Theatre: 60-plus years of Chichester Summer Musicals
When you think of Chichester Festival Theatre, chances are that lavish summer musicals spring to mind. Earning an early pencil in the diaries of many Chichester residents, you might be able to tell a year by the musical numbers that descended on Oaklands Park over the summer. Naturally, that's continuing in 2026.
This year, it's Lerner & Lowes My Fair Lady that's bringing the spectacle to CFT, featuring classic numbers like Wouldn't It Be Loverly, I Could Have Danced All Night and The Rain in Spain.
The musical, adapted from George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion, premiered on Broadway in 1956, and many will be familiar with the hugely successful 1964 film starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. It arrives on the Chichester stage building on the success and talent of the theatre's previous summer shows—including director Rachel Kavanaugh (The Music Man, Shadowlands, Half a Sixpence), costumes by Peter McKintosh (Top Hat, South Pacific, Shadowlands) and choreographer Stephen Mear (Gypsy, Mack & Mabel, Kiss Me, Kate).
That said, as huge as the Summer Musical is to Chichester, it's a surprisingly recent addition to CFT's offering. Here's a potted, melodic history of Chichester's summer musicals
A Quiet Decade
Chichester Festival Theatre opened in 1962 with a commitment to classic plays. The first few years saw stagings of plays by Fletcher, Ford, Chekhov and Shaw—although it was the latter's Saint Joan rather than Pygmalion that drew the crowds in 1963. Unbelievably, a musical wasn't staged for a decade.
The first was The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, directed by Robin Phillips in 1973. That ballad opera broke the duck, and was quickly followed by Peter Ustinov and Alexander Faris's R Loves J the following year. Still, it was a slow start, and the musical was still to make its presence felt in the city.
Enter Sondheim
The 1980s and 1990s saw West End and Broadway hits arrive on the South Coast. A notable production from 1984 was Oh, Kay!, with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, book by Tony Geiss & Ned Sherrin. But the future was really set when Steven Sondheim's work was first heard on the Chichester stage.
Starring Frankie Howerd, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with book by Burt Shevelove & Larry Gelbart, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, was a huge production in 1986. That was built on in 1989, with Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music.
Musical Powerhouse
The orchestra had warmed up, but it was the 21st century that saw the big Summer musical become a staple. Over the past decade and a half, Chichester hasn't been attracting hits from theatreland, but producing musicals that have swept awards and often transferred to London.
A strong new era started in 2010 with Love Story and 42nd Street, followed over the next three years by Kiss Me, Kate, Barnum and Guys and Dolls. Gypsy, starring Imelda Staunton, picked up four Laurence Olivier Awards after the new production originated on the Chichester stage in 2014. The next decade continued strongly with 2021's South Pacific followed by 2022's Crazy for You, which marked CFT's 60th birthday.
Other recent highlights include 2017's Fiddler on the Roof, and the hugely successful Oliver! In 2024, and The Sound of Music in 2025.
It's a tradition that looks set to continue with My Fair Lady running until 5 September. You can view the full production history and book tickets for the current summer season directly on the Chichester Festival Theatre website.