Sydney missing out on theatre blockbusters due to lack of venues
SYDNEY has been left waiting in the wings as Melbourne makes hundreds of millions of dollars hogging the limelight in the lucrative musical theatre industry. It means the Harbour City is missing out on blockbusters such as Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.
SYDNEY has been left waiting in the wings as Melbourne makes hundreds of millions of dollars hogging the limelight in the lucrative musical theatre industry.
A chronic lack of venues means the Harbour City is missing out on blockbusters such as Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.
Sydney’s two commercial theatres are booked out until 2025, while Melbourne — with its eight theatres — is better placed to stage new shows.
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Live performance revenue in Melbourne overtook Sydney for the first time last year, with musical theatre ticket sales rocketing ahead in Bleak City.
Melbourne raked in $206 million in 2017, compared with Sydney’s $117 million, according to Live Performance Australia.
Figures from the peak body show 1.9 million people saw a musical in Melbourne last year, compared with Sydney’s 1.7 million.
Theatre producers say an obvious fix is to reopen King St’s 1100-seat Theatre Royal, which closed almost three years ago.
Powerful producers including Jersey Boys’ Rodney Rigby and LPA president Andrew Kay have urged state Arts Minister Don Harwin and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore to force the Theatre Royal’s property giant owners to reopen the site.
When the MLC Centre was built in the 1970s, the City of Sydney gave then developer Lend Lease additional floor space in exchange for rebuilding a theatre on the site, Mr Kay said. The LPA estimates the site’s new owners — property giants Dexus and GPT — have been pocketing bonus rent of up to $11 million a year on that additional floor space, despite breaching the theatre guarantee agreement.
“There is a moral obligation on the owners to honour the deal,” Mr Rigby said.
Mr Kay said: “Clearly a theatre won’t make as much money as a handbag shop.” He said four theatre operators were waiting to manage the Theatre Royal should Dexus and GPT reopen its doors.
The theatre shortage means shows such as The Wizard Of Oz are getting super-short runs at Sydney’s Lyric or the Capitol.
The show played 12 weeks in Melbourne but was bumped from Sydney’s Capitol after just 4½ weeks.
Actor Samantha Dodemaide, who starred as Dorothy, fears Dexus and GPT would rather demolish the Royal and open a jewellery store on the site.
“There’s a Tiffany’s store in every city,” she said. “It is not as special as the experience of theatre. We are letting Melbourne overtake us as the cultural hub.”
Dexus and GPT did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr Harwin and Ms Moore both supported reopening the Theatre Royal.
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