MY FAIR LADY - Joan Sutherland Theatre - Sydney Opera House

Claire Lyon as Eliza Doolittle in the 2026 John Frost - Opera Australia production of
"My Fair Lady 

Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner – Music by Frederick Loewe

Directed by Karen Johnson Mortimer based on the 2016 production by Julie Andrews

Set Design by Oliver Smith – Costume Design by Cecil Beaton

Musical Direction by David Young – Choreography by Christopher Gattelli

Lighting Design by Richard Pilbrow – Sound Design by Michael Waters

Produced by John Frost and Opera Australia with Power Arts and Shake & Stir

Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House until October 31, 2026

Opening night performance on September 22^nd reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Claire Lyon (Eliza Doolittle) and company in "My Fair Lady"

There are many reasons to savour this magnificent production of My Fair Lady. 

Firstly, it is the only production in the world directed by Julie Andrews, who created the role of Eliza Doolittle in the original 1956 Broadway production.

Although she had played the role hundreds of times during its original seasons on Broadway and in London, Julie Andrews had never seen the show from the front.

Therefore, when invited by John Frost and Opera Australia to direct a recreation of the original production for its 60^th Anniversary, she did so from her memories of performing in it.

That production toured Australia in 2016, and it is that production, with Ms Andrews’ direction intact under the stewardship of Karen Johnson Mortimer, who was her assistant director when she created it, which has now been revived for this 70^th Anniversary tour.

 The magnificence of this production for which extraordinary efforts have been undertaken to ensure the meticulous reproduction of Oliver Smith’s breath-taking set designs, and the much-celebrated Cecil Beaton costumes, for this production faithfully recreated by John David Ridge, is still awe-inspiring.

The Embassy Ballroom Scene in "My Fair Lady"

The Covent Garden exterior which opens the show, Professor Higgins’ wonderfully detailed study, the stunning Ascot scene, and of course the breath-taking transition into the Embassy Ballroom, all gloriously enhanced by the lighting design of Richard Pilbrow, remain as gasp-inducing as ever. Each reveal drawing excited applause from the first-night audience, a reminder that there were those in the theatre who had not been born at the time of the first Australian production or had never seen a stage production of My Fair Lady.

The Ascot Scene in "My Fair Lady"

Although one who certainly had, and sitting quietly among the first-night audience was Australia’s original 1959 Eliza Doolittle, Bunty Turner.

In 2026, Claire Lyon is a bewitching Eliza Dolittle, as comfortable vocally as the uneducated cockney flower-girl as she is as Higgins newly minted faux duchess. Her renditions of  "The Rain in Spain" and "I Could Have Danced All Night" are a joy, as is her entrance as Eliza dressed for the ball.

Similarly, Nathaniel Parker, who while embracing the unfettered misogyny of Henry Higgins, manages to invest his portrayal with a winning likability, even a modicum of warmth that allows Eliza’s capitulation at the end to almost makes sense.

Claire Lyon (Eliza Doolittle) - Nathaniel Parker (Professor Henry Higgins) in "My Fair Lady".

Particularly unique are the three Australian stage legends returning to the roles they created in the 60^th Anniversary production. Reg Livermore as Alfred Doolittle remarkably reprising his show-stopping versions of "With a Little Bit of Luck" and "I’m Getting Married in the Morning"; Robyn Nevin delightfully dignified but landing every laugh as she brings her son, Henry, to heel; and Tony LLwellyn- Jones as the ever-urbane Colonel Pickering.

None look a day older than when they created these roles in 2016, and each bringing to the stage, a unique command and style earned over a lifetime lighting up stages in a succession of memorable roles.

New to this production but bringing with them a wealth of stage experience, Anne Wood plays Henry Higgin’s formidable though kindly housekeeper, Mrs Pearce. David Whitney clearly enjoys playing Higgins's' phonetics rival, Zoltan Karpathy, while Freddy Hellier brings an impressive voice and presence to the role of the besotted Freddy Eynsford-Hill even harvesting laughs from the verse of his impressively sung On the Street Where You Live.

If you need more encouragement as to why you should not miss this production, there’s the opportunity to hear the glorious Lerner & Lowe score played magnificently by the Opera Australia Orchestra, conducted by David Young, who generously allows the orchestra to have its head during Christopher Gattelli’s boisterous dance numbers, while keeping it restrained during the many songs to allow Alan Jay Lerner’s witty lyrics to be relished.  

If you have ever yearned to experience this classic musical as its creators intended, then this is your opportunity.

                                                             Photos by Jeff Busby

         This review first published in CITY NEWS September 25, 2026. Link here