Sierra Repertory Theatre to Open 2016 Season with MY FAIR LADY

Sierra Repertory Theatre opens its 2016 season with its 300th production, My Fair Lady, a story of ambition, diligence, social boundaries, and love.

"Three hundred shows is quite a landmark," said Sara Jones, SRT managing director and one of five friends who founded the theater company 36 years ago. "We have fantastic memories of lots of those shows and know our audience does too."

The critically-acclaimed My Fair Lady won 15 awards and was nominated for another 18, running more than six years on Broadway. It featured Rex Harrison and launched the career of a 19-year old Julie Andrews. The popular film starred Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. The music by Alan Jay Lerner and lyrics by Frederick Loewe masterfully capture the essence of the characters and story, originally created by George Bernard Shaw in his classic play "Pygmalion."

High-class speech professor, Henry Higgins, encounters a street-side flower-selling girl, Eliza Doolittle, with a harsh cockney twang. He balks at her degradation of the English language - "the language of Shakespeare!" and other of the finest poets and works of art in history. Eliza responds by dreaming aloud of how nice it would be to be a high-class lady in "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" She then proposes that Higgins take her on as his student. The arrogant professor is delighted by the challenge of transforming the "draggle-tailed guttersnipe" into a lady who could pass as gentry, and one of the great partnerships of literature begins.

"You really want to treat the play with respect," said SRT co-founder Dennis Jones, who directs and designs My Fair Lady. "At its center, it's a love story," he said. "An unusual love story."

Revolving turntables will accommodate the many scene changes, while designer Ryan Moller (Music Man, Les Miserables) provides the elegant costumes. The play has a large cast headed by a pair of iconic roles. Professor Higgins will be played by Russell Garrett, who recently directed Sierra Rep's highly popular production of The Drowsy Chaperone and other favorites. While it's his first time acting on the SRT stage, he has appeared in leading and featured roles across the country in many national tours, resident productions and on Broadway. Eliza will be played by Britney Bertier, an actress who has performed Off-Broadway as well as in film and television. Company actor Ty Smith plays Eliza's father.

My Fair Lady opens Saturday, February 27, with Sierra Rep's sold out 2016 Gala and runs through April 24 with performances Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m.; and Thursdays at either 2 or 7 p.m. Tickets range from $32 to $37. Seniors 60 and older received $2 off, while student tickets are $25 and children ages 6 to 17 are $20 each. Special discount tickets are available for $20 each for those attending the March 10 My Fair Ladies Night Out. Various vendors including 31 Bags and Mary Kay will be set up in the East Sonora Annex starting at 6 p.m. before the show. For tickets and information, visit www.sierrarep.org or call the Box Office at 209-532-3120.

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