THEATER REVIEW : Difficulties Make for Just a Fair ‘Lady’ : Despite the show’s star power, it never quite catches fire. The ghosts of actors past haunt this cast, which lacks alchemy.

It would have been loverly if the revival of “My Fair Lady” that opened Wednesday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion had not run into so many major and minor difficulties on its way around the country.

Major among its problems is the temporary loss of its hand-picked Eliza Doolittle, Melissa Errico.

Errico, who injured her vocal cords and had to undergo surgery, will be out of the show for the entire Los Angeles run and the show’s subsequent move to the Orange County Performing Arts Center July 20-25. Understudy Meg Tolin replaces her in a performance that gains strength after a weak beginning.

But Richard Chamberlain is the designated star of this Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Loewe 1956 musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion.” Handsome and lithe as ever, you’d think he would make the musical’s romanticized ending slightly more credible. It doesn’t happen. His Prof. Higgins is a cool cucumber, much more subdued and less irascible than his famous predecessor, the late Rex Harrison.

So despite the star power, the considerable talent and some inventive scenery by Ralph Koltai (including a minimalist but effective grand staircase), this “My Fair Lady” never quite catches fire.

There are several possible explanations for this state of affairs. First, Errico’s unfortunate hardships. It takes a certain time to develop relationships in a show, and switching actors doesn’t make it easier. Secondly, ghosts. Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews (Eliza), Cathleen Nesbitt (Mrs. Higgins) and Stanley Holloway (Alfred P. Doolittle), who created the roles, left an indelible imprint on each one. It may be unfair to dredge up the past, but it is also powerful and recent enough to be unavoidable.

In a quirky bit of casting, the Holloway tradition is upheld by Stanley Holloway’s son Julian who plays the role created by his father. But this sort of thing often works better in theory than in practice. Julian Holloway’s Alfred P. Doolittle is an energetic devil all right, but he lacks the edge of raffishness that turns the man from a happy-go-lucky ne’er-do-well into a joyfully enterprising reprobate.

What is missing above all in this production is alchemy--the kind of magic that also made the film of “My Fair Lady,” with Audrey Hepburn, dance off the screen.

Tempo and rhythm have everything to do with it. These need to be tightened. And in spite of a delicious caper by director Howard Davies in the staging of “The Rain in Spain” and Eliza’s “I Could Have Danced All Night,” Davies doesn’t refresh the show beyond a genteel predictability.

There is, yes, an imaginative take on the races at Ascot in which people are gingerly suspended in midair, and there is a huge, presumably symbolic head with a neon-diagrammed brain that fills the stage, first as part of Henry Higgins’ studio and at the end in a kind of limbo. Neither of these is an effective or even desirable substitute for the kinds of intimate exchanges that spark a show and make it spring to life.

So, the magic ingredients aren’t quite there yet, and Chamberlain gives too detached a performance as Higgins. He’ll need to warm up before the show hits Broadway in the fall if this revival is to find favor.

There is, of course, still time. The magnificent score is pretty much damage-proof and everyone here can sing it. Tolin, who hasn’t mastered the dialect in her early scenes as the flower girl, mewling in the Covent Garden rain, turns into an elegantly emancipated Eliza with spunk and a winning sense of humor. (Vocal coach Jack Lee should focus on everyone’s sloppy dialect in that scene; the actors all merely sound garbled.) Physically, Tolin reminds one of Bernadette Peters and, if photos do not lie, of Errico, whom she replaces.

The show can probably overcome its problems, but a bigger question is can it overcome its underlying blandness? Donald Saddler’s choreography is graceful without being striking and the musical direction (Jack Lee again) is bright without being exceptional.

Dolores Sutton gives us a worldly Mrs. Higgins who at first seems to stress family ties with “The Importance of Being Earnest’s” Lady Bracknell. She ends up, however, quite accessible and game. And the splendid Paxton Whitehead is a teddy-bear as Col. Pickering, a role for which he’s greatly overqualified.

Ultimately, and despite all the tribulations, the show’s future will depend on its director and star. The former needs to be more rigorous, the latter more passionate. For the moment, to borrow Pickering’s phrase, this “Fair Lady” rates a “Not bad, not at all bad.” But, at up to $50 a pop, what it needs is a rave.

* “My Fair Lady,” Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Music Center. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends July 18. $17-$50; (213) 480-3232, (714) 740-2000, (213) 972-7211. Running time: 2 hours, 55 minutes.

Richard Chamberlain: Prof. Henry Higgins

Meg Tolin: Eliza Doolittle

Paxton Whitehead: Col. Pickering

Julian Holloway: Alfred P. Doolittle

Dolores Sutton: Mrs. Higgins

Robert Sella: Freddie Eynsford-Hill

Glynis Bell: Mrs. Pearce

A presentation of Barry and Fran Weissler and Jujamcyn Theatres in association with Pace Theatrical Group, Tokyo Broadcasting System and Martin Rabbett. Associate producer Alecia Parker. Director Howard Davies. Book and lyrics Alan Jay Lerner. Music Frederick Loewe. Sets Ralph Koltai. Lights Natasha Katz. Costumes Patricia Zipprodt. Wigs and Hair Patrik D. Moreton. Sound Peter J. Fitzgerald. Musical Coordinator John Monaco. Musical and vocal director Jack Lee. Choreographer Donald Saddler. Production supervisor/stage manager Craig Jacobs.