Julie Andrews
Based On The 2016 Production By
Julie Andrews has been a beloved and much-honored star of stage, screen, television and recordings for more than half a century. Ms. Andrews spent her youth in England as a stage and radio performer before making her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend. Her subsequent theater credits include My Fair Lady (NY Drama Critics Award, Tony nomination), Camelot (Tony nomination) and Victor/Victoria. Once established as a Broadway star, Ms. Andrews made her iconic film debut in Mary Poppins which earned her an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award. Her other film credits include The Sound of Music (Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe Award), Thoroughly Modern Millie, Darling Lili,10, Victor/Victoria (Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe Award), The Princess Diaries films, and most recently the Shrek films, Enchanted, The Tooth Fairy and Despicable Me, to name a few, and the list is still growing. Ms. Andrews has also been honored for her work on television beginning in 1957 with her Emmy-nominated performance in Cinderella. Her television credits include The Julie Andrews Hour (Emmy Award), Julie and Carol Specials (Emmy nomination), Sounds of Christmas (Emmy nomination), Eloise at the Plaza, Eloise at Christmastime and On Golden Pond. In addition to her stage and screen work, Ms. Andrews is an accomplished best selling author and lauded philanthropist. She joined forces with her daughter to create the children’s book imprint, The Julie Andrews Collection which has released 27 books to date. Ms. Andrews received her honors as a Dame of the British Empire by Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II on New Year’s Eve 1999, and she was a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women from 1992 to 2006. She received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2001.
Karen Johnson Mortimer
Directed By
Karen is thrilled to be returning to My Fair Lady as Director after being Associate Director to Julie Andrews in 2016 for the 60th Anniversary.
Karen began her professional career at the age of 15 in Anything Goes starring Toni Lamond. As a performer, Karen played Cassie in the original Australian production of A Chorus Line and appeared in Company, Conquest of Carmen Miranda, Dames at Sea, Kiss Me Kate, No No Nanette, Irene as well as GFO productions Cabaret and Footloose. Throughout the 80’s Karen was a regular solo guest artist on The Don Lane Show and The Mike Walsh Show.
Recent credits include Director for the Annie The Musical and Australian Associate Director for Crossroads Live’s productions of Anastasia, Chicago and Wicked. Karen remounted the Korean Language production of Wicked in Seoul in 2015. She directed the 2018 production of Saturday Night Fever starring Marcia Hines and was Associate Director for Grease –The Arena Spectacular, The Wizard of Oz, Dirty Dancing, Pippin and the Dolly Parton musical 9 to 5. She has also directed three Rob Guest Endowment Finalists Concerts held in both Sydney and Melbourne.
Choreographic credits include Turns starring Reg Livermore and Nancye Hayes, Grease-The Mega Musical (GFO), Stones In His Pockets (STC), Leader of The Pack – The Ellie Greenwich Musical (Star City), Anzac Military Tattoo (Acer Arena) and Opening Ceremonies for numerous Bledisloe Cups, Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) as well as The World Swimming Championships (Melb 2008) and the Helpmann Awards in 2007. Karen was honoured to be part of the Creative team for the 2000 Sydney Olympics as choreographer for Tin Symphony in the Opening Ceremony and two sections of the Closing Ceremony. She also choreographed the Gold Medallists Gymnastic Gala- 2000 Sydney Olympics (NBC-USA), For the Sydney Festival Karen choreographed Kelly’s Republic on the Forecourt of the Sydney Opera House. Other credits include Oscar’s Turn To Sing, Wonder Woman (Reg Livermore), Sacred Cow (Reg Livermore), Norman Gunston Show (ABC TV) and Farnham & Byrne (ABC).
Karen was also one of Artistic Director’s for the World Youth Day Festival in Sydney in 2008. In 2003 she completed a Masters Degree at the University of Wollongong in Theatre Research. She is very excited for this 70th anniversary production to return to the beautiful Sydney Opera House.
Christopher Gattelli
Choreography
Christopher Gattelli is an acclaimed and multi-award-winning director & choreographer. He is currently represented on Broadway with SHCHMOGADOON!, RAGTIME, and DEATH BECOMES HER, and nominated for two Tony Award nominations for Best Direction and Choreography of a Musical. He received the 2012 Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards for his choreography of Disney’s NEWSIES and won the Joe A. Callaway Award for his work on ALTAR BOYZ. He has also won the Lucille Lortel Award, recognizing excellence off-Broadway, for his work on DOGFIGHT (2013), ALTAR BOYZ (2005), and BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL (2001).
