Producers Feel The Heat
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday October 14, 1997
WITH the arrival of a new and exceptionally well-heeled kid on the block, Sydney's musical theatre producers are getting a little jumpy.
With Livent Inc's plan to sink $10 million into its Kern and Hammerstein musical Show Boat, scheduled to open at Star City's 2,000-seat Lyric Theatre on April 8, the giant North American production company has already frightened one producer out of town.
Yesterday, Kevin Jacobsen launched his latest project, the rock gospel musical Sisterella, down in Melbourne, at the Regent Theatre. Yet as recently as three weeks ago, Jacobsen was claiming the show would open at Sydney's Capitol Theatre.
According to a spokeswoman from Jacobsen'sSydney-based office, the change of heart was prompted by concerns of stiff competition, in the face of both Show Boat and The Boy From Oz - the Peter Allen musical booked at Her Majesty's - both opening at around the same time.
International Management Group's Chicago also looks likely to opt for a Melbourne opening now, to avoid the Show Boat and Oz clash. IMG producer Ken MacKenzie-Forbes was not prepared to comment yesterday, saying he would be making an announcement at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, another show also touted for the Capitol, Jolson: The Musical, is treading cautiously, its co-producer, Michael Brereton, said yesterday. But he claimed the hesitancy was more to do with securing finance than perceived competition in Sydney.
"We don't like making predictions until there's money in the bank," he said, adding that the recent debacle of Jekyll and Hyde, which was cancelled at the eleventh hour after the financing fell through, had been a sobering experience for the industry.
Entrepreneur John Frost said there was definitely a feeling of nervousness among producers, in the face of Livent Inc muscling in on the Sydney scene.
"I think a lot of producers are running scared of Show Boat - and I think that's terrific because it is a wonderful production," he said. "But I think that Sydney from now on will always have at least two or three shows at a time playing. That's the reality of musicals in this town. It's a very buoyant city."
Frost's production of the Oscar Wilde classic An Ideal Husband will precede Show Boat in the Lyric on January 3. Royal Shakespeare Company founder Sir Peter Hall will direct a largely Australian cast, which will include John Waters, Josephine Byrnes and Penny Cook. PETER Davis, the general manager of the Capitol, said yesterday that the theatre was now in negotiations with three production companies keen to pick up the space vacated by Jacobsen's Sisterella. The venue's hirers are confirmed up until the end of February, beginning with IMG's My Fair Lady, which opens there tomorrow night.
The flamenco dancer Joaqui?n Corte?s (the gypsy version of Michael Flatley) and Twyla Tharp's new company, Tharp!, share the Capitol during the Sydney Festival before the British percussion group Stomp picks up a four-week season in early February.
Two Frost productions, Grease and Fame, are considered possible candidates to pick up the Capitol's lease after this time. Grease may, however, take on the Sydney Entertainment Centre, if a large-scale concert version instead of a fully staged musical is opted for. Fame was originally pencilled in for the Footbridge Theatre, but Frost said yesterday that the show's large cast might now render the 700-seat venue financially unviable.
Meanwhile, his production of Smokey Joe's Cafe is on ice, waiting for a sign from Cameron Mackintosh, which has the option to extend its Les Miserables season, beginning at the Theatre Royal on November 29, past June 1998.
The Cameron Mackintosh/Sydney Theatre Company joint production of Rent will take over the Royal from November 5 next year.
© 1997 Sydney Morning Herald