Albany High thespians to perform My Fair Lady

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 2, 2012) -- Albany High School's award-winning Theatre Ensemble this month will present four performances of the Broadway musical My Fair Lady, a lampoon of social class divisions in early 20th-century England.

The play opens with a 7 p.m. performance on Thursday, April 26. Additional performances will be at 7 p.m. Friday, April 27, and Saturday, April 28, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 29. Check out a video preview of the show.

My Fair Lady is based on Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw’s 1912 comedy that skewers Britain’s rigid class structure. In it, snooty phonetics professor Henry Higgins accepts a bet that he can train flower girl Eliza Doolittle to pass in high society by polishing her looks and her language. Higgins gets more than he bargained for as the story unfolds.

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe adapted Shaw’s play into the musical My Fair Lady, which debuted on Broadway in 1956. It was an instant hit and went on to become the longest-running production of its time. It also swept the 1957 Tony awards, winning seven out of 11 categories and garnering nominations in the remaining four.

Its musical numbers include such Broadway standards as, “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” and “Get Me to the Church on Time.”

The Theatre Ensemble's production of My Fair Lady will feature:

• Amal Hechehouche as Eliza Doolittle

• Alejandro Torres as Henry Higgins

• Nick Gardner as Colonel Pickering

• Nikolai Mishler as Alfred Doolittle

• Tanisha Findley as Mrs. Pearce

• Lucas Phayre as Freddy Eynsford-Hill

• Jasmine Rivera as Mrs. Higgins

Tickets for adults are $15 at the door or $13 if purchased by April 20. Student and senior tickets cost $5.

For advance-sale tickets, contact Nan Weltz at nweltz09@gmail.com. You also can mail checks (payable to the Albany High Theater Ensemble) to Albany High School, c/o Ward Dales, 700 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12203. Click here for an order form.

The mission of the City School District of Albany is to educate and nurture all students to be responsible citizens, critical thinkers and lifelong learners to successfully compete in the global community by providing an academically rigorous and safe environment in partnership with parents, students and the community. The district serves about 8,700 students in 15 elementary, middle and high schools. In addition to neighborhood schools, the district includes several magnet schools and programs, as well as other innovative academic opportunities for students, including four themed academies at Albany High School.