Venue shortage a serious issue

I was so pleased to see Bryce Hallett’s article in the Sydney Morning Herald last Saturday, highlighting a problem everyone in the industry has been discussing for some time, the future shortage of theatres in Sydney capable of housing major commercial productions (and specifically musicals).

I was so pleased to see Bryce Hallett’s article in the Sydney Morning Herald last Saturday, highlighting a problem everyone in the industry has been discussing for some time, the future shortage of theatres in Sydney capable of housing major commercial productions (and specifically musicals).

This is, in fact, a national problem, as if there are not sufficient theatres in Sydney to house big productions this will impact severely in other states, most notably, Melbourne, where the large theatre situation is much more healthy. Yet, if a musical cannot play Sydney because there isn’t a theatre for it, it is not financially viable for a show to only play Melbourne and follow with short seasons in the smaller states.

For commercial theatre to succeed in Australia, it is vital that the two states that represent Australia’s largest population, have theatres that are available.

Sydney has suffered before because of shortage of theatres. It is not a city known for its forward thinking when it comes to all things to do with the arts. The decision to pull down the still relatively new Her Majesty’s Theatre in Quay St, was one of the many failures of the City of Sydney to preserve and be concerned about this state’s artistic heritage. Similarly the council happily pulled down the Regent Theatre now 20-odd years ago, just as it was being used for major commercial musical productions and its backstage had been revamped to handle shows such as The Pirates of Penzance and Barnum which successfully played there.

Now Sydney is left with the Capitol, the Theatre Royal and the Lyric at Star City. The latter has further exacerbated the problem by  the ridiculous decision that they only want short runs in that theatre – ideally six to 12 weeks maximum.

This idea must come from some ridiculous misguided idea that more shorter run shows will mean more customers coming back to the casino and playing the poker machines or something. There needs to be some serious intervention to make sure the management of Star City quickly re-think their position. There are only a very small number of shows in the commercial pantheon that can successfully sustain such short seasons – ie touring productions usually produced with slightly cheaper touring sets. Any large  scale production with all the trimmings that go with transporting a big musical or a Broadway show intact to our shores, need lengthy seasons to make the finances of such a production viable.

The management at Star City, must realise they have a larger obligation with that all important theatre, to the arts community as a whole. After all, the theatre was not built there merely as a place to park audiences for a while before they wander off to the gambling tables.

The Theatre Royal is about to settle down to a long, long season of Jersey Boys fresh from its extraordinary record breaking run in Melbourne. It will be good to see the Royal home to a long running legit musical again, but it does mean the number of available theatres have even been lessened. The Capitol will remain the home of the bigger budget long running shows, with Wicked to be followed next year by a long run of Mary Poppins and now, it is mooted, a 25th anniversary production of Les Miserables which would seem a perfect fit for the Capitol.

The problem is going to reach disastrous proportions with the closing of the theatres in the Opera House at an undisclosed time in the next five years. This has been on the cards for a good while, as a refurbishment of all theatres becomes a reality, the major performance companies who call O.H home; especially the Opera and Ballet, will go looking for temporary accommodation, tying up even more so, the Capitol and the Lyric.

The other Sydney theatre I have not mentioned here , is the State. Home mostly to one  off concerts. There are plans afoot to help make it more of a legit house for staging longer running musicals, this could, in fact,  ease the burden on the other theatres a little.

Yet patching up the problem is not a solution. Sydney needs a good 1600 seat performance space and it is pleasing to see many of the local producers joined by Cameron Mackintosh in supporting the building of a  major commercial theatre as part of the new Barangaroo area, north of King St Wharf. The Herald reports the setting up of a task force to try and make sure this new exciting area being developed, will include a live theatre. We desperately need it, or, as pointed out, commercial theatre is going to suffer in every State. Now is the time for the sort of forethought that has been sadly lacking   in much of the planning   for entertainment venues by the City of Sydney .

There has often been discussion on this site as to which state is really the theatre capital of Australia. The answer does not really matter, what matters is which local council and local government is going to support the sustaining, the growth  and building of our theatres. At the moment the Victorian government wins the contest hands down.