Terracini said his approach of bringing in overseas talent and bolstering box office receipts with popular musicals had stood the test of time – and COVID.
“I’ve gone back to that model and it’s working brilliantly,” he said.
The former singer also took a potshot at critics who questioned his decision to stage two productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’sThe Phantom Of The Opera in the course of a single year. The first was staged on the over-water stage at Mrs Macquaries Chair,while the second opened last week to positive reviews in the Opera House’s Joan Sutherland Theatre.
“I’m happier than normal because everyone told me it wouldn’t work,” said Terracini. “Everyone told me that we’d cannibalise the audience doingPhantom on the harbour and then in the theatre. But the opposite has been the case. It’s fantastic.”
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These optimistic assertions come after Opera Australia suffered a $22.5 million loss last year,prompting new chief executive Fiona Allan to call in consultants to transform the company’s operating model. In May,Allan told theHerald that Opera Australia’s approach was “not sustainable in the long term” and hinted there would be a fresh focus on local talent and content.
Then,later that month,following a widely publicised dispute with the cast ofPhantom on the Harbour,a leaked survey found one in three Opera Australia staff believed bullying and harassment was a problem at the company. A separate investigation into that issue is underway.