Opera and lottery

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33985, 28 October 1975, Page 13

Opera and lottery

The Sydney Opera, House may have replaced the harbour* bridge as the symbol of Sydney. but the sAustlo2m superstructure is in trouble again.' Figures released recently show that it is costing I sAust6m a year to run, I against revenue of only! sAust2m. reports an N.Z PA. | staff correspondent. To counter this, hiring fees are to be doubled, but; both the Australian Opera! and the Australian Ballet! have expressed strong doubts I that they can live with the new hiring fees, and have said they may seek to hold some performances else-! where. Today it costs sAust3soo,! plus 6 per cent of takings, to hire the opera theatre, but from January 1 it is likely to cost SAust?ooo. plus 12 per cent of the box office. The average seat charge would have to rise to nearly SAustlO. and the opera and ballet both have strong doubts that the public would support such a price. Mr John Mostyn. a direc-1 tor of the opera, has) described the new fees as “crippling,” especially as the opera theatre is not' entirely satisfactory' for opera.

l ( With only 1400 seats, it is .tone of the smallest major .iopera houses, and is barely /economic. j Sir Robert Helpmann, ! artistic director of the ballet. ■ said the new charges would (cut drastically into the com-: ’ pany’s big following in Syd-! ney, and the company would I certainly have to look atj alternative venues. i He described the theatre! jas “unfortunate,” saying! that 200 of the 1400 seats! ihad only partial vision. Sir! Robert said he would like to j |see the opera house lottery! jcontinue to foster the opera! | house. The general manager of; the opera house (Mr Frank! Barnes) is continuing to! ! voice strong prospects for I the complex. He goes out of I his way to point out that I with four available theatres of varying sizes, it is much more a “performing arts centre” than a pure opera house. Mr Barnes also argues that having replaced the harbour bridge as a tourist attraction, the opera house’s value cannot be measured solely in terms of box office. He believes the complex now has a positive, vibrantj image, and he thinks the performing companies who hire it are responsible for this. I Mr Barnes would be devas-!

i tated if the opera and ballet ■ were to move away. Clearly, he would be even more devastated if the opera , house were to be used for . “entertainments” such as I bingo or boxing, for he feels the complex has now overIcome its earlier image problem. i “In fact, there is insufficient opera and ballet to meet ithe demand, in spite of extra i performances,” he said. I The New South Wales I State Government ’ must decide what to do about the iopera house. There is little chance of reducing the running costs, : which run to sAust3m a year lin salaries, SAustlm in cleaning and repairs, and sAust2m in insurance, payroll tax. printing, rates, postages and advertising. The Government has proposed the fee increases, but estimates that these may do no more than cover inflation, which threatens to push running costs up to sAust7.2m this year. Few options are available, and the Government may fall back to the lottery. I It has almost paid off the construction costs of the /opera house, but is still selling one lottery a week, with II Of),000 tickets at sAust6 leach.