First look at Gold Coast’s incredible new outdoor stage

IT’S the outdoor stage that will transform the Gold Coast’s entertainment offering. Today it is revealed alongside the new name for The Arts Centre Gold Coast and a cutting-edge program of local and international acts.

THE name of the city’s new cultural heart and the cutting-edge program of local and international acts locked in to celebrate its arrival has been revealed as HOTA - Home of the Arts - today.

Gold Coast City Council unveiled the city’s stunning new state-of-the-art outdoor venue today when it launched the first program of major acts and events booked to play the space.

Years in the planning, the program will serve up a mix of free and ticketed performances for up to 3500 people from March 17.

HELLO HOTA — GOLD COAST WELCOMES NEW HOME OF THE ARTS

The new outdoor stage at the Gold Coast Cultural Precinct. Gold Coast City Council will reveal the precinct’s new name today.

Surrounded by parklands and Evandale Lake, with views through to Surfers, the amphitheatre is the centrepiece of the $37.5 million Stage 1 of the Evandale Cultural Precinct.

Arts Centre Gold Coast chair Robyn Archer said the precinct’s ”cheeky” new name was a closely guarded secret until 9.30am today.

She said the new outdoor stage would provide the city with a brilliant platform to commission, produce and present artists from the region, Australia and the world.

“It’s done. It’s complete. It’s paid for. It’s terrific and the first program we’ll announce will test people’s appetite for it and how it works,” she said.

Gold Coast Cultural Precinct

VIEW GALLERY

Visually spectacular, the stage is 20m wide from wall-to-wall and 1.4m high (from stage to stage forecourt) and includes a 5.5 tonne bi-fold proscenium door. The structure, which took almost two years and more than 1500 workers to build, is framed by a 100-tonne self supporting screen that protects performers from sun and glare.

Ms Archer said its inaugural program would feature numerous free events designed to encourage people to try out the multi-use space, one quite unlike anything anywhere else in Australia.

The new outdoor stage, which took almost two years and more than 1500 workers to build, is framed by a 100-tonne self supporting screen that protects performers from sun and glare.

“There was always the plan to have a number of free events and I imagine in the future there will also be free events but in the English spirit of the arts, if people can afford to pay for the artists they love and the activities that appeal to them, then that of course helps subsidise the other kinds of things that will be going on here and also, the nurturing of local talent and trying to get local talent involved,” she said.

NEW ART GALLERY A STEP CLOSER

She said the facility marked the beginning of a new era for artists and audiences on the Coast.

“There’s a lot of potential for things we haven’t even thought about yet,” she said.

“You never know — this might become an absolutely unique venue for a great star who is used to performing to 20,000, 50,000, 100,00 people but might like the opportunity to perform in a beautiful venue that suits a smaller crowd.”

The new outdoor stage includes a “stage within a stage” with a commercial kitchen, seating, TV and dining table.

Ms Archer said the facility had attracted plenty of interest since the space opened to the public on January 2.

“It’s already signalling a bit of a beacon for cultural life — whether you express cultural life in outdoor pursuit or exercise or the arts themselves,” she said.

CULTURAL PRECINCT HIT BY NOISE COMPLAINTS

The outdoor stage includes a “stage within a stage” with a commercial kitchen, seating, TV and dining table.

The space can be configured as a black box theatre, a sit-down dinner venue or a cocktail area for up to 350 people and includes a terrace with views of the Surfers skyline.

“That’s one of the genius things,” Ms Archer said.

The new outdoor stage is the centrepiece of the $37.5 million Stage 1 of the Evandale Cultural Precinct.

“Many places claim to be really flexible — I think this one might really be.

“If you face out towards the larger audience that looks beautiful and unique but it’s a regular performing stage.

“You can also open that stage from the other side so it looks towards the river and that’s got marvellous potential for functions and events but when you close both faces down you have an absolutely perfect black box theatre.

ART COLLECTION TO BE CENTREPIECE OF PRECINCT

“We’ve got the same dimensions and fit out as the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Black Box on South Bank.”

The next stage of the cultural precinct, due to begin mid-year, will see a ‘green bridge’ built to Chevron Island before the city’s new regional art gallery opens in 2019.