Fans of The Phantom of the Opera primed for peak chandelier-dropping will have to wait a little bit longer to see West Side Story star Josh Piterman play the mask-wearing proponent in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s world-famous musical.
Opera Australia (OA) has announced that both the Sydney Opera House run in September and Arts Centre Melbourne run in November have been postponed to as yet unannounced dates in 2022. The decision was made to protect the health and safety of the community in both cities currently in lockdown. The lockdown scuppered work on sets and costumes, with the enforced closure of OA’s manufacturing workshops, and also prevented rehearsals.
Even after both cities re-open, there will most likely be restrictive capacity limits in place that would not allow a show of this scale to get enough bums on seats to break even.
OA’s artistic director Lyndon Terracini said, "This has been a really difficult decision… After making box office history at the Opera House, it was clear that Australians were very excited about this new production of the world’s most successful musical, and we’d brought together a fantastic cast of Australian performers. It’s heartbreaking to have to postpone."
OA is encouraging ticket holders to keep their tickets for 2022. They will be contacted when new dates are announced.