It’s loverly to be first black Eliza Doolittle! Amara Okereke poses as the famous flower girl ahead of her West End role in My Fair Lady
Dressed in suitably Edwardian attire, Amara Okereke hopes we will soon grow accustomed to her face.
For the rising star has landed the part of Eliza Doolittle in a West End production of My Fair Lady and celebrated by posing for the latest Tatler.
Miss Okereke, 25, has already played Cosette in Les Miserables, Laurey in Oklahoma! and Polly in The Boy Friend.
Amara Okereke has landed the part of Eliza Doolittle in a West End production of My Fair Lady and celebrated by posing for the latest issue of Tatler magazine
The 25-year-old has already played Cosette in Les Miserables, Laurey in Oklahoma! and Polly in The Boy Friend
But it is a dream come true to be the West End’s first black Eliza.
She takes on the role, made famous by Julie Andrews on stage and Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 film, at the London Coliseum in May.
Miss Okereke, who grew up in Yorkshire, tells Tatler: ‘I’d watched clips of Julie Andrews in the original since I was a child. I felt like I knew the part inside out.’
She added: ‘I can appreciate the seriousness of being the first black person to ever play a role and appreciate the seriousness of telling people’s stories, but I still need to see the thing as a whole. Musicals are meant to bring people joy.’
Miss Okereke also compared Eliza to climate activist Greta Thunberg.
‘Both of them have fire inside them,’ she said.
Miss Okereke, who grew up in Yorkshire, will become the first black Eliza when she stars in the show at the London Coliseum in May
‘Just because older, male politicians are calling Greta names, it doesn’t mean she changes her opinion or the things she’s fighting for are invalid.
‘Eliza is like that too – she questions everything. She’s a fighter.’
My Fair Lady tells the story of Cockney flower girl Eliza, who is turned into a lady with the help of phonetics professor Henry Higgins.
Broadway director Bartlett Sher, who chose Miss Okereke to play the titular role, said: ‘It was a huge search to find our Eliza.
The role was made famous by Julie Andrews on the stage and Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 film (pictured)
‘It took three or four months, and we went through a lot of people. It was only at the very last minute Amara came in and we instantly knew we had the one.
‘I’d seen everybody and Amara was easily the best. But her casting does create different resonances for the piece, making it about race as well as class, so it’s time to explore them.’
The West End production will see Higgins, played by Downton Abbey star Harry Hadden-Paton, and his mother, Mrs Higgins, played by Dame Vanessa Redgrave.
The May issue of Tatler is available on newsstands from tomorrow and via digital download.
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