Jessica Grove and Daniel Gerroll in The Encore Theatre’s “My Fair Lady.” (Michele Anliker Photography)

To say that Broadway veteran actress Jessica Grove – who’s married to Encore Theatre co-founder Dan Cooney, and who’s starring in Encore’s new production of the Lerner and Loewe classic, “My Fair Lady” – has been having a busy year would be a gross understatement.

“I was pregnant at callbacks (for ‘My Fair Lady’). I read with a few people, and I kept saying, ‘Just ignore this,’” Grove said, circling one hand over her midsection. (Her baby daughter, the couple’s second child, is now four months old.) “I didn’t know how it would work out, exactly. I honestly feel like my voice is just coming back through the rehearsal process, so that’s getting better. And throw a move on top of it – we’re moving (from New York) to Chicago. So right when I thought I’d get a head start on my lines, instead, I was packing. And we didn’t know we were moving until April, after Lolly was born. And then we had to find a place to live in Chicago.”

But through it all, Grove’s commitment to playing Eliza Doolittle, a dream role, never wavered, and two highly accomplished colleagues signed on to be part of the show, too. READ THE REST HERE