Sydney’s biggest test

Sydney is about to face its biggest test with the next three months to be a bit of a litmus test in regards to where the city is at in regards to its support for major musicals.

Sydney is about to face its biggest test with the next three months to be a bit of a litmus test in regards to where the city is at in regards to its support for major musicals.

It has been a big year in Melbourne, with a range of blockbuster shows, all of which did reasonably well. All, of course, assisted to make Melbourne the theatre capital of the country over the past year.

Sydney has had shows come in and out but the next three months are pretty special.

This coming Wednesday, Avenue Q opens at the Theatre Royal and my biggest concern would be, will Sydney get it?

I had fears about the show all along – I thought that it would struggle to get an audience and Australians may not relate to it. However, when I saw it in Melbourne last month, I saw why it has been so well accepted. This is a truly awesome show with a brilliant and very talented cast.

Will Sydney support it? We can only hope – it deserves an audience and we need shows like this to work in every city, not just one, to convince producers that national tours of fairly recent Broadway musicals are valid.

A month later and an even bigger test arrives in the shape of Wicked, the blockbuster Broadway musical that has been so successful in Melbourne. Heck, the city even turned ‘green’ for this one and Melbourne really accepted it as its own.

Sydney must support Wicked – shows don’t get much bigger and if it didn’t work at the Capitol, some serious questions would need to be asked about Sydney’s right to host major musicals.

When I saw Wicked recently, I was thrilled at its progress, particularly the individual progress of Lucy Durack who makes the role funnier than I’ve ever seen it – she’s on fire and deserves to be seen in Sydney.

Another month later and Sydney welcomes back Mamma Mia, one of the most successful musicals staged here in recent times. Has it been long enough? Will people support it again?

You know what? It wouldn’t surprise me if the bells and whistles of Wicked and the hilarity of Avenue Q is overlooked by the Sydney market in favour of Mamma Mia.

People trust what they know and the success of Mamma Mia is something I would bank on.

Let’s hope Sydney comes out to play in the next three months and celebrates a great time for major musicals in the city.