My Fair Lady (1st National Tour)

Run Notes / Description

For the 4th and 5th legs of the tour in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Association paid $250,000 in advance to cover the production in those cities, the final total being $1,250,000. According to opera director Edwin Lester "that in order to make the move from Los Angeles to San Francisco, two stages have to be built, so that one can go ahead of the company and be placed before the seven carloads of production arrive" On 22 Sep 1959 three members of the cast were in a two-car collision in Calgary that resulted in the death of 80 year old "Mrs John MacLaurin". The crash occurred just an hour before curtain, they were returning from an afternoon trip to Banff. Michael Evans, playing Henry Higgins, was driving. Also in the car was dancer Patricia Sigris and company electrician Timothy Cashman. Evans and Sigris were both released after treatment for minor cuts to their face and hands but Cashman suffered a broken leg and facial lacerations. Michael Allinson went on for Michael Evans that night and the next day, but Evans returned for the Sep 24 performance. Allinson was already scheduled to take over the role of Henry Higgins on Broadway on 1 Feb 1960. His wife, Judi Schriver, was also a member of the cast in the Dance Ensemble and playing the Flower Girl. She left he cast by 7 Jan 1960 to go ahead to New York to set up their apartment. On 1 Mar 1960 announcements made that arrangements had been made for the US National Tour to travel to Russia, opening in Moscow on April 18 and following in Leningrad, Kiev, Odessa, and Tiflis. Due to this change, the engagement at the Nixon Theatre in Pittsburgh was reduced from 4 weeks to 3 weeks. By Apr 2 the stops in Odessa and Tiflis were cut from the Russia tour, reportedly due to the theaters there not being able to handle the sets. The new schedule was Apr 18 - June 11 with three weeks each in Moscow and Leningrad, followed by one week each in Minsk and Kiev. There were also a couple of cast changes for the Russia stops. Michael Evans will continue as Henry Higgins with Edward Mulhare as an alternate, both expected to share the role, but Lola Fisher took over for Eliza. Lola had been the long term understudy for Eliza on Broadway, having played the part more than 100 times, and had also covered for Diane Todd for two weeks of the tour previously. Robert Cools took over the role of Col. Pickering. By April 13 the tour was reduced even further to only two weeks in Leningrad and Minsk was cut. Note, we don't yet have the specific performance dates and times. Currently I'm adding the based on the standard US schedule of 8:30 pm Mon-Sat, with 2:30 matinees on Wed/Sat, and going by the weeks mentioned in various US newspaper reports. Regarding the stages and dates/times of the performances in Russia - the stage in Moscow is confirmed from US newspapers. These papers also mentioned that the stage in Leningrad had 2400 seats, which was almost certainly Lensoveta. There is no mention made for the stage in Kiev, but Royal Opera House was the largest and most prestigious in the city in 1960 and the most likely candidate. The opening and closing nights and number of performances for each city are confirmed in US papers. Lola Fisher also noted in a letter that they performed twice on Saturdays and Sundays. Based on the standard 8:30 and 2:30 matiness performance times for the rest of the tour, we've recreated what was most likely the schedule. On 14 Sep 1962, cast member Katherine Hynes de Groot was struck by a car at the intersection of Howard and Riverside in Spokane, Washington while running for a bus to get to the theater. She suffered from a fractured pelvis and bruising on her arms and legs but recovered. She hoped to join the cast again "in eastern Canada after the shows extended tour in Denver". Incredibly, on 20 Sep 1962, while on her way to the theater from her hotel in Salt Lake City, Margaretta Warwick was struck by a taxi but also survived with a head injury and cracked left thigh. According to a local newspaper account, "Meanwhile the troupe moved on to Denver where her role will be temporarily filled by Velma Royton". Another article mentions a high school newspaper staff seeing the show in Denver at the Auditorium Theater. No ads have been found, but based on this information have added estimated dates based on the available space before Oklahoma City and the usual performance schedule format for the two week run. In July 1963 the tour was originally scheduled for several additional short stops in California after the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. While few ads were placed for these steps, some brief articles continued to mention them even after cancellation in error. The original stops had been: Jul 22-24: Fresno Memorial Auditorium (16 Jun - Fresno Bee) Jul 29-31: Sacramento Memorial Auditorium (23 Jun - Sacramento Union) Aug 1-3: Stockton Civic Auditorium (14 Jun - Lodi News-Sentinel) Aug 5-7: San Jose Civic Auditorium (11 Jul - Los Gatos Times-Saratoga Observer) The release of the motion picture cut the tour slightly shorter than originally intended. In early 1963 some cast members speculated that the tour might continue until at least 1965. An article in the Globe and Mail from 8 Nov 1963 noted that the final stop at the O'Keefe Centre was originally booked through Feb 1964.