The industry rubbed their collective hands with glee that a decision could be imminent and the space would reopen.
And yet here we are,in February,still waiting.
A decision about what GPT and Dexus will do with the theatre space has been delayed again by the news that GPT wants to decrease its Sydney footprint and is bailing out of the MLC centre,selling its half.
Dexus has until the middle of March to decide if it wants to buy GPT's half or whether it can be sold to someone else.
I asked Dexus this week what the hold up is.
In a statement,they said while they are under no obligation to reopen the theatre,it is an option that is still under consideration,there is no time frame on the decision and they recognise the benefit a theatre could bring to the community.
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They also said,however,that a retail and dining precinct in the MLC Centre is essential,and substantial refurbishment costs are required to bring the theatre up to scratch.
They are chatting to the council and the state government about the refurbishments and,given it is an election year,you'd have thought Gladys would have whipped out the Amex by now.
Dexus failed to mention the fact that when they built the MLC Centre a gentleman's agreement took place that allowed them significantly more retail space if they accommodated the Theatre Royal. Of course,it wasn't written down so they don't have to acknowledge it.
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While we wait,Sydney,and Australia,are missing out on shows likeDear Evan Hansen,Mean Girls,Pretty Woman,upcoming productions ofMoulin Rouge andThe Cher Show,Pretty Woman:The Musical andBeetlejuice,with music from Australia's own Eddie Perfect.
The spread-out nature of our population means that for a large-scale production to be commercially viable,dates in Sydney,Melbourne and Brisbane need to line up.
If one of the three major cities'theatres is full,tours get delayed or just don't happen.
One producer lamented that they were struggling to book a show into Australia in 2021 because the theatres in Sydney are full until then. Another suggested it could go as far ahead as 2022.
We are talking about plays and musicals here and the government certainly has more important problems to solve than whenHamilton is going to find some theatre space. But blockbuster theatre is part of the beating heart of a city.
Theatres also inject an enormous amount of money into the economy. The current average price for a ticket to a musical in Sydney is around $129. A comfortable occupancy for musicals to sit at is around 65 per cent (any less than that and producers start losing money) and if you look at a house the size of the Theatre Royal,that's $793,000 a week that isn't being spent. Book in a blockbuster that is going to sell out its run and you are looking at closer to $1.2 million.
Dexus and GPT might think more shops and a food court are important,but the hundreds of people who work on the shows and the 1180 people who could go to see them every night would much rather they just open the theatre's doors again and stop being so greedy.