A 'Fair Lady' Returns To Washington

Sally Ann Howes replaced Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" 50 years ago. Now Howes is back as Mrs. Higgins in a touring production at the Kennedy Center. (By Friedman-abeles -- Photofest, Left; By Joan Marcus , Above)

For Sally Ann Howes, coming to the Kennedy Center in "My Fair Lady" is a sentimental journey.

When Howes takes the Opera House stage, she'll be returning to a play she starred in 50 years ago and to a town where she serenaded presidents.

"I sang for Eisenhower, I sang three times for Kennedy -- once at their home -- and I sang for the Johnsons when one of the daughters announced her engagement.

"But I don't think the wedding came off," she adds, then breaks into peals of laughter. "Heavens, I can't believe how old I am!"

Howes may be 77, but she still has an infectious laugh and perfect timing. She says she was "wheedled out of retirement" to join producer Cameron Mackintosh's new staging of the story of egotistical Professor Higgins, who endeavors to teach Cockney Eliza Doolittle to "talk like a lady."

In 1958, Howes took over from Julie Andrews as Eliza in the Broadway hit. In this production, she plays Professor Higgins's mother, whom Howes describes as a freethinker with a "wicked sense of humor. She gets off some wonderful zingers."

"I have a whole history worked out for her. I think she was quite well brought up [and] married someone with money. She was the 'family'; he was the money. Then he died, and she was left with this one rather tr uculent son.

"It was also just about the time the suffragette movement was starting, and I really think she would have loved to have been one of them. So when Eliza has trouble with [Professor Higgins] and comes to her for help, she thinks, 'Aha! Maybe this one is tough enough to handle my son.' "

Howes says she wondered how it would feel to watch someone else play Eliza but says it has been great fun. Lisa O'Hare, who plays Eliza in the musical, which opens Thursday, is "going to be a superstar," Howes says. "I think people are in for a real treat. And she's totally different -- well, at least I think so. I never saw my Eliza!"

"Lisa suggests a very steely person under a terribly delicate surface," Howe says. "You want to protect her, but at the same time you know she's going to land on her feet. I think I played Eliza as a little more common, a little tougher in the beginning."

Howes also credits choreographer Matthew Bourne with adding an edge to the production. "He's put some wonderful rough and tumble into the numbers," Howes says. " 'Get Me to the Church on Time' is great, but what I really love is 'A Little Bit of Luck,' where he has them doing these totally unbelievable things with dustbins and garbage can lids and such."

Agreeing to join Mackintosh's company for "My Fair Lady" was almost a third sort of return trip for Howes. "When I first met Cameron" in the mid-'70s, "he was probably 26 or so, but he looked about 16, and when he asked me to do a show, I thought, 'Well, he looks so young and he doesn't really have much of a track record,' so I turned him down.

"But he always said, 'One of these days, I'll get you!' And when I signed on for this, he wrote a lovely note saying, 'This is only the beginning.'

"I'm retired except for my charity work," she begins again, sounding firm, but then, "Well, of course, one should never say never."

My Fair Lady Kennedy Center Opera House, 2700 F. St. NW 202-467-4600 Dec. 27 through Jan. 20. $36-$95. My Fair Lady Kennedy Center Opera House, 2700 F. St. NW 202-467-4600 Dec. 27 through Jan. 20. $36-$95.