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20 Performances

Diablo Light Opera Will Present All-Time Favorite
‘My Fair Lady’ Opening Feb. 17 in Walnut Creek

Award-winning veteran actors and a talented young singer honored for vocal achievement headline the cast of Diablo Light Opera Company’s production of “My Fair Lady,” the classic Lerner-Loewe Broadway hit, opening Feb. 17 for 20 performances at the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek.

Tickets ($25-$36) are on sale at the center, 1601 Civic Drive, for all performances through March 18. Prices include a $2 center facility fee.

DLOC’s production, with lavish costumes and scenery, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the widely acclaimed show. It opened March 15, 1955 on Broadway and became an immediate hit.

Audiences will also see a set that was used when Rex Harrison, who originated the Higgins’ role, last toured with the show.

“It’s intact –and beautiful,” says DLOC executive producer Daren A. C. Carollo.

Making her debut with Diablo Light Opera as Eliza Doolittle, the role that pushed Julie Andrews to stardom on Broadway, is Angelique Lucia of Moraga.

Lucia graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she received honors for “outstanding achievement in voice,” one of many awards she has earned for her singing talents. She has performed with the Lamplighters in “The Gondoliers” and in the San Francisco Opera Guild’s production of “The Pirates of Penzance.”

A veteran of numerous shows, John Hetzler joins the 27-member DLOC cast in the coveted role of Professor Higgins. Since 1982, he has won five Shellie awards presented by the local theater community for performing excellence. The latest award was for his portrayal of the Wizard in the company’s 2003 production of “The Wizard of Oz.”

Lee Strawn, who won a Shellie last year for his portrayal of the title role of “Mountain Days: The John Muir Musical” since its inception five years ago, will play Pickering, Higgins’ sidekick.

Strawn’s wife Laurie, who has appeared in productions in the Bay Area and the Sierra Repertory in Sonora, plays Mrs. Pearce, Higgins’ housekeeper. Laurie Strawn created and performs in “The Eleanor Roosevelt Story,” a play about the “First Lady of the World,” which she tours throughout the Bay Area.

Mitchell Field, who performed in the 2005 Marin Mountain Play production of “Oklahoma,” plays Doolittle. He has appeared with Marin Shakespeare Festival and the Ross Valley Players.

Appearing as Mrs. Higgins is Wanda McCaddon, who performed the role in the American Musical Theatre production in San Jose. She has performed with the Marin Theatre Company, the San Francisco Playhouse, A.C.T., and Sacramento’s B Street Theatre, among others.

Brandon Mears, who has appeared in theaters in Marin County, San Jose, and Fairfield, will play Freddy, the romantic lead.

Dianna Shuster, former artistic director of American Musical Theatre of San Jose and Music Theatre of Oregon, directs the show. She has served on the executive committee and board of directors for the National Alliance of Musical Theatres.

Her directorial credits include “A Little Night Music,” Assassins,” “Baby,” “Cabaret,” “Camelot,” “Chess,” “Chicago,” “Children of Eden,” “Evita,” “Follies,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Pacific Overtures,” and “West Side Story.”

Shuster’s productions have received over 160 nominations and 70 awards, including those presented by the San Francisco Critics’ Circle and the Ovation Award honoring artistic excellence in theater in the Los Angeles area.

Carollo, Diablo Light Opera’s executive producer, directed the company’s acclaimed production of “Miss Saigon” and produced and directed DLOC’s “A Grand Night for Singing” in Antioch and Walnut Creek last fall.

Music director Cheryl Yee Glass will conduct an 18-piece orchestra

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