Last weekend, renowned Australian soprano Claire Lyon was unveiled as the next Eliza Doolittle for the upcoming 70th Anniversary season of the much-loved musical, My Fair Lady.
Based on Julie Andrews’ 2016 production, My Fair Lady will premiere at the Sydney Opera House in September before a season at Arts Centre Melbourne in November.
The Scoop had the pleasure of chatting to Claire after the news was announced. Claire talks all things My Fair Lady, including auditioning for the role, her previous experience with the musical and what audiences can expect from Julie Andrews’ production. Read the full interview below.
Firstly, congratulations on the role! Can you talk about the significance of this casting and production?
Oh, gosh, where do I begin? It’s honestly a role of a lifetime, something that I didn’t imagine that I would have the opportunity to audition for again. I was part of the 2008 version of the show, directed by Stuart Maunder and it was my first show out of university with Opera Australia. I had an absolute ball performing in that show.
To play the actual role of Eliza now is a real pinch-me moment. It is one of the most coveted roles in musical theatre and something that has always been on my bucket list. But it’s all about timing when it comes to shows, and whether the right show comes up at the right time in your career. The stars have to align, and they certainly have for this one.
Do you have a behind-the-scenes audition story that you can share?
I remember the show being announced last year and thinking: Oh my goodness. All I would love is the opportunity to audition. And of course, when the audition came through, I was away in Merimbula with my husband and two little kids. I had no clothes with me.
I thought, I’m going to have to film this in my golf pants and cardigan. Because I literally just had jeans and t-shirts with me. But at the end of the day, I thought, they’re not going to care what I’m wearing. You just have to go with whatever you’re dealt at the time and see what happens.
It’s always the least ideal conditions when an audition drops.
Seriously. I had my phone resting on a box of Lego, and the lighting was awful, but I managed to put something together. And from there, I got an in-person audition, which was a working session with the director, Karen Johnson Mortimer. And then all that footage was sent to Julie Andrews.
Amazing. Can you take us back to first watching Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins when you were a kid? How did those experiences shape you as a performer?
She was – and is – the ultimate performer and soprano. I don’t really fan girl over anyone, but if I’m going to be fan girling over anyone, it’s Julie Andrews. She is just absolute perfection. She played Eliza when she was in her early 20s on Broadway, originating the role. It’s big shoes to fill.
To be learning from her though is just absolutely priceless. Just knowing that I’ll be working with Mary Poppins and Maria is surreal. Totally surreal.
Yes! My son was just remarking that the impossible happens every day. I think that applies here.
It certainly does!
I don’t know much about the My Fair Lady world. For readers like me, can you take us through the story in a nutshell?
So in a nutshell, there’s a young cockney flower girl called Eliza Doolittle, who essentially gets plucked from the gutters of London and is the object of a bet between two gentlemen, who are essentially language professors. They transform her into the most elegant and eloquent of ladies and try to pass her off as a Duchess at an Embassy Ball.
All Eliza really wants is to speak more beautifully so she can get a job as a lady in a flower shop, so she doesn’t have to sell flowers at the corner of Tottenham Court Road. She wants to take herself off the street and better her chances in life.
So she turns up to this gentleman’s house and asks for speech lessons. And one thing leads to another, and her life changes forever. My Fair Lady really is a show about transformation and language, and speech is her tool of transformation.
Which part of Eliza’s story resonates most with you?
I think just wearing your heart on your sleeve, and being vulnerable and taking a chance. They’re the things that I really love about her as a character. And in a way, it’s how I live my life. Just being open and honest, not being afraid to be vulnerable and not seeing that as a weakness.
When you think back to 2008, making your professional debut, what would that younger version of yourself say about where you are now?
Probably: How cool. I don’t think it would have even been on my radar back then that I would be in Julie Andrews’ production. That’s just crazy to think about. I wouldn’t have even thought it was a thing.
I remember back in 2008 desperately wanting to understudy the role, but I was probably too shy to ask. In that production, different to nowadays where you have two understudies, there was only one, and from memory, Teresa Ball, who was the understudy, didn’t even get to go on.
So it wasn’t even really a thing back then, but it was a fantastic production. If I were to go back and tell myself that I’d be playing this now, I’d be pretty chuffed.
Absolutely. From an outsider’s perspective, how is the Julie Andrews 2016 version different from the 2008 version?
Well, the 2008 production was directed by Stuart Maunder, and the costumes were by Roger Kirk. And this production is, of course, Julie Andrews’ production from 2016, which we’re recreating under the direction of Karen Johnson Mortimer.
The sets and costumes are all different. The costumes are actually very closely modelled off the original costumes that Cecil Beaton designed for the 1956 production on Broadway. I will basically be wearing exactly what Julie Andrews wore in 1956, which is very cool.
I had a costume fitting a couple of weeks ago, and afterwards, I was Googling Julie Andrews in all her costumes and fan-girling a little bit. The script in this and the score are the same, but the sets, costumes and direction will be different.
So exciting! I’d love to end our interview with some rapid-fire questions. We have a lot of musical theatre readers, and I’d love for them to get to know Claire Lyon a little bit better.
All right, do I just say the first thing that comes to me?
Yes! We’ll keep it nice and short. Go-to vocal warm up?
Lip trills.
Go-to audition song?
‘If I Loved You’ from Carousel.
Cast album you have on repeat?
Oh, SIX.
Coffee before a show: yes or no?
Not before a show. In the morning.
Favourite post-show snack?
I don’t really snack after a show.
Dressing room must-have?
A trundle bed to have a nap between shows.
Guilty pleasure song?
For me to sing or listen to?
Up to you.
Gosh. Maybe.. I Could Have Danced All Night.
If not performing, what would you be doing?
I’m going to say real estate. I’m obsessed with property.
Dream city to perform in?
Ohhh, Broadway.
Of course. Dream role you haven’t played yet?
Maybe Maria in The Sound of Music.
One word to describe opening night?
Whirlwind.
Who is your biggest supporter?
Two: my husband and my mother.
If Eliza had Instagram, what would her bio say?
Just a flower girl trying to make it big in London.
And finally, if you could give some advice to somebody who was just starting out, what would you say?
I would say try to add as many strings to your bow. The industry is so incredibly competitive, and there are so many talented people. If you can work on your craft and try to perfect as many things as you can, whether it’s your dancing, your singing, your acting, etc, having as many strings to your bow will give you the best chance.
Claire Lyon plays Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, presented by Opera Australia and John Frost for Crossroads Live. It runs 12 September – 30 October at the Sydney Opera House and then runs at the Ian Potter State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne from 14 November.
Tickets for Sydney are available here and for Melbourne here.
Website: https://myfairladythemusical.com.au/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/myfairladyaus/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/claire_lyon/
Photo credits: Benny Capp
