Professor Henry Higgins (Jim Newsome) asks Eliza Doolittle (Genevieve Coe) for his slippers in the final scene of My Fair Lady to be presented by the Washington Little Theater beginning April 2. The Washington Little Theater is busy working on another production and the evidence was there last Saturday morning when you could feel the pounding of hammers, hear the buzz of power drills, and smell the aroma of fresh paint as several cast and crew members were building the set for the WLTCo’s spring production of My Fair Lady.

One of Broadway’s all-time longest-running plays, the musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” was set to music and lyrics by the great team of Lerner and Loewe. It is the story of a simple flower girl in London who becomes the subject of a wager by two linguists, Henry Higgins (played by Rev. Jim Newsome) and Colonel Hugh Pickering (Tom Duggan). They wager whether Higgins can make good on his boast that Eliza Doolittle (Genevieve Coe), a girl lacking any social refinements, advantages, or status, can be turned into someone who could pass as royalty at a ball at Buckinghasm Palace within six months time.

It is a formidable challenge as Eliza’s strong cockney accent and initial resistance to the pompous proddings of Professor Higgins is a setup for the battle of two cultural opposites. Col. Pickering and the house matron, Mrs. Pierce (Rose Weser) try to act as referees in the process, though not always successfully. To add to the confusion and excitement is Eliza’s wayward father, Alfred P. Doolittle (Billy Creel), who tries to exploit and capitalize on his daughter’s quest for advancement in life.

This poignant comedy has been delighting audiences for close to one hundred years: first as Pygmalion, released in 1914, and later as the musical version by Learner and Loewe in 1956. Songs like “Loverly,” “On The Street Where You Live,” “Get Me To The Church On Time,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” and others have become part of the musical heritage of Broadway for generations of music lovers and theater goers.

The spring production of My Fair Lady is being directed by Stan Coe who is proud to note that many cast members from the successful Washington run of Fiddler On The Roof have joined back in for the current play. He also notes that several new people are contributing their talents.

Judy Johnson is choreographing, Sara Dunovan is doing costume design, Kathy Bordman is stage manager and technical consultant, and Sharon McKee is assistant director.

“And I wouldn’t even think of venturing into a production of this magnitude,” Coe said, “without Shay Harris directing the music and Sherri Bowers as pianist.” Coe also aludes to “a few other delightful surprises that didn’t make it into the movie” as well.

Performances are set for April 2, 3, 9, and 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 11, at 3 p.m. at the Bolton Lunceford Playhouse.