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LOGAN — The Utah Festival Opera in Logan is celebrating its 20th anniversary with four productions- well-known Broadway shows and famous operas. But this year, the opera's founder, Michael Ballam, and his daughter Vanessa are performing together in father-daughter roles for the first time.
Called "the perfect musical," "My Fair Lady" is sure to to become a favorite this season at the Utah Festival Opera. Vanessa Ballam is playing the title role of Eliza Doolittle.
"It's not about how she behaves," Vanessa said, in describing her character. "It's how she is treated. And I think that's a wonderful concept for us to take away from the theater. That people are what we treat them, and if we treat them as duchesses and kings and queens, that is how they will become."
He's played my uncle, but this is the first time he's played my father. It's such a treat.
–Vanessa Ballam, playing Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady"
Her father, who also serves as the opera's director, may be hard to recognize playing the gravely-voiced, light-on-his-feet Alfred P. Doolittle.
Michael talked about working with Vanessa in the Utah Opera. "As a 5-year-old, when I would come off stage, [Vanessa] would say, 'Dad, why did you say this, instead of that?' So, she's been prompting me for a lot of years now, including today."
For the Ballams, this season marks a first time in their careers of keeping their roles of father and daughter on the stage as well as off-stage.
"He's played my uncle, but this is the first time he's played my father," said Vanessa. "It's such a treat. It's good for me."
And, they hope, it's also good for the audiences.
Along with "My Fair Lady," the company is also presenting, the eternal tale of good and evil, "Faust," and the explosive "Tosca," and "Kiss Me, Kate."
