From beauty influencer to onstage beauty, Stephanie Bailey stars as Eliza Doolittle in Free-Rain Theatre Company’s upcoming production of My Fair Lady at the Q Performing Arts Centre, 30 August-25 September.

Based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion, My Fair Lady is one of the world’s most-loved musicals. The 1956 Broadway production starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison was an astounding success, winning six Tony Awards. Following the triumph of the stage musical, the now classic film starring Audrey Hepburn was released in 1964.

Bailey says playing the role of Doolittle is a dream come true, having grown up watching the film and seeing both Julie Andrews and Audrey Hepburn as her idols. She is also able to relate to the strength and passion of the character.

“She is very ambitious, and she knows what she wants, and she goes and gets it. She will do what needs to be done and I’ve always had that streak about me.”

Set in the 1910s in London, Eliza Doolittle is a cockney girl who sells flowers on the side of the road, when she meets a sophisticated phonetics professor Henry Higgins. Higgins so sure of his abilities, he takes it upon himself to teach Doolittle to be a proper lady, and she agrees to improve her job prospects.

“It’s basically a bet with this other guy that he will teach her to speak like a lady, then she will go to this ball and if she can convince everyone that she is a lady, she will be able to get money and be able to work in a flower shop,” Bailey says.

With the original being over a century old, some of the themes can seem a bit out of date. Bailey says they have tried to empower Doolittle in the new production, creating more equality between her and Higgins. She says Doolittle has always been a strong and independent character; they are just aligning their production more with modern standards.

“It’s been fun taking an old classic and trying to make it a little bit more modern by adding a few little feminist touches to it,” Bailey says.

The play had some saucy elements for its time; at one point, an unwed Doolittle is living with two men! Bailey says the story was modern even then in the way it wasn’t a classic love story; love is alluded to but never confirmed. Many productions take their own approach to this, with the lead actors letting their chemistry decide whether the two are in love or not.

“It’s also been fun to play with the ambiguity of the love story and I’m looking forward to seeing how the audience reads our interpretation. Are they in love or just friends, that’s the real question.” 

In Free-Rain’s adaptation, Professor Higgins is played by D.G. Maloney who has experience working in Hollywood films; he starred alongside Nicolas Cage in Knowing. Bailey says it’s been incredible to work alongside someone which such great acting calibre. 

Having a creative outlet is important to Bailey. In 2013 after an injury saw her dancing career put on hold, she began a YouTube channel and quickly became one of Australia’s first beauty influencers. Then, when she moved to Canberra in 2019, she didn’t feel comfortable doing it here, so she turned to the theatre.

Starting as part of ensemble casts in Free-Rain’s productions of Mama Mia! and Priscilla, which both saw long postponements due to lockdowns, Bailey has been cautious about getting too excited about her leading role in case it is also put off. However, with opening night being so close, she is feeling confident things are going to come together for this one – but isn’t taking any chances.

“I’m going into my own little version of lockdown; I’m only seeing who I live with, and who I see at the theatre,” Bailey smiles.

When she isn’t playing the iconic role, Bailey focuses on her freelance digital content producing and videography work, regularly creating content for theatre companies in the capital. With plans to move back to Sydney after this production, Bailey is hoping to break into the theatre scene there, too.

See Stephanie Bailey perform in My Fair Lady at The Q, 30 August-25 September; theq.net.au

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