As a director/choreographer, his production of SILENCE! THE MUSICAL was included in TIME Magazine’s list of Top 10 Theater, and EMMET OTTER’S JUG-BAND CHRISTMAS premiered at The New Victory Theater in 2022 in collaboration with the Jim Henson Company. Additional credits include DEPARTURE LOUNGE (The Public Theater), RADIO GIRL (Goodspeed), IN YOUR ARMS (The Old Globe), and SCHMIGADOON! (The Kennedy Center), TAKE THE LEAD (PaperMill Playhouse).
His Broadway credits include MY FAIR LADY (Tony, OCC nominations), SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations), THE KING AND I (Tony, OCC nominations), SOUTH PACIFIC (Tony, OCC nominations), THE CHER SHOW (OCC nominations), MOTHER PLAY, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, WAR PAINT, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, CASA VALENTINA, AMAZING GRACE, GODSPELL, THE RITZ, MARTIN SHORT: FAME BECOMES ME, 13, and HIGH FIDELITY.
His work in London includes THE KING AND I (Olivier Award nomination), SOUTH PACIFIC, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, TICK, TICK, BOOM!, and SILENCE! THE MUSICAL. He also has choreographed MY FAIR LADY at the Sydney Opera House, directed by Julie Andrews.
On film, Gattelli choreographed the Coen Brothers’ feature HAIL, CAESAR! starring Channing Tatum, George Clooney, Josh Brolin, and Scarlett Johansson, ISN’T IT ROMANTIC with Rebel Wilson and Liam Hemsworth, and live stage captures of NEWSIES with Jeremy Jordan and THE KING AND I with Ken Watanabe and Kelli O’Hara. His first animated feature THE MONKEY KING released on Netflix in 2023.
His choreography was seen in the Warner Bros. feature WONKA, directed by Paul King and starring Timothée Chalamet, Olivia Colman and Hugh Grant.
In television, his choreography of the musical comedy series Schmigadoon! for Apple TV+, executive produced by Lorne Michaels, earned him Emmy nominations in 2022 and 2023. He has also choreographed for the shows Miracle Workers (Hulu), and Bupkis (Paramount). Most recently choreographed The Muppet Show (Disney)with Sabrina Carpenter and Seth Rogan.
Gattelli started dancing at eight years-old and danced in the Broadway and National tours for CATS, FOSSE, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS (with Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker), GUYS AND DOLLS, and EVITA. He has performed in ballet companies as well as with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and was a Star Search Grand Champion.
Oliver Smith
Set Design
Winner of eight Tony Awards, five Donaldson Awards, New York City’s Handel Medallion and numerous other honors, Oliver Smith (1918-1994) was the twentieth century’s most decorated American set designer. His scenic designs for musical comedy spanned a golden age on Broadway from the 40s through the 70s, including My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly!, West Side Story, Brigadoon, Camelot, The Sound of Music, and over sixty others; his designs for the dance included Rodeo, Fall River Legend, Fancy Free and Les Noces (and many others for American Ballet Theatre, which he co-produced for forty years with Lucia Chase); his films included Band Wagon, Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma! and Porgy and Bess; and his opera designs filled the stages of the Metropolitan and New York City Operas.
Oliver Smith was born in Waupun, Wisconsin, and moved to Pennsylvania and New York while still a boy. His parents encouraged an early interest in theater and opera, and while Smith had originally intended to become a playwright, he began painting in undergraduate school and moved to New York City after graduating from college in 1939.
During this first year in New York City, Smith’s watercolors were exhibited in both Brooklyn and Manhattan; when little sold, he created a theater design portfolio and set about breaking into show business. It was a field uniquely suited to his talents, as his sensitivity to the sculpting of space made for scenic designs that were both beautiful and tailored to the practical needs of individual productions.
In 1941, Smith’s professional debut for Massine’s ballet Saratoga was hailed by a New York critic as a breakthrough in American scenic design. Agnes DeMille’s Rodeo followed in 1942, and On the Town and Fancy Free (with Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein) in 1944. Smith’s scenery won raves for each, launching a career in design for theatre, ballet, opera and film.
Throughout this career, Oliver Smith’s work blended a distinctly American painting style with the choreographed grace of his moving scenery, creating designs that earned accolades around the world.
