My Fair Lady star Martine McCutcheon is keen to break into the US market with a new album featuring a series of high-profile duets. The former EastEnders actress is set to croon alongside jazz heart-throb Harry Connick Jr and disco queen Donna Summer, as well as Mandy singer Barry Manilow on the upcoming release.
“She wants to work in America, and this is a good way to get in,” says one source.
This won’t be the first time Martine and Manilow have teamed up. The two performed the Gershwin classic They Can’t Take That Away From Me in 1999 at the Royal Variety Performance charity concert, and insiders speculate the tune will be the first single off of her album.
Martine, who is now performing six nights a week at the National Theatre after weathering a series of illnesses, may find US success on the silver screen as she’s on the short list to star opposite Antonio Banderas in the cinematic adaptation of Lord Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom Of The Opera. However, the theatre impresario has also reportedly met with Martine’s understudy, 18-year-old Alexandra Jay, about the coveted role of Christine in the eagerly anticipated project.
But the film’s director, Oscar nominee Shekhar Kapur, says: “Martine has shown serious interest in the part. We are casting at the moment and she is the only person we are considering at this point.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
