Theatre Revival

Sir Howard Panter, Tim McFarlane, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Emily Nkomo and then NSW Minister for the Arts, Don Harwin at the venue reopening. Credit: James D Morgan.

Karen Sweaney looks at the signifi cance of the reopened Theatre Royal Sydney

While any new opening can be filled with drama, openings in the Coronavirus era have been especially uncertain with lockdowns and restrictions playing havoc with work programs and launch schedules.

The much-anticipated revival of Theatre Royal Sydney, has been no exception with its original September 2021 opening date pushed back to 2nd December last year and its planned program in its initial two months skewing from full houses to seeing performances lost because of the uncertainty of the Omicron variant.

Nevertheless, the relaunch of Theatre Royal Sydney is especially significant bringing, as then NSW Minister for the Arts, Don Harwin said at the opening, “(theatrical) life back to the centre of the city after the challenges of the last few years … increasing Sydney’s capacity to host new productions and compete on the world-stage for more first-run international shows, ensuring high-quality productions well into the future.”

A third Sydney venue capable of hosting major productions, it changes the city’s entertainment landscape, contributing to its 24-hour economy and delivering significant economic benefits.

Moving on from several years of closure and uncertainty over its future, the multi-million dollar refurbishment of the venue, located in Sydney’s MLC Centre, came as a result of Create NSW facilitating a partnership with building owner Dexus and UK-based Trafalgar Entertainment, the new operators of the venue.

Trafalgar Entertainment, co-founded by Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire in 2017, is looking to deliver on a ‘Sydney gets it first’ promise to bring the very best of international theatre to the city.

Already this has seen a short run of Broadway musical Jagged Little Pill, followed by Girl from the North Country and with an American in Paris scheduled to play from 2022.

Sir Howard, Trafalgar’s joint Chief Executive, commented “when we set our eyes on Theatre Royal Sydney, a true Australian theatrical icon, we were committed to restoring it back to all its glory, and to sit once again in the heart of Sydney’s CBD - where the city meets the stage.

“Sydney has always been a landmark destination globally, and now it has back in place a landmark to visit and see the best of world class theatre.”

Focused on new productions, the distribution of livestreaming innovative content and the provision of spaces where people can come together to share in the experience of live entertainment, Trafalgar Entertainment is home to Theatre Royal Sydney, Trafalgar Theatre London, Olympia Theatre, London, 12 regional UK Theatres, Trafalgar Theatre Productions, Trafalgar Releasing, Stagecoach Performing Arts, Helen O’Grady Drama Academy, London Theatre Direct, Luke Shires Marketing, Jonathan Church Theatre Productions and The Chiswick Cinema. Heritage and refurbishment One of Australia’s oldest theatrical institutions, originating in 1832, the current Theatre Royal Sydney was built in 1976, designed by modernist architect Harry Seidler, offering a broad range of entertainment including dramas, comedy and musicals.

Many leading Australian and international performers have graced the Theatre Royal Sydney stage.

Notably, in 1980, Mel Gibson and Noni Hazlehurst took to the stage in ‘No Names…No Pack Drill’ while its colourful history also includes an interval bomb scare at the Australian Premiere of CATS in 1985 - with audience members including Australian

Refurbished interiors at the reopened Theatre Royal Sydney.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Treasurer Paul Keating, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh in attendance - and a three year season of Phantom of the Opera from 1993 seen by over one million people, the longest running musicals ever staged at the venue.

The refurbishment of the venue has seen Trafalgar, along with Dexus and the Dexus Wholesale Property Group, each investing.

Redesigned to add one extra row of seats - increasing capacity to 1200 - the auditorium’s new seating and staging has been designed to an international standard to house major commercial musicals, plays, ballet and live music.

Under the new two-tiered design, no seat within the auditorium is more than 23 metres from Theatre Royal’s stage.

The new circular glass entrance drum unifies the internal theatre foyer with King Street, the bustling heart of Sydney’s Central Business District. The new floor to ceiling windows at the entrance of the theatre now enable people outside the theatre to view the impressive theatre foyer featuring the incredible ribbed ceiling designed by Italian structural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi and the stunning geometrically precise hanging Mercator sculpture by American sculptor Charles O. Perry.

As original architects of the Theatre Royal Sydney (1976) and 25 Martin Place, Harry Seidler & Associates were engaged together with Woods Bagot to complete designs as part of the Conservation Management Plan for the site. In collaboration with Woods Bagot, Harry Seidler & Associates have also delivered the architectural design for the retail podium, public spaces and the office tower lobby at 25 Martin Place.

Staying true to the original 1970s design, Woods Bagot in collaboration with Harry Seidler & Associates integrated the original architectural and cultural narrative into a contemporary precinct of revitalised public spaces.

After assisting Trafalgar Entertainment by coordinating their successful bid for the operation of the Theatre Royal Sydney, Scott Carver were engaged to provide Interior Design Services for the refurbishment.

Acknowledging the venue’s past while meeting the patron and production expectations of modern theatres, their scope of works included the refurbishment of patron experience areas encompassing the provision of three new bars, two VIP lounges, new seating and interior design to the auditorium, alongside compliance and technical upgrade coordination and the extension of the balcony to provide a new front row to the circle.

The Interior Design approach was to both respect and enhance the modernist design of the auditorium, restoring the original ribbed ceiling structure, while modernising the lighting design, seating and proscenium. The series of hospitality offers integrated into the iconic multi-storied foyer, including bars, merchandise counters and VIP areas all addressed the evolution of hospitality in today’s theatre experience while providing additional revenue streams. Operations Theatre Royal Sydney aims to deliver a world class customer experience by breaking away from the traditional commercial theatre ticketing and distribution model by implementing an Australia-first inhouse ticketing platform, NLiven, in partnership with TixTrack.

Commenting on its initial two months of operations, General Manager, Houri Tapiki explains that the initial limited season of Jagged Little Pill, played to full houses, with audiences being “enthusiastic, excited and full of energy (who), while remaining cautious and careful by following COVID safety protocols, were out to have a good time.

“However, towards the end of the run, we started to see some customers requesting exchanges to the July season as the Omicron variant started to ramp up. Customers were mostly requesting these exchanges due to caution leading into the festive season.

“We were then due to open with our first preview of Girl From the North Country on 5th January (but) due to operational challenges associated with COVID-19, this performance had to be rescheduled.

“Fortunately, this is the only performance we have had to reschedule to date. The producers of Girl From the North Country and us as the venue, have invested a lot into introducing additional precautionary measures to provide a safe environment for the cast and crew as well as our staff and audiences.

“Although this has been a costly exercise, we feel it is important to do so to not only preserve the show but to ensure everyone who visits the venue can do so knowing they are safe.

“Additionally, customers can buy tickets with confidence, knowing that if they cannot attend a performance for any COVID-19 related reasons, our box office team are readily available to reschedule their tickets to a later date at no cost. We currently receive hundreds of enquiries a week, all of which are answered within days, sometimes hours of being received.

We have such an amazing program of productions scheduled for 2022 with Girl From the North Country recently announcing an extension of the current season into late March, followed by An American in Paris commencing in April and then a return season of Jagged Little Pill in July.

“Since late last year, there are now several world class restaurants which have opened within 25 Martin Place, providing our audiences several pre and post dining options. We are excited for the year ahead and look forward to continuing to provide an amazing experience to all those who visit Theatre Royal Sydney.” Karen Sweaney is Editor of Australasian Leisure Management.

Jagged Little Pill at Theatre Royal Sydney and Australasian Leisure Management team members at its premiere (above).