Professor Henry Higgins (Apple regular Paul Gregory Nelson) stumbles across Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Jennifer Davis-Johnson) in Covent Garden one night and makes a bet with fellow linguist Colonel Pickering (John Weigand) that he can turn her into a lady by erasing her lower-class accent.


The ensuing transformation, complete with some of Lerner and Lowe’s best show tunes (“I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live”), is finished by the end of the first act.


Act Two, equally blessed with memorable Lerner and Lowe music, follows the problems of a penniless girl suddenly turned into a lady, as well as her blowhard teacher’s struggle to deny his growing feelings for her.


The musical, which hit Broadway in 1956, is based on George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion,” which is, in turn, based on the Roman poet Ovid’s tale of a sculptor who falls in love with a woman he carves out of ivory.


Brought to the screen as an Academy Award-winning film in 1964, “My Fair Lady” remains a favorite of dinner, community and high school theaters. Many who go to see it are drawn by the very familiarity that makes this one such a challenge. Is there anything new and fresh left in this well-picked-over coal tip?


At Dutch Apple, audiences must be content (and likely will be) with familiarity.


Although Gregory is likely to win audiences over with his big, blustery performance, he noticeably lacks an English accent, sounding like a very precise American.


Davis-Johnson has mastered two different English accents and cleans up beautifully as Eliza transforms. She seems best with the comedy bits, like trying to pronounce a difficult sentence with marbles in her mouth.


Eliza’s father, Alfred P. Doolittle, played with comic verve by Gordon Gray, finds some “Stomp”-like rhythms in late-night London, for which credit must be paid to assistant director and choreographer Dottie Lester-White. Besotted suitor Freddie Eynsford-Hill (Kevin M. McDaniel, showing a startlingly different side from the Tory firebrand he played in Apple’s “1776”) is so charming you’ll wish Eliza cared about him.


Outstanding supporting work is turned in by Pat Sibley as the professor’s long-suffering Mum and Regina Harbour as his practical, down-to-Brit housekeeper. In fact, everyone, from the professional seven-piece orchestra directed by Beth Burrier to the 11-member ensemble, do the piece proud.


Director M. Seth Reines has clearly had “A Little Bit of Luck” in putting this jolly good show together.


But if you’ve often been on this street before, chances are the pavement will stay beneath your feet.


“My Fair Lady” runs at Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre, 510 Centerville Road, through Nov. 4, with matinee, twilight and evening performances. Tickets cost $22 to $42. For more information, call 898-1900. blog comments powered by Disqus