Cecil Beaton
Costume Design
Cecil Beaton first designed for the production of “Follow the Sun” in London. A native of England, Mr Beaton’s work was seen in such Broadway productions as “Cry of the Peacock,” “The Grass Harp,” Noel Coward’s “Quadrille,” “Look after Lulu,” “Saratoga,” “Dear Liar,” “Tenderloin” and “My Fair Lady,” for which he won a Tony Award. He won Academy Awards for his designs for two motion pictures, “Gigi” and “My Fair Lady.” Mr Beaton was the author of several books including “Cecil Beaton’s Fair Lady” and he wrote the play “The Gainsborough Girls.” Mr Beaton was also a master portrait photographer. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1972. He retired in 1977 and died in January, 1980.
Rosaria Sinisi
Scenic Supervision
Rosaria Sinisi was fortunate enough to study set design with Oliver Smith at NYU’s School of the Arts. After earning her MFA, she assisted him for five years, working on Broadway, in Hollywood and in Europe before embarking on her own design career. She designed original sets for Shining Time Station, three Tony Award ceremonies on Broadway, and served as art director on television projects including sitcoms, commercials, and soap operas. While working in television, she earned a law degree at NYU, and subsequently practiced copyright law. Mr. Smith bequeathed his copyrights and design materials to Ms. Sinisi and entrusted her with the management and supervision of revivals of his works. Since then, she has supervised productions of Smith’s ballet and theatre designs (including West Side Story, Fancy Free, Fall River Legend, Hello, Dolly!, West Side Story Suite, and My Fair Lady) around the world. collaborating with companies such as the Jerome Robbins Rights Trust, the estate of Agnes DeMille, the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, and Opera Australia. She also works with theatre and dance historians researching the thousands of pieces of theatrical artwork and drafting created by Mr. Smith, which are now in the Music Division of the United States Library of Congress. Ms. Sinisi lives in Brooklyn, NY, and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.
John David Ridge
Costumes Recreated by
John David Ridge has designed for Broadway, ballet, opera and television. Amongst some of the highlights are Ring ‘Round The Moon for the Lincoln Center Theater, for which he received a Tony nomination, Robert Joffrey’s seminal Nutcracker and David Mamet’s A Life In The Theatre, both the original New York production and on television for PBS. Outside of New York, he designed, amongst many, for the Santa Fe Opera and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.
In addition to costume design, Mr Ridge has had an extensive career executing costumes in Los Angeles, New York and London for stage and film, and from 1993 at his own studio in Los Angeles. Amongst his film creations are the Spiderman costume for Toby Maguire and Uma Thurman’s costume for Kill Bill.
In fashion, Mr Ridge designed HALSTON for six years after Halston retired in 1984. He has also been Head of the Costume Department at the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center and Costume Supervisor for the National Theatre in London.
Naomi Berger
Associate Scenic Supervisor
Naomi Berger attended New York University School of the Arts (now NYU Tisch School of the Arts) as a lighting design student when she met Oliver Smith. Smith opened the world of scenic design to her. She became his student and later had the honor of assisting Smith on such masterworks as Hello, Dolly!, West Side Story, and Barefoot in the Park. Most recently, Naomi worked on a revival of Smith’s Fancy Free for the Paris Opera Ballet. While at NYU, Naomi met fellow student Rosaria Sinisi. Over the years to the two have worked together in various design capacities. After leaving the theater world, Naomi became a graphic designer and brand expert, always keeping the lessons she learned from Smith foremost in her mind. She was delighted when Sinisi asked her to assist in recreating Oliver Smith’s iconic 1956 My Fair Lady scenery for today’s audience. Naomi is happy to return to Sydney to, once again, help bring this production to life. She views this project as an attempt to pay tribute to Oliver Smith, an extraordinary man who continues to have a profound influence on her life, and to her lifelong friendship with Rosaria Sinisi.
Michael Waters
Sound Design
Selected original sound designs include:
Putting It Together, Amplified, Annie, Jesus Christ Superstar, Grease, Mamma Mia!, Cinderella, Fangirls, Muriel’s Wedding, Barnum, The Boy From Oz, Hugh Jackman’s Broadway to Oz, My Fair Lady (2013), The King And I, Anything Goes, Bran Nue Dae, Doctor Zhivago, Saturday Night Fever, The Tap Pack (US Tour 2020), Fiddler On The Roof, Dream Lover, Chess, Atomic (Sydney & Off Broadway), Anthony Warlow with Faith Prince, We Will Rock You, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert (international) and Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage, Dusty – The Original Pop Diva; The Woman In Black, The Time Machine, The Odd Couple; Siegried and Roy – The Unauthorised Opera, The Rabbits, Dead Man Walking, Orpheus In The Underworld, Plácido Domingo & Katherine Jenkins in Concert, Anthony Warlow with Lesley Garrett.
