VARIETY, July 24-30, 2006
OZ GUIDES TOUR PLANS
Producers bank on short run shows
By MICHAELA BOLAND, SYDNEY
The big theaters in Sydney and Melbourne might be lacking long-running tuners right now, but producers specializing in national, shortrun performing arts and legit tours are finding business unstoppable.
A new Oz production of Susan Hill's ghost story "The Woman in Black" opened in Melbourne July 19. Imperial Ice Stars' "Swan Lake on Ice" played Sydney and Melbourne and is currently in New Zealand before returning to complete its Oz tour. John Frost toured Australia with Stephen Daldry's National Theater production of "An Inspector Calls" earlier this year. The U.S. touring production of "Porgy and Bess" is making the rounds, and even British cook Jamie Oliver "in concert" is selling tickets Down Under.
These shows typically touch down for anything from a few days to a few weeks in each of Australia's key capital cities, take in New Zealand as well and then play some Asian cities, such as Singapore and Hong Kong. They usually are backed by two or three producers, most of whom duck and weave when asked to explain how they make the numbers work.
"As policy, we don't discuss financial or attendance figures." says Rodney Rigby, a former producer with Jacobsen Prods. who set up his own shingle, newtheatricals, two years ago. The company's first tour was with Spanish troupe La Fura dels Baus' production of "XXX," an avant-garde simulated sex show, which played fringe venues, caused a storm in the conservative media due to its perceived obscenity and probably lost money.
Rigby's not saying whether it did or not: "We learned about the conservative nature of Australian theater and audiences," he says. "And we did another show, and another one after that." Newtheatricals' subsequent tours of David Hare's "Via Dolorosa" and a season of Company B's Sydney production of "Stuff Happens" in Melbourne were more successful.
Rigby says the "Woman in Black" tour with James Cundall's Lunchbox Theatricals and Singapore Repertory Theater is due to recoup soon. Top ticket price is $80 (lower than the $100 average for musicals); show played 3 1/2 weeks in Sydney and is now in Melbourne before touring nationally. The two-hander features a new Oz set and cast and was helmed by original director Robin Herford, who staged its long-running West End incarnation.
The manager of Star City Casino's Lyric Theater, Ross Cunningham, reports that despite the absence of a boffo tuner in his 2,000-seat house (the unprofitable resident run of "The Producers" closed early at the start of the last financial year), the theater has "just come off its second-best year since it was built."
"Stomp" played eight capacity shows at the theater, "Swan Lake on Ice" drew full houses, and "Porgy and Bess" is performing well. "Funny how it all comes in bursts," Cunningham notes. He says where sit-down tuners can work on 60%-70% capacity, the short tours need 75%-80% to succeed. If backers don't believe they can pull those numbers, they rarely go ahead.