Fair Lady

Mt. Hebron High School invites you to its spring musical, "My Fair Lady," which will be presented on March 25, 26 and 27 in the high school auditorium.The play, set in Victorian England, involves Professor Henry Higgins' transformation of down-and-out flower seller Eliza Doolittle into a "proper lady." Musical selections include "The Rain in Spain," "I'm Getting Married in the Morning," and "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?"Mt. Hebron's cast includes Andrew Farrell as Henry Higgins, Marloe Apelman as Eliza, Zach Kulis as Colonel Pickering, Jesse Barnes as Doolittle, and Greer Colvard as Mrs. Pierce.

Q: Enclosed is a picture of my umbrella; it is made of paper. As you can see, it came from the Chicago World's Fair.Could you please tell me if it is worth anything?A: This paper umbrella appears to be in remarkably good condition for its 60 years. It would probably be worth about $65 to $75.Q: This mark is on the bottom of a ceramic bowl that measures 9inches in diameter and is 3 1/2 inches deep. It is also marked "A.F.S." It is decorated with green trees in a meadow against a blue sky.Can you tell me who made it, when, and what is its value?

A salmon pink rose has been named after Julie Andrews, who portrayed the flower seller Eliza Doolittle in the original stage production of "My Fair Lady."Ms. Andrews said yesterday she was "ever so flattered" to be honored at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, which opens today sponsored by the Royal Horticultural Society.Ms. Andrews, who attended a preview of the show, said $1.80 from each "Julie Andrews" rose sold will be given to the Julie Andrews Appeal to fight arterial disease.The show marks the beginning of the British social season.

THE LERNER and Loewe musical version of George Bernard Shaw's ''Pygmalion'' is as fair and as pleasing as ever.A road production of the musical opened last evening at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre. A tight, professional presentation, it proves once more that this particular ''Lady'' is always welcome. She has not aged. She may never age.''My Fair Lady'' is marking its 35th year, but time has dimmed neither the score nor the book of this very durable musical.The book was written by Alan Jay Lerner, who also wrote the lyrics.

Ever since its debut 35 years ago, "My Fair Lady" has been rightly recognized as one of the greatest American musicals. But the revival that opened at the Mechanic Theatre last night is only slightly better than fair.Its chief asset is its stars -- honey-throated Christine Andreas as Eliza Doolittle, the cockney flower seller; elegant John Neville as Professor Higgins, who attempts to turn her into a lady; walrus-like James Valentine as his crony, Colonel Pickering; and especially Clive Revill, who portrays Eliza's ever-inebriated dad as a gruff and grimy teddy bear.

The irony of it is oh so loverly.Here is John Neville, cast as Henry Higgins, who struggles to teach Eliza Doolittle to speak proper English in "My Fair Lady."On the one hand, Mr. Neville is one of the most respected classically trained actors on the English-speaking stage. On the other, as he admits, "I grew up with the accent Eliza has."In fact, the British-born Mr. Neville says it's easy for him to slip back into Eliza's cockney. Until his father's recent death, he acknowledges, "Whenever I visited him, I'd find after a week or so I started to revert."

"My Fair Lady" is a toughie, even for professional companies.Thebreadth of talent required to bring these timeless characters to life is daunting.The score and libretto are so familiar that any audience can spotan unsuitable impostor almost immediately.But perhaps the greatest obstacle is the fact that these characters were so definitively sketched by the original cast that damning comparisons are far more inevitable than usual.Rex Harrison's nimble tongue spewing forth Henry Higgins' linguistic egotism, Julie Andrews' lyric soprano voice inimitably describing her "loverly" cockney dreams, and Stanley Holloway's one of a kind Alfred P. Doolittle all became classic interpretations way back on opening night and have remained so to this day.Bravo, then, to the Annapolis Dinner Theater for gamely taking up the "My Fair Lady" challenge and doing such a creditable job with it. While this is a production that won't win rapturous swoons from dyed-in-the-wool Lerner and Lowe purists, the strengths of the ADT's efforts are considerable.

The thunder of hooves, the fizz of champagne.These two sounds, equally intoxicating to aficionados, can be heard anywhere the sport of kings -- horse racing -- still makes pulses pound. Including, of course, Maryland, which this month plays host to three of the world's most famous steeplechases -- My Lady's Manor, the Grand National and the headiest of all, the Maryland Hunt Cup, run in Glyndon on the last Saturday of the month.The Hunt Cup, its four-mile course studded with tall timber fences, is an exceptionally challenging race, and enthusiasts thrill to the spectacle of the powerful horses surging across newly green fields, with jauntily silk-clad jockeys aboard.

TVHere's a nice new marriage to tickle your TV memories. In the 1960s, Diana Rigg, right, and David McCallum starred in separate light-hearted spy series, "The Avengers" and "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." (as Emma Peel and Illya Kuraykin, respectively). Now the two come together in "Mother Love," this week's edition of the PBS "Mystery!" series (a three-parter, seen again at 10 tonight on Washington's Channel 26 and 10 p.m. tomorrow on Maryland Public Television channels 22 and 67). Rigg, the host of the series, plays a murderously maternal divorcee and McCallum is the former husband she still hates.

SALAD DAYS: The March of Dimes hosted its seventh annual "Gourmet Gala" last weekend at the Hyatt Regency, and naturally we were there to stir up things a tad.This year we teamed up with the Hyatt's Bruce Larsen in our cooking station, a beautifully appointed faux library with an easy chair on which we reposed while Bruce whipped up the most sinfully delicious Caesar salad. Decorated by designer Donna Foertsch, our station was patterned after "My Fair Lady" (the night's theme was Broadway musicals.