Crista Moore holds Tony, Outer Critics and Drama Desk Award nominations for her performances in Big: the Musical and the title role of Gypsy (with Tyne Daly) on Broadway. She has a Theatre World Award for Gypsy. She comes to Playhouse in the Park to play the most famous flower seller in musical theater, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (Sept. 2-Oct. 3).

What's Eliza's girl power? She's been on her own most of her life. She's grown up on the streets, and she's had to learn to take care of herself. So she's got street smarts and survival skills that are way beyond her years.

Does she have a happily ever after? I definitely think she has a happily ever after. She finds the life that's right for her. She finds her right place in the world, regardless of whether that's the place others believe she should be.

Your five-year plan: Five-year plan? I'm cogitating on my five-year plan as we speak. But I have a definite five-month plan.

Favorite place to hear live music: Anywhere the music is good. We've been busy in rehearsal, but I've heard the Blind Lemon in Mount Adams is the first place to go.

Favorite Graeter's flavor: I've been promised a tasting as soon as the show opens. I'm guessing it will be double chocolate something.

How high are your heels? Most of the time I wear sneakers. When you're walking around Mount Adams, going up that long, steep driveway to Playhouse every day, heels are out of the question.

Why is she the one? With Eliza, there are certain givens," says director Susan Booth. "A voice both dreamy and fierce, a facility with dialect, a palpable intellectual dexterity. "About 30 seconds after Crista walked in... Here were those requisites all in one person. Here were innocence and tough survival instincts. Here was Eliza."

What's next? "I'll be Eliza for a while. This job really doesn't end till February. After we close in Cincinnati, we go straight to Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and then we have a little break before we open at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in January. So I guess just a lot of packing and unpacking. After that, it's a surprise."