‘My Fair Lady’ comes to Oceanside

It’s a timeless story: boy meets girl, but girl has a horrible cockney accent. So the boy makes a bet with his friend that he can turn the girl into a real lady.

Well, it may not be the most timeless of stories, but it is the story of a timeless musical: “My Fair Lady,” which will be performed at Oceanside High School on April 1 and 2.

The story centers on Eliza Doolittle, a flower girl with a horrible accent. A phoneticist, Professor Henry Higgins, makes a bet with a friend that he can not only teach the girl how to speak properly, but that he can teach her to speak so well that she can pass for royalty.

“We’ve been working from the beginning of February, five days a week, right after school,” said Bruce Bider, the show’s director. “The kids began vocal rehearsal around 2:45 and we would work all the way up until 6, and then as the show got closer, 6:30.” And as the first production of the show looms, the kids have been going to school on Saturdays to rehearse as well.

“So the kids give up a lot of time to do this,” said Bider. “But it’s something they enjoy. They enjoy sacrificing their time, because they know that the end product is going to be very special.”

Bider, an elementary school music teacher in the district, is aided by vocal director George Grossman, one of the chorus teachers at OHS, and orchestra leader Lynne Garcia, one of the school’s orchestra teachers.

The show this year is big. There are 45 kids in the cast and about 25 more working on designing and building sets, working lights and sound, and designing and managing props. In addition, there’s a 20- to 25-piece orchestra. All of those involved — with the exception of Bider, Grossman and Garcia — are students who dedicate their time and effort to the production.

“This is a testament to their talent and their ability to take the direction, to take the take the proverbial ball and run with it,” Bider said. “And they’ve been working so hard that I know, by this point, all they need is an audience and they’re going to go out and do it.”

Tickets, which are $10, are available at the door, or by calling the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at (516) 678-1220.