Reopening of Theatre Royal Sydney marks a ‘new era’ for Australian entertainment

Theatre Royal Sydney is ready to welcome patrons as of Thursday this week following an official opening today after a multi-million dollar refurbishment.

Moving on from several years of closure and uncertainty over its future, today’s reopening of the 1200 seat venue was described by NSW Minister for the Arts, Don Harwin as “an important step forward for Sydney’s theatre scene (bringing) life back to the centre of the city after the challenges of the last few years.

“The redeveloped Theatre Royal increases 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.”

Trafalgar Entertainment, a leading international live entertainment company, co-founded by Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire in 2017, are the new operators of the venue.

With its launch season commencing this Thursday (2nd December) with Broadway musical Jagged Little Pill, followed by Girl from the North Country and an American in Paris in 2022, bringing performance and creativity back to the venue, Trafalgar Entertainment are looking to deliver on a ‘Sydney gets it first’ promise to bring the very best of international theatre to the city.

A boost for Sydney
The re-opening increases Sydney’s capacity to host new productions and compete on the world-stage for more first-run international tours, ensuring high-quality productions in Sydney’s city centre well into the future. Located in Sydney’s MLC Centre, it will also contribute to the vibrancy of Sydney’s 24-hour economy and deliver significant economic benefits to NSW through employment, tourism, and hospitality sector - it is estimated that internationally renowned musicals deliver around $25 million in visitor expenditure over a six-month run

Sir Howard, joint Chief Executive of Trafalgar Entertainment Group, 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. Opening this venue with the first international production outside Broadway, Alanis Morrissette’s Jagged Little Pill, we begin with our long-term commitment to Sydney Getting It First.”

Focused on new productions, the distribution of live-streaming 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.

The reopening came about as a result of Create NSW facilitating a partnership with building owner Dexus and Trafalgar Entertainment.

Heritage and refurbishment
One of Australia’s oldest theatrical institutions, originating in 1832, the current Theatre Royal Sydney was built in 1976, designed by acclaimed 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. In 1980, Mel Gibson and Noni Hazlehurst took to the stage in ‘No Names…No Pack Drill’. The rich performance history also includes an interval bomb scare at the Australian Premiere of CATS in 1985, with audience members including Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Treasurer Paul Keating, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh 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 Theatre Royal Sydney.

The refurbishment of Theatre Royal Sydney has seen Trafalgar, along with Dexus and the Dexus Wholesale Property Group, each investing to significantly upgrade the theatre.

The new auditorium with new seating and staging has been designed to an international standard to house world class productions from Australia and around the world from major commercial musicals, plays, ballet & live music. Trafalgar’s redesign of the theatre added one extra row of seats and increased the capacity to 1200.

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 seamlessly 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 enables people outside the theatre to view the gorgeous 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. Commissioned in 1974 by Seidler and installed the following year, the Mercator has been restored by Sydney-based contemporary sculptor Stephen Coburn having been taken down in the 1990s and will be a feature of the transformed Theatre Royal Sydney.

The new Theatre Royal sign has been crafted and produced by Newcastle based Owen Signs.

Seidler’s original design concepts have been honoured in the renewal of the Theatre Royal with the re-establishment of key architectural features including the Mercator sculpture and the thematic feature the colours of red and gold.

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.

Woods Bagot Director, Domenic Alvaro says the beautiful new transparent foyer beckons passers-by to step in from King Street, commenting “when the MLC Centre was unveiled in 1978, it was unlike anything Australia had ever seen (and) as the curtain rises on the new theatre foyer, once again Australia is seeing something new and exciting.

“We replaced the solid façade with a 7m high floor-to-ceiling curved glazing which reveals the spectacular foyer and signature art pieces within. It’s a major design gesture that blurs the traditional public/private line and renews connection to the city’s urban sensibility.”

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 honour and enhance the modernist design of the auditorium, restoring the original ribbed ceiling structure, whie 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.

Partnerships and customer experience
Theatre Royal Sydney aims 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. Theatre Royal Sydney has also secured the first Australian Partnership with HubSpot to deliver a fully integrated market leading CRM (customer relationship management) solution.

Theatre Royal Sydney have secured a three-year partnership with Premier Partner RBC Capital Markets, part of Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), its first arts and cultural partnership secured in Australia. RBC is a major supporter of the arts globally and has been Principal Partner of London’s Old Vic theatre since 2015, enabling more artistic output and varied programming.

The Trafalgar Entertainment Group/Theatre Royal Sydney Partnership will also support RBC’s Women in Finance Scholarship with University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Business School.

The purpose of the scholarship is to advance the progression of women in finance through rewarding talented female students.

Image: Sir Howard Panter, Tim McFarlane, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Emily Nkomo and NSW Minister for the Arts, Don Harwin at this morning's opening (top, credit: James D Morgan); media interest at the opening (middle, credit: Nigel Benton) and the auditorium of the venue (below, credit: Pierre Toussaint).