How do you address the icon who delighted audiences as the enchanting nanny in Mary Poppins, had the world singing Do-Re-Mi as Maria in The Sound of Music, featured alongside Anne Hathaway in the Princess Diaries films, and who is a dame?

Well, according to actor Reg Livermore, Dame Julie Andrews likes to be called mum.

"She likes to be called Jules, but what she prefers to be called is 'mum'," Livermore said at a preview for My Fair Lady at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.

"Because we are genuinely her second family … we are an important component in her life, so 'mum'."

Andrews, in Brisbane directing the Opera Australia's production, agreed.

"This company has been so magnificent, they feel almost like – well, they are – a second family to me," she said.

Speaking at a preview for the musical ahead of the Brisbane opening night on March 19, Andrews was warm and passionate when talking about the production, the cast and the crew.

"It is such dedication I find here (in Australia), it is a joy to find this kind of true collaboration, which is obviously what theatre should be about," she said.

The Lyric Theatre is "glorious", actor Charles Edwards plays a "wonderful interpretation" of Henry Higgins, and Anna O'Byrne as Eliza Doolittle "could not be more perfect".

"Anna has a voice that is just gorgeous, and I do so admire it," she said.

Andrews' loveliness, perhaps, stems from her lifelong love of the arts: as Andrews said herself, it "breeds a much lovelier human".

'She is a legend'

For the cast, working with Julie Andrews was a dream come true.

Edwards, most familiar for playing Michael Gregson in Downton Abbey, said it was unbelievable to be working with her.

"Every day it is surreal; she's a legend," said Edwards, who will play Henry Higgins in the Brisbane and Melbourne shows.

"You do have to remind yourself and pinch yourself that it is actually her sitting there, and it's a real treat. A real one-off."

O'Byrne said it was amazing to be working with such an icon.

"She's a true movie star from the golden age so it feels completely surreal to be working with her on a day-to-day basis."

Despite her star power, the cast all said Andrews' passion for the production, her attention to detail and care for the cast and crew put them at ease.

"The first time I met her I was very apprehensive, everybody was really - shaking in your shoes, thinking how do I address Dame Julie Andrews? You know, do you bow? Do you shake hands?" said Livermore, who plays Alfred P. Doolittle in the production.

"But she's basically such a generous, loving person, and made every single person in the company feel they had something to offer.

"For her to say lovely things about me and everybody else, it's just the most loving, wonderful experience and I treasure it."

The same show, 61 years on

This production of My Fair Lady is a recreation of the original 1956 Broadway show "down to the last sequin", according to producer John Frost.

The costumes are exquisite recreations of the originals, and the choreography is spectacular.

But for Andrews, coming back to the show 61 years after starring as Eliza in the original Broadway production has been a wonderful journey of rediscovery.

"Who would have thought that a story about a professor of phonetics would result in it being probably one of the great shows ever for musical theatre, it's a seemingly odd subject," Andrews said.

"But the class differences between the poor and the rich, there's so much in the script to mine and to plumb, and I just have the joy of recreating it as it was originally so you can see the way it really was."

Opening night for My Fair Lady in Brisbane is on March 19 at the Lyric Theatre, after a four-month break from performances in Sydney.

The show then moves to Melbourne's Regent Theatre from May 12, and will return to Sydney with shows at the Capitol Theatre from August 27.