Classic musicals 'Damn' good in Northport

So far so tuneful. The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport opens "My Fair Lady," the second entry in its all-classic-musicals season, on the heels of one of its most successful summer runs ever, "Damn Yankees."

Although artistic director Richard Dolce says he planned all along to add extra performances, "Damn Yankees" did nothing to discourage the experiment - adding Wednesday shows to its run. For its first two years, the Northport stage was dark Mondays through Wednesdays.

"'Damn Yankees' was a big hit. We put people in the seats," Dolce says. "My Fair Lady" will operate on the same, more ambitious schedule. He explains the strategy: "We start out the first two weeks with five shows. Then as reviews and word-of-mouth get out, we go to six each of the next two weeks and then seven shows for the last four. Eventually, we want to do eight shows a week" - the theater industry standard.

The familiar title "probably helped" make the transition to more shows a week, Dolce acknowledges. And with "Damn Yankees," the Engeman also could boast two marquee Broadway names - Andre DeShields as the devil, Mr. Applegate, and Felicia Finley as his curvy cohort, Lola.

STAR ATTRACTIONS

"We don't say, 'What big names can we land?' It's not a conscious decision," Dolce says. "But as our own profile rises, we're on the radar of actors who didn't consider us before. Once they've worked here, they want to come back. Andre pitched me a project. Felicia says she'd like to come back, too," Dolce says. "But in the end, it's about getting the right person for the role."

HENRY & ELIZA

The right people, say Dolce and director Alan Souza, who directed "Rent" at the Engeman last fall, are Thomas Hammond as Henry Higgins and Rachel Moulton as Eliza Doolittle. Hammond played a lead in last season's "Dial M for Murder" at the Engeman, and most recently starred in the title role of Off-Broadway's acclaimed "Dr. Knock." Moulton comes to the Cockney-accented Eliza by way of another ingénue role, young Zelda Fitzgerald in the Off-Broadway musical "This Side of Paradise." John Little returns to Northport ("Run for Your Wife," "Little Women") as Colonel Pickering, Higgins' pal who bets him that he can't pass off Eliza as a lady.

NEW HORIZONS

The Engeman, Long Island's sole year-round Actors Equity theater, paying union contract wages, needs exposure to become a truly regional theater and draw an audience beyond the Town of Huntington. "Thanks in part to Andre and Felicia," Dolce says, "I felt we broke out of the local market. We drew from all the boroughs, even New Jersey."

Next up in this all-classic season: "The Sound of Music," followed by "Cabaret" and "Guys and Dolls."

WHAT  "My Fair Lady," the Lerner & Loewe musical

WHEN | WHERE Friday night, Saturday and Thursday nights at 8, Sunday at 2 p.m., through Oct. 31, at the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport, 250 Main St.

INFO $60; engemantheater.com, 631-261-2900