Producers Opera Australia and John Frost for Crossroads Live have announced that Olivier Award winner Nathaniel Parker will star as Professor Henry Higgins in the upcoming 70th Anniversary season of the much-loved musical My Fair Lady.
Best known to Australian audiences for his roles in the BBC crime drama series The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and Agravaine de Bois in Merlin, Nathaniel won an Olivier Award and was nominated for a Tony for his performance as Henry VIII in Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies and was again Olivier nominated for The Mirror and the Light. Nathaniel’s appointment completes the casting for the highly-anticipated musical.
“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 Nathaniel Parker.
Nathaniel trained at L.A.M.D.A. and the National Youth Theatre. His extensive theatre credits include productions for the RSC including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Every Man in his Humour, Richard II, The Rover, The Storm and The Winter’s Tale.
Other theatre credits include Romeo & Juliet (Young Vic), The Merchant of Venice; 50 Revolutions; Speed-The-Plow; The Audience; This House, An Ideal Husband; Operation Epsilon; Rock ‘N’ Roll; Separate Tables; The Browning Version and Ragdoll.
On screen he appeared in The Last Duel as Sir Robert de Thibouville, directed by Ridley Scott as well as Haunted Mansion; Stardust; Flawless; Into Thin Air; Beverly Hills Ninja; The Bodyguard; Othello and War Requiem.
Based on Julie Andrews’ 2016 production, My Fair Lady will feature renowned Australian soprano Claire Lyon as Eliza Doolittle and will premiere at the Sydney Opera House in September before a season at Arts Centre Melbourne opening in November.
Nathaniel and Claire will join previously announced cast members who include a mix of some of Australia’s best new emerging performers and established musical theatre favourites, as well as Australian theatre icons making their return to this beloved musical.
A heartwarming story of identity and change, My Fair Lady brims with razor sharp wit, unforgettable characters, and a stunning score including ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?’, ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ and ‘Get Me to the Church on Time’.
When Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe premiered their brilliant adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion in 1956, it became an instant classic — hailed as “the perfect musical” and winning six Tony Awards.
My Fair Lady will open at the Sydney Opera House’s Joan Sutherland Theatre in September 2026, before transferring to Arts Centre Melbourne’s Ian Potter State Theatre in November 2026.
For further information, visit www.myfairladythemusical.com.au
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