PICTURE this opening scene: after a night at the opera the great and the good of Victorian high society flood out on to the streets of London.

Among them is Professor Henry Higgins, who latches on to the voice of flower girl Eliza Doolittle and begins to take notes.

Eliza gets twitchy as Higgins scribbles way and she assumes she's in a 'spot a bother'.

Eliza 'ain't 'appy' and complains she's not doing anything wrong.

Higgins finally comes clean and explains himself and his interest in linguistics and launches into Why Can't the English Learn to Speak?

Close by is Colonel Pickering who hears this and, as it turns out, has travelled from India to meet the tweed-clad boffin, a leader in the field of linguistics, but not such a bright spark when it comes to treating women.

The professor and the colonel begin talking about their shared interest in speech and unknowingly sow the seed that grows into Eliza's longing to be a ladyand the scene is set for one of the finest musicals of all time My Fair Lady.

As Grange Amateur Operatic Society runs through rehearsals for the Loewe and Lerner musical, producer Christine Bell is almost as fascinating to watch as the cast.

She ducks and weaves between musical director Doreen Dunlop and pianist Sue Quarmby, cajoling the assembled players as they prepare for the opening night of My Fair Lady, running at the Victoria Hall from Tuesday, March 2 until Saturday, March 6 (7.15pm).

GAOS has a knack of staging a cracking show. The choreography is tight, singing uplifting and the acting is first class.

Watching from the wings I could sense a couple of star performances coming on: Jennifer Archibald as feisty Eliza Doolittle and Derek Roberts as brilliant phonetician Henry Higgins.

Jennifer is a student and part time dance teacher and it shows. She has plenty of stage presence and looks a good performer as she tells Higgins she wants to be a lady instead of selling flowers at the top of Tottenham Court Road. 'Wouldn't it be lovely' if she could.

A former analytical chemist at Merlewood, Derek delivers every reason under the sun why he shouldn't teach the finer things in life to the cheeky Londoner. And he doesn't mince his words!

Colonel Pickering (Malcolm Higginson) is a stout and suitable foil and persuades Higgins - with a little help from Higgins's housekeeper Mrs Pearce (Jean Malkin) to strike a deal and enlighten Eliza, and transform her from rebellious guttersnipe to elegant belle.

Derek could even steal the show in I'm an Ordinary Man?

Popular Grange stalwart Margaret Stockley clocks up her 36th year with GAOS - as Henry's mother Mrs Higgins.

However, Maureen Davidson and Irene Ross each add an extra nine years on to Margaret's total as they join the chorus in their 45th year.

Romantic Freddy is Mark Jeffreys, a favourite leading man in operatic circles, and Mick Malkin steps in as Eliza's dad, lapping up the Cockney lingo.

Perhaps the most popular musical of the 1950s, My Fair Lady came into being only after Hungarian film producer Gabriel Pascal devoted the last two years of his life to finding writers who would adapt George Bernard Shaw's 1914 play Pygmalion into a musical.

Rejected by the likes of Rodgers and Hammerstein and Nol Coward, Pascal finally turned to the younger, but very talented, duo of Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner.

My Fair Lady opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 15, 1956, and enjoyed a run of 2,717 performances, lasting more than nine years. The original production featured Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins and Julie Andrews as Eliza. The 1964 film version starred Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway and Audrey Hepburn.

With a 'little bit of luck' it should be another roaring success for GAOS.

Tickets are adults £7/ children £4/ OAPS £5 for the Tuesday night performance and Saturday matinee (2.15pm).

Bookings on 015395-34098.