Awards for Best Sound Design include: Helpmann Award; Muriel’s Wedding, The King And I, The Woman In Black; Dusty – The Original Pop Diva; Green Room Award; My Fair Lady, Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage; Broadway World Sydney Award: FANGIRLS; DAPA Award (Italy): Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.
As Associate Sound Designer: The Lion King; Cats; Beauty and the Beast; Frozen; Aladdin; Hamilton, among others.
Richard Pilbrow
Lighting Design
Richard Pilbrow, is one of the world’s leading theatre design consultants, a theatre, film and television producer, and an author and stage lighting designer. He founded Theatre Projects in London in 1957.
Mr. Pilbrow was a pioneer of modern stage lighting in Britain. He was the first British lighting designer to design the lighting for a Broadway musical, “Zorba”. On Broadway he was lighting designer for “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead”, “ The Rothschilds”, “Four Baboons Adoring The Sun”, the Hal Prince revival of “Show Boat” on Broadway, in Toronto, and London; and the Cy Coleman musical “The Life”. He was lighting designer on Broadway for “Our Town” with Paul Newman; Sir Peter Hall’s “The Magic Flute” for the Los Angeles, Seattle & Washington Operas and the1999 Shakespeare Season at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2007/8 Richard was lighting designer (with Dawn Chiang) for American Ballet Theatre’s “Sleeping Beauty” at the Metropolitan Opera, and “A Tale of Two Cities” at the Hirschfeld Theatre, In 2010 for the Irish Repertory Theatre, Richard lit “Candida”, and in 2011, with Michael Gottlieb, Brian Friel’s “Molly Sweeney” and “Dancing at Lughnasa”.
Under his leadership, Theatre Projects Consultants has become the pre-eminent theatre consulting organization in the world, with over 1200 projects in 70 countries to its credit. Pilbrow was chosen by Laurence Olivier to be lighting designer and then theatre consultant to the National Theatre of Great Britain. He was also consultant to the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican Theatre; The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; and many other significant arts buildings in North America, Europe, Hong Kong, China, and the Middle East.
In 1970, his book, STAGE LIGHTING, became a standard international text that has also been published in China. A second book, STAGE LIGHTING DESIGN—THE ART, THE CRAFT, THE LIFE, was published in 1997. In 2011, Richard completed A THEATRE PROJECT – A BACKSTAGE ADVENTURE, in both print and e-book formats, about which UK theatre critic Michael Coveney wrote, “Huge and superbly illustrated. It is an absolute joy to read . . . a history of theatre from an entirely new and fresh perspective.”
David Young
Musical Director
Most recently David conducted the Aussie Pops Orchestra for They Sang At Carnegie Hall with Bernadette Robinson at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
As Music Supervisor: The new tour of The Book Of Mormon (Jones Theatrical), Little Shop Of Horrors (QPAC/Woodward Productions), and Prospero Arts’ Jersey Boys and Dusty. As Musical Director: Wicked (GFO/Crossroads) for fifteen seasons throughout Australia and Asia, Disney’s Frozen, six seasons touring Australia and Singapore, The Book of Mormon (GFO) in Australia and New Zealand, Clinton The Musical and Next to Normal (Black Swan State Theatre Company), Ladies in Black (MTC/Queensland Theatre tour), The Drowsy Chaperone (VCA in both 1997 and 2025), and most recently 35mm A Song Cycle for The Queensland Academy. He also co-ordinated the Australian Girls Choir for Hugh Jackman’s Broadway To Oz Arena tour. As Associate Musical Director: Jersey Boys, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Singing In The Rain (Asia) and Dusty (MD Brisbane). His original work The Happy Prince sold out a season at Metro Arts Brisbane in 2024.
Hugh Hamilton
Associate Lighting Designer
Hugh Hamilton is Associate Lighting Designer on, Sunset Boulevard, A Christmas Carol and Wicked and previously, on Hamilton, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Jagged Little Pill, Come from Away, Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys, My Fair Lady, The King and I, The Addams Family Musical, Legally Blonde, Rock of Ages and Guys and Dolls.
