Two major musicals destined for Sydney have been cancelled, with industry leaders saying the live theatre sector faces a crisis unless it can get tax breaks from the federal government.
Waitress The Musical was scheduled to open at Lyric Theatre in August after a successful run in Melbourne while Beetlejuice was to play at the Capitol Theatre from November.
Both were scheduled to run for three months, employing hundreds of people.
“It is shocking to have two musicals go down in this manner,” Live Performance Australia President Richard Evans said.
“We’ve just reached a tipping point now where with the economy softening, with inflation driving up, especially with touring costs, it’s just reached the point where the risk is too great, and producers are having to make the very difficult decision to close the show early. I don’t know what more needs to happen for it to be a crisis. The reality is, we need something to change and we need it to change quickly.”
Evans and his team have been lobbying the government to introduce similar tax offsets to that of London’s West End to enable producers to lower ticket prices while delivering world class theatre.
“It is horrendous, that means hundreds of people losing their jobs and not just performers and musicians, it is makeup artists, wig artists, wardrobe and technical experts, ushers, bar staff, we need to recalibrate the whole operation of our theatres to accommodate that and it is tragic, it is a terrible situation to be in,” Graeme Kearns, chief executive of Foundation Theatres, owners of both the Capitol and Lyric, two of Sydney’s biggest theatres, said.
“It doesn’t matter how good your show is, buying a ticket to a musical theatre production is probably the very apex of discretionary expenditure. If consumer confidence is down and economics are telling us the conditions are tough, buying a ticket to a show is probably one of the last things on your shopping list.”
Together, Capitol and Lyric will sit idle for 30 weeks over the coming year.
“It’s theatres that are usually full,” Kearns said.
Producer Suzanne Jones pointed to data showing musical theatre accounted for 31.4 million ticket sales nationally in 2024.
“We often think of theatre as a niche art form. In reality, Australians buy tens of millions of tickets to live performances every year. It’s not a fringe industry, it’s a major part of Australia’s economic and cultural life,” she said.
“There’s an amazing opportunity for us internationally with a tax incentive approach to really stamp Australia as having a major footprint in the arts market in the world. The Capitol Theatre, if you fill it each week, that’s 16,000 people that use the restaurants and the bars and the taxis and the Ubers and the shopping and the hotels, we are an economic driver for the places that we’re in.”
She added: “I don’t want a handout, I want something that compels people to invest in our country and that means I can make jobs and create IP that can go offshore.”
Federal Minister for the Arts Tony Burke met with representatives of Live Performance Australia last week.
“Consultation and development on the next National Cultural Policy couldn’t be happening at a more important time,” he said.
“Cost of living pressure always has a particular impact on ticket buying in the arts. The impact on live theatre needs to be fully appreciated. In an industry where permanent work is hard to come by, live theatre and in particular, musicals that have longer seasons are the backbone of secure employment in a notoriously insecure industry.”
Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou meanwhile said the impact on local businesses couldn’t be understated.
“The cancellations of Waitress and Beetlejuice are a significant blow for Sydney and a worrying sign for Australia’s live entertainment industry,” he said.
“These productions are more than just shows, they bring visitors into the city, support our theatres, restaurants, bars and hotels, and sustain thousands of jobs across the arts, tourism and hospitality sectors. Losing them weakens Sydney’s cultural offering and our reputation as Australia’s premier events and entertainment destination.
“The recent cancellations should be a wake-up call for governments and industry. With cost-of-living pressures changing consumer behaviour, we need practical measures that encourage audiences back into our theatres, reduce the financial risk for producers and ensure Sydney remains a vibrant global city where world-class live entertainment continues to thrive. Investing in the performing arts is also an investment in jobs, tourism, our night-time economy and the long-term vitality of our city.”