Mar 24, 2008 - 08:29 AM

By Christy Chase

PORT PERRY -- If you're sick of the snow in Ontario, try the rain in Spain.

As in, that catchy song from My Fair Lady, the popular music which is being presented by Scugog Choral Society staring March 27 at Town Hall 1873, Queen and Simcoe streets.

Filled with songs such as The Rain in Spain, I Could Have Danced All Night, Wouldn't It Be Loverly, the musical is set in turn-of-the-19th/20th-century London, England, where two linguistics professors, Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering, have a wager on whether Higgins can tutor a linguistically-challenged Covent Garden flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to became a proper English lady.

There's no doubt of the outcome in this romantic classic but there's plenty of conflict and fun along the way.

"It's like the granddaddy of musicals." said director Michael Roantree, very active in Oshawa Little Theatre and making a return to SCS.

"It's the one benchmark others are marked against," he said. "It's a very strong story."

There are larger chunks of dialogue than usual, making the play "very demanding." He added he needed to cast experienced actors who can also sing, he said.

"It's beautifully sung by the cast," he said. "When we were auditioning, I was looking for someone for Eliza who could sing the very high note at the end of I Could Have Danced All Night. You can pitch it lower but I really wanted that note and we got it."

Playing Eliza and hitting the heights is Janice Saywell, of Whitby, who has played in musicals in Oshawa and Port Perry before. This is her first major role.

Prof. Higgins is played by veteran actor Michael Schneider, who's appeared with OLT, SCS and Cadenza Productions in the past.

Bruce Rogers brings his radio announcer's voice to the stage as Col. Pickering. Todd Appleton, of Oshawa, plays Freddie Eynsford-Hill. Phil Cook, of Pickering, plays Eliza's dad, Alfred Doolittle. Mrs. Higgins is Michele Jones, a local singer. Steve Kreider, local businessman, is Zoltan Karpathy. Judy Anderson, of SCS, is housekeeper Mrs. Pearce.

All told there are 26 in the cast. Cast members come from all over Durham Region, including Uxbridge.

On stage, the actors are working with a two-storey set which means the balcony will be closed for the show, due to sightlines, Roantree said.

Alissaa Smith is the music director for the show while Jennifer Hamilton is back as choreographer. Anderson and Rebecca McDermott are co-producers. Tackling the huge job of costumes is Laurie Sider, of Uxbridge.

"She's done a marvellous job," Roantree said, adding it's an "enormous task."

In fact, this week, Sider held a hat-trimming party to get all the wonderful hats ready to go, he said.

My Fair Lady is being adjudicated for the Association of Community Theatre-Central Ontario festival in early April.

The show runs for three weekends, March 27 to April 12, with 8 p.m. curtain, plus 2 p.m. shows April 5 and 12. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students. Tickets are available at Henshall's Clothing on Queen Street, 905-985-1965, online at starticketing.com or at 1-866-808-2006.

On March 29, April 5 and 12, the Port Perry Masons are holding roast beef dinners before the evening shows. Tickets are $20 for dinners and available exclusively at Henshall's.