Hugh has also designed, amongst others, Miracle City, Sideshow,(Hayes), One Billion Beats (CAC), Ladies Day (Griffin), I am My Own Wife Tour (Oriel), Eora Crossing, On the Case (Legs On the Wall), HMS Pinafore (Bel Rosa Opera Company), Freefall (Sydney Dance Company), Del Del (Sydney Theatre Company), and Ursula (Brink Productions), as well as designing shows for dance companies, events and the site lighting for Opera Australia’s Turandot, Carmen and La Boheme. Internationally he has worked on Phantom of the Opera, CATS, Wicked, Billy Elliot, Les Misérables, Kinky Boots, and Mamma Mia!.
Erin James
Associate Choreographer
Erin James is a director, choreographer, performer and educator with over two decades of experience working across Australia and internationally in professional music theatre.
A graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (Music Theatre), Erin has worked extensively as a Choreographer, Dance Captain, Director and Resident Director across commercial and institutional productions. Erin’s practice is grounded in collaboration and movement-led storytelling and continues to evolve through her ongoing advanced training in Intimacy Coordination for stage and screen.
Erin holds a Graduate Diploma of Education (Music) and she is currently Program Director and Head of Music Theatre at Elder Conservatorium of Music & School of Performing Arts (Adelaide University) where she leads the Bachelor of Music Theatre Program as a Senior Lecturer. Alongside her academic role she operates as Executive Producer across the program’s public-facing productions, which function as industry-standard, work-integrated learning projects.
As a stage performer Erin has appeared in major Australian and international productions including CATS, Fiddler on the Roof, Love Never Dies, Blood Brothers, Me and My Girl, South Pacific, The King and I, My Fair Lady. In 2023, she played the leading role in Welcome to Your New Life, a new Australian work by Anna Goldsworthy, for State Theatre Company South Australia.
Her screen work includes the feature film The Little Death, for which she received Best Supporting Actress nominations from both the AACTA Awards and the Film Critics Circle of Australia, as well as roles in short films, TV series, commercials and documentary style programs.
In 2018 Erin made her directing debut at the Hayes Theatre Co with the acclaimed production of She Loves Me. Other directing credits include Mamma Mia (2019), Chess (2021), Superstars (2024), and Superstars Vol. 2 (2026) for the Very Popular Theatre Company, alongside major works at the Elder Conservatorium of Music such as Cabaret, Les Misérables, On The Town, Shrek, Little Women, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. She also directed and choreographed the South Australian premiere of Alice by heart (2024) and A Grand Night For Singing (2022).
Her assistant and associate directing credits include Stalking the Bogeyman (The Old Fitz), Vernon God Little, and Moon for The Australian Voices. Erin also recently served as Casting Director for Stoddart Entertainment Group’s production of Frozen.
Erin has an extensive history with Opera Australia working as a Performer, Dance Captain, Staging Supervisor, and Resident Director, most recently on the national tour of The Phantom of the Opera (2022–23) and the audition tour of Hadestown (2024). She is thrilled to be returning to the company as Associate Choreographer for the 70th anniversary of My Fair Lady.
Pip Runciman
Scenic Associate
Pip has worked extensively across the creative industries of film, theatre, and large-scale cultural and international events. This is her second time as the Scenic Associate, working closely with the New York Scenic Supervisors on the 60th Anniversary production of ‘My Fair Lady’, in 2016, directed by Dame Julie Andrews.
More recently, Pip was part of the design team for the immersive experience ‘Bluey’s World’ in Brisbane, designer for Stadium Australia’s inaugural Hall of Fame event, and lead designer for Powerhouse Museum’s multi-award winning 1001 Remarkable Objects.
Her previous credits include Set Designer for Sigfried & Roy:‘The Unauthorised Opera’, Site Designer for ‘The Thirsty Mile’ at Sydney Festival 2024, and the local designer for Frida Kahlo:‘The Life of an Icon’ at Sydney Festival 2023. Pip has also worked as Assistant Set Decorator on the Netflix series ‘Pieces of Her’, Festival Designer for Sydney Festival (2017–2019), Design Associate on ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’ in Milan and São Paulo. As well as Designer of the 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony.
Her theatre work spans established and independent companies across Australia such as Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney Opera House, Belvoir, Griffin Theatre Company and The State Theatre Company of South Australia.
In addition, Pip has lent her creativity to major local and international cultural events including White Night and Handa Opera on the Harbour, Vivid Sydney, Sydney Mardi Gras, the 2006 Commonwealth Games Ceremonies and three years as Event Designer for City of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve.
Licensed exclusively by Music Theatre International (Australasia)