Opera Australia and co-producer John Frost have announced that British actor Nathaniel Parker will play Professor Henry Higgins in the upcoming 70th-anniversary season of Lerner & Loewe’s much-loved musical My Fair Lady. This marks the final piece of casting for the production, which will co-star Australian soprano Claire Lyon as Eliza Doolittle.

Nathaniel Parker. Photo © Matt Crockett

Parker is best known for playing the lead in the BBC crime drama series The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and Agravaine de Bois in the fourth series of Merlin.

He won an Olivier Award for his portrayal of Henry VIII in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2014 productions of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, and Tony nominations when the productions moved to Broadway the following year. He was also nominated for an Olivier Award for The Mirror and the Light in 2021, the final production in the trilogy, based on Hilary Mantel’s award-winning novels.

His extensive credits for the RSC include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Every Man in his Humour, Richard II, The Rover, The Storm and The Winter’s Tale.

Parker portrayed Bassanio in Peter Hall’s 1989 production of The Merchant of Venice in London and on Broadway, co-starring with Dustin Hoffman. His other stage credits include The Audience in which he played Gordon Brown opposite Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II; and Bob in Rupert Goold’s West End revival of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow.

“My Fair Lady is an iconic film that seems to become more relevant by the year. I feel like a kid in a candy store. It’s just a dream come true. I remember when I got the part of Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice opposite Dustin Hoffman back in the mists of time, thinking that I was the luckiest 29-year-old actor around – and this job makes me the luckiest ‘coughsplutter-year-old’ around!” said Parker.

Based on Julie Andrews’ 60th-anniversary production for Opera Australia and John Frost, which broke box office records in 2016, this revival will be directed by Karen Johnson Mortimer.

Several actors who appeared in 2016 will reprise their roles. They include Reg Livermore as Alfred P. Doolittle, Robyn Nevin as Mrs Higgins, Tony Llewellyn-Jones as Colonel Pickering and David Whitney as Karpathy.

They will be joined by Anne Wood as Mrs Pearce and Freddy Hellier, who will make his mainstage musical theatre debut as Freddy Eynsford-Hill.

Julie Andrews was catapulted to stardom at the age of 20 when she originated the role of Eliza in 1956.

Lyon, who plays Eliza now, is best known for playing Christine Daaé in the world tour of The Phantom of the Opera.

When her casting was announced in May, she said, “Being cast as Eliza in Julie Andrews’ production of My Fair Lady is really beyond words. It is one of the biggest female roles ever written and to be stepping into Julie’s shoes, so to speak, is a huge honour. There is no bigger icon than Julie Andrews!”

“On top of this, it feels quite serendipitous that it was this very musical, where I made my professional debut in the ensemble in Opera Australia’s 2008 production. I feel like I’m ‘coming home’. I am so excited and can’t wait to step into the rehearsal room and onto the Sydney Opera House stage this September!”

Opera Australia and John Frost present My Fair Lady at the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 12 September – 30 October; and the Ian Potter State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, 14 November – 13 December. More information here.