The problem with Sydney
A reader of this column began to avidly discuss with me tonight “the dreadful news that has come out of Melbourne today”. I knew Dame Joan had died, but I knew that hadn’t happened in Melbourne but as I had been working in the theatre all day, I thought maybe someone had blown up one of Melbourne’s gloriously restored old theatres. ”No” he said, “Love Never Dies opening in Melbourne…..How could we let another new musical open in Melbourne??” “What has happened to Sydney??”
A reader of this column began to avidly discuss with me tonight “the dreadful news that has come out of Melbourne today”. I knew Dame Joan had died, but I knew that hadn’t happened in Melbourne but as I had been working in the theatre all day, I thought maybe someone had blown up one of Melbourne’s gloriously restored old theatres. ”No” he said, “Love Never Dies opening in Melbourne…..How could we let another new musical open in Melbourne??” “What has happened to Sydney??”
It has been well documented by Troy Dodds in several past articles that the reason Melbourne gets first bite of all the theatrical cherries, is, that unlike Sydney, the Victorian government are wonderful in their support of musical theatre. They know its worth and the worth of the tourist dollar that is associated with it. The NSW government either haven’t got a clue or couldn’t care less. The arts is low on the ladder south of the border.
But let’s be honest here, Sydney sadly, is also no longer a theatre town. It’s not the epicentre of commercial musicals and I am now wondering how long it will be when productions can bypass Sydney altogether? Brisbane is becoming the new second theatre town in our country and for this we can’t totally blame the NSW government.
The huge population shift of the middle class and young upwardly mobile families toward Brisbane and environs has created a whole new theatre market up there. Shows are doing better and better in Brisbane and the seasons are becoming longer. I was surprised that Wicked didn’t position itself for a full six months in Brisbane, so buoyant is the market up there now.
Sydney is being left behind for a number of reasons , apart from the government. There is a huge change in Sydney’s population. Sydney’s strong ethnic population, is something to be encouraged. Yet the multi cultural mix that makes up a good section of Sydney’s population are not commercial theatre goers. American musicals just aren’t their thing and we are just beginning to see the tip of the iceberg in this change of the identity of the city of Sydney.
There is no question now that Melbourne is a theatre town. It has better theatres, they are better situated and they have been beautifully restored. Sydney’s theatres are all over the city in odd places.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago the Royal is situated in the deadest part of the inner city. Everything around it closes at night. The Capitol is in a vibrant area, but its vibrancy comes from the excitement of China Town so nearby, not from a big theatre in the midst of all that cultural excitement.
The Lyric is so far removed from the rest of the theatres and will always be somewhat diluted by being part of a gambling casino, something that has always been a turn off for some theatre goers. Also Star City dumped its perfectly workable second theatre and have as yet not tried to replace it.
That is it for large theatres, Sydney is just going further down the pecking order of what constitutes the right environment for commercial theatre. It’s sadly a fact of life. The old harbour city just aint what it used to be theatrically speaking and unless a new theatre is added to the mix, it’s just going to get worse. More plane trips to Melbourne for you theatre fans, Melbourne is theatrically more vibrant than ever and some days walking along Exhibition Street, you can almost kid yourself you are on Broadway or the west end – well, almost!