza and what her schedule will be, but there are also lots of really good front orchestra seats available for $177 and I want to take advantage of that.

Eliza2 said: "I've been holding off purchasing until they announce the new Eliza and what her schedule will be, but there are also lots of really good front orchestra seats available for $177 and I want to take advantage of that."

Honestly, I've been thinking about buying early, too. I think they may announce the replacement in the following weeks. However, LCT, and specifically Sher's shows, always have great replacements (ex. All the My Fair Lady replacements thus far, Marin in King & I, Laura Osnes in South Pacific, Aaron Lazar in Light in the Piazza, etc.). 

I have dreamt that Shoba Narayan is the next Eliza if Kerstin Anderson plays the role for a quick 2 or 3-week engagement, that would give her enough time to rehearse after departing the Hamilton tour but I doubt that would happen. I think Phillipa Soo is the more likely option.

natashalost said: "Eliza2 said: "I've been holding off purchasing until they announce the new Eliza and what her schedule will be, but there are also lots of really good front orchestra seats available for $177 and I want to take advantage of that."

Honestly, I've been thinking about buying early, too. I think they may announce the replacement in the following weeks. However, LCT, and specifically Sher's shows, always have great replacements (ex. All the My Fair Lady replacements thus far, Marin in King & I, Laura Osnes in South Pacific, Aaron Lazar in Light in the Piazza, etc.).

I have dreamt that Shoba Narayan is the next Eliza if Kerstin Anderson plays the role for a quick 2 or 3-week engagement, that would give her enough time to rehearse after departing the Hamilton tour but I doubt that would happen. I think Phillipa Soo is the more likely option."

Oh I'm sure whoever it is will be great, but that's exactly why I don't want to buy yet. I don't want to buy a ticket for a show that will be the "day off" for the new Eliza. I think I'm just going to go ahead and get a Friday night or Saturday night ticket because those aren't likely to be performances that are scheduled off. 

SmoothLover said: "I heard that Ashley Brown was being considered as an Eliza replacement. She was very good in Mary Poppins a few years back."

Your “friend” is starting to sound like Bobby Moynihans character on weekend update that spreads 3rd hand information...

”have you heard about this? Mary poppins is replacing my fair lady. And by mary poppins I mean Ashley brown will replacing the entire show!”

I'm happy to see they invited the press again. A deserved RAVE for Laura and the production from the Times. 

With less than 2 weeks left in her announced run, she's still being advertised prominently, with the 2/17 date nowhere in sight. Today, I received an email from Broadway Box with the subject line: "Get $85 Orchestra Seats to My Fair Lady - Starring Laura Benanti!" Can we expect an announcement of her extension soon?

My Mary Poppins source told me that Laura had extended through April.

Would you think that this was a little harsh from Jesse Green regarding Lauren Ambrose, or is this fair play?

I mean no disrespect to Lauren Ambrose, who originated the role in this revival, to say that Ms. Benanti is a more effortless vocalist; she dispatches her very difficult and wide-ranging songs with glee, whereas in Ms. Ambrose’s performance, getting through them sometimes seemed like a metaphor for the character’s struggle.

Especially considering his initial review of her singing.

The big revelation of this production is that Ms. Ambrose has a stirring voice: lustrous and rich if without the bright ping of most Elizas. That turns out to be an advantage. She delivers her first number — “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?” — very quietly and with an intense longing that digs beneath its surface charm to find its stillness and steel.

And what was revealed after Lauren had finished her run in her New York Times interview..

I dropped out of a few performances when my dad passed away about a month ago. To get to come back to the show and be surrounded by this amazing group of beautiful, feeling artists as I started the process of grieving and dealing with this new phase of life was really a gift, even though obviously incredibly challenging.

It had been a very intense time, an awful, weird time. I had this vocal problem for a little while, my voice was cutting out while I was singing. There were a few performances where I was having a crazy muscle tension thing. It was when I was going back and forth from New Haven, from the hospital. That was really stressful; my body wasn’t responding and performing the way I wanted it to. But it was amazing how supported I was by all of the people here.

Updated On: 2/5/19 at 10:27 PM