Courtesy of Gallery Studios Lisa O'Hare plays Eliza Doolittle in Cameron Mackintosh's revival of Lerner and Loewe's "My Fair Lady." "It's real, it's raw, and it shows you the dirty, grimy side of London that other productions have tried to rosy up," she says of the touring production.

Courtesy of Joan Marcus Christopher Cazenove, who plays Henry Higgins, is Lisa O'Hare's co-star in "My Fair Lady." Cazenove is probably best known for playing Ben Carrington on television's "Dynasty" in the 1980s.

Those attending the revival of "My Fair Lady" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles might spy a wistful smile creep onto Lisa O'Hare's face during the opening strains of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly."

Although she's in character as Eliza Doolittle, the scrappy cockney flower seller longing for a new start in life, that smile belongs as much to O'Hare herself as it does to Doolittle. Like Doolittle, O'Hare knows a thing or two about yearning for a life transformation.

O'Hare had spent five years studying with London's renowned Royal Ballet, but as time wore on, she realized that she simply didn't have the athleticism and physicality to make it as a professional ballerina. So she finally gave up ballet and enrolled in a three-year musical theater program. Thanks to all of the dance training she already had under her belt, she finished a year early.

It didn't long for her to become a darling on London's West End, first in a production of "Anything Goes," then as understudy-turned-lead in Cameron Mackintosh's revival of "Mary Poppins."

It was while she was was playing Poppins that O'Hare was asked to audition for Doolittle, the role made famous on film in 1964 by her girlhood idol, Audrey Hepburn.

"I was completely gobsmacked," said O'Hare in an elegant Lancashire accent. "I didn't even know they were touring the show. Seven or eight rounds of auditions later, I had the part."

This revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's beloved musical was first staged in London in 2001 by Mackintosh and the National Theatre of Great Britain. It received three Olivier Awards, including one for best musical.

Besides O'Hare, the U.S. touring cast features Christopher Cazenove as Professor Henry Higgins and Marni Nixon as Mrs. Higgins. Cazenove played Ben Carrington on television's "Dynasty," while Nixon is famous for providing the big-screen singing voices for Deborah Kerr in "The King and I," Natalie Wood in "West Side Story," Margaret O'Brien in "The Secret Garden" and, drumroll please, Hepburn in "My Fair Lady."

The tour, which opened last fall in Florida, has been getting good notices. Variety critic Steven Oxman called it "a fully satisfying, exceptionally high-level road production with jolts of genuine inspiration and all-around polish aplenty." O'Hare, he wrote, is capable of "nimbly pulling off the pluck, the charm, and the transformation from lower-class flower girl to toast of a royal ball."

O'Hare said after several months on tour, she remains pleasantly surprised about this latest turn in her career.

"I've always loved the movie," she said. "Audrey Hepburn is my style icon, but she was also a magnificent actress. Being able to step into her shoes is exciting."

O'Hare is particularly impressed with this revival's attention to detail.

"This production is not stuck to old-fashioned elements of a classic musical," she said. "It's real, it's raw, and it shows you the dirty, grimy side of London that other productions have tried to rosy up. You get to see how Eliza would have really lived. You'll likely not get to see it performed on this scale again."

O'Hare already is booked for her next role when "My Fair Lady" ends.

"I'm doing Gigi' in London," she said. "I'm taking on another Audrey Hepburn role."

Perhaps, given time, new generations will begin to think of these iconic parts as "Lisa O'Hare roles."

Wouldn't that be loverly?