Has anyone else ever driven past Her Majesty’s Theatre and quietly thought to themselves “Gee, the old girl could use a bit of a facelift?” I mean, it’s nice to keep a classic but we can all see she needs a bit of tender loving care moving forward. Which is why the Government’s announced $35.2 million redevelopment and expansion is music to Adelaide’s ears, even if you’re not an theatre goer.
The upgrade will modernise all the facilities for artists and patrons, increase the seating capacity from 970 to closer to 1500 and improvements will be made to the orchestral pit and technical facilities as well. The State Government will provide the finances, but $3.2 million will still be fundraised by the Adelaide Festival Centre in support of the project. A completion date has been estimated by late 2019.
And artist impression of the revamped exterior of Her Majesty’s Theatre.
Considering that in recent years a lot of blockbuster musicals have been bypassing Adelaide simply due to our lack of arts infrastructure. As Douglas Gautier, CEO and Artistic Director of the Festival Centre has stated, “We know the audience demand exists for these shows but there is nowhere for them to play because the 2000 seat Festival Theatre is Adelaide’s only large scale commercially viable theatre in the State, and it is full to capacity. An expanded Her Majesty’s will transform the performing arts landscape in Adelaide. Shows like the Lion King, Mary Poppins, Les Miserables and Once will now have a venue to perform.”
Don’t believe the hype? In 2015, over 980 000 people visited the Adelaide Festival Centre. That wonderful Riverbank redevelopment is already set to increase those numbers, and while this latest announcement sees us miss the touring deadline for The Book Of Mormon, I think we can all agree that having quality musical theatre like this in Adelaide is something we all want:
(For some context, this musical is set in Uganda where the Mormon missionaries spread the gospel of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints amongst warlords… yep. Unmissable.)
More News
