Auditoriums half full, audiences masked up as QPAC fights back from Covid carnage

Shows at QPAC are going ahead with West Side Story resuming this week and rehearsals for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in full swing.

There’s carnage in the performing arts across Australia but Brisbane remains a beacon of hope with QPAC open with auditorium’s half full and audiences masked up.

QPAC chief executive John Kotzas says the pandemic had “truly kept us on our toes over the last few weeks”.

“But we couldn’t be happier to be welcoming audiences back for performances,” Kotzas says. “Running our theatres at 50 per cent capacity presents its own challenges with almost-full or sold out shows but we are very conscious that it’s a privilege for us to have performances at all in the current environment.”

Kotzas says the recent lockdown shut down the musical West Side Story but it’s on again now and rehearsals have begun again for the upcoming world premieres of Boy Swallows Universe and Dead Puppet Society’s Ishmael. Bangarra Dance Theatre’s show Sandsong is also going ahead with limited capacity next week. QPAC has been fully refunding patrons who may have been bumped due to cutbacks in audience capacity.

West Side Story is back at QPAC this week

“Although our theatres will be operating at 50% capacity it does mean that you may still be sitting next to someone else, however please be assured we are operating as per Queensland Health guidelines. Masks will be mandatory at all times both in our theatres and foyers and all patrons will be required to check in via the Check In Qld app.”

It is hoped that Ishmael, Boy Swallows Universe and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can proceed at 100 per cent capacity but QPAC will be guided by Queensland Health advice on that.

Leads Robert Grubb, Stephen Anderson and Lucy Maunder, with the Charlie and The Chocolate Factory cast in rehearsal, QPAC Merivale Street Studio, South Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston.

A spokesman for West Side producers GWB Entertainment and Opera Australia says the limited capacity meant they were “guaranteed to lose money on this production”.

“However we felt incredibly strongly about continuing with the production in Brisbane to keep faith with the hundreds of people that production employs and the audiences who have purchased tickets,” the spokesman says.

The great news for families is that rehearsals are also back for Charlie and The Chocolate Factory which is on from September 2 in the Lyric Theatre.

Stephen Anderson, who plays the role of Willy Wonka in the hit musical, says the cast is ecstatic the show is going ahead at QPAC after it was shut down last year just before it hit the stage in Brisbane.

Brisbane’s young Charlie’s Phineaus Knickerbocker, Cooper Matthews and Flynn Nowlan will be on stage soon in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at QPAC. Picture: Richard Walker

“It really does feel like a miracle,” Anderson says. ‘We’re having fun and everyone is just so excited and thrilled to be here and being with each other in the rehearsal room is pure joy.” Anderson opens the show singing The Candy Man.

Over at the Gallery of Modern Art audiences have also been cut in half at the blockbuster exhibition European Masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In line with current Covid-19 regulations capacity is limited to one person per four square metres and social distancing and mask wearing is mandatory. The exhibition, which is on until October 17, can hold 390 visitors at any one time.

Another show going ahead now that the recent lockdown is behind us is the immersive theatrical event A Midnight Visit, a gothic extravaganza based on the slightly spooky work of Edgar Allen Poe. It reopened in its warehouse space in Robertson Street Fortitude Valley just hours after lockdown.

Co creator Kirsten Siddle says the show was conceived with health and safety and social distancing in mind and “the physical scale of this epic show means that instead of being seated the audience has over 1000 sqm to explore freely and safely”.

Cast members Meg Hickey, Kristian Santic, Gina Tay Limpus and Lucinda Shaw. from A Midnight Visit, the crazy immersive theatre experience back on in Brisbane this week. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Nearby at the Brisbane Powerhouse new CEO/artistic director Kate Gould is feeling “sad” about the cancellation of the Brisbane Comedy Festival, one of the venues most popular events. There may be no shows on this week but Gould says the iconic venue will open its theatres again when productions can be presented at full capacity.

“But the building is open and I encourage people to come and visit the restaurants,” Gould says conceding that the next show on at the venue is a rather appropriate one.

It’s a comedic homage called Titanic – The Movie The Play and it’s on outside at the Powerhouse Plaza from next Thursday. A show about a great disaster seems apt under the circumstances.