'Not a handout': Australian theatre calls for government lifeline amid show closures

Beetlejuice, Waitress, Back to the Future, Dear Evan Hansen — the list of recent major musical cancellations in Australia is growing, to the concern of many in the sector.

In June, the Michael Cassel Group announced the cancellation of Beetlejuice the Musical's national tour, cutting short the show's Brisbane run.

The musical, which features music written by Eddie Perfect, premiered in Melbourne in May 2025 and was booked to also tour Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.

According to a spokesperson, "the current logistical realities of touring across vast distances between Australian cities have created increasing cost pressures that ultimately made continuing the run unsustainable".

Cost-of-living pressures are also to blame for the axing of Australian stage production Waitress's Sydney run, which was due to start on August 1.

The musical, starring Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Rob Mills, is currently playing in Melbourne.

"Attendance levels and box office have not been sufficient to support the cost of the production," Crossroads Live Australia chief executive John Frost said.

A $20 million production of the opera Aida, part of Adelaide Festival's 2027 program, has also been pulled, while Back to the Future and Dear Evan Hansen cut short planned national tours in 2025.

Live Performance Australia (LPA) CEO Eric Lassen describes the number of recent cancellations as unprecedented.

"We haven't seen anything like it in recent years," he tells ABC Radio National's Life Matters.

Lassen says the closure of major shows has a "spillover effect in the economy", affecting not only the shows' cast and crew but also surrounding businesses.

However, he says the demand for musical theatre among Australian audiences is still strong.

"Musical theatre saw 4.4 million ticketed attendances in 2024 and over half a billion dollars in ticket revenue, so it's a huge component of our sector."

Lassen is one of many who are calling on the government to offer the sector a lifeline.

LPA has put forward a proposal for a Live Performance Production Incentive, a tax offset designed to deliver economic stimulus to the live entertainment industry.

The cost-of-living crisis bites

Composer and performer Tim Minchin, who attended the launch of the Parliamentary Friends of Live Performance group in June, says the cost-of-living crisis "hits from two directions".

"Obviously, all of us have less money to spend on so-called luxury things like going to the theatre, but, probably more problematically for theatre, it massively increases the cost of putting on a show," he tells Life Matters.

Bringing a major musical to the stage is an expensive undertaking.

"When you launch a massive musical like Beetlejuice or Waitress or Matilda or Hamilton, there's this huge initial outlay," Minchin says.

"The costs of … building the set, hiring the spaces and sewing the costumes and doing the advertising … have skyrocketed."

The result, he says, is that many productions begin their run deep in the red.

Producer Suzanne Jones, CEO of Jones Theatrical Group, says it costs $11.5 million to produce The Book of Mormon, which is currently in the Melbourne run of a national tour.

She tells ABC's 7.30 that until the show opens, the production company must bear the financial risk.

"Until you get bums on seats, we get no ticket money. All of that pre-production cost is raised capital, so that is the most risky time for a show. That first month is the crunch time."

Taking a show on the road incurs more costs, which have increased by up to two-thirds in recent years.

Compounding the issue is a post-COVID shift in ticket-buying habits. Rather than purchasing tickets in advance, people are now more likely to buy tickets closer to the event.

"[It] means you don't have a pool of money to guarantee that you can keep paying your actors and your crew," Minchin says.

"The margins are tiny and all it takes is selling 80 per cent of tickets instead of 90 or 100 per cent and the whole thing is unsustainable."

At the same time, consumers are cutting down on discretionary spending.

"There's no question that when families are facing budget constraints, tickets can be expensive," Lassen says.

"They are big shows, and those ticket costs are reflective of the cost to put those shows on. It is a real challenge for the industry."

Minchin acknowledges the live entertainment market is competitive.

"You're trying to pitch your piece of art to an audience who have many, many other things to spend money on," he says.

"Even if they do have enough money to spend on some entertainment, they might save up to spend $800 on a Taylor Swift concert … rather than spend $80 [or $180] on a theatre show."

Replicating the UK model

Australia lacks the population density of international markets, such as Broadway and the West End.

Minchin offers the example of Matilda the Musical, which has run continuously on London's West End since its 2011 premiere.

"Eight times a week, 1200 people sit and watch that show," he says.

The production not only provides direct employment to people involved in the show, but it also supports surrounding businesses.

"It's part of a thriving economy," Minchin says.

"Part of that is because London has millions and millions of people in it, and millions more travel to London to see theatre."

Minchin says UK theatre has another advantage over the local industry in the form of a tax offset scheme known as Theatre Tax Relief (TTR), introduced in 2014.

According to a 2024 report published by the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, $AU73 million of Theatre Tax Relief paid out by the UK government in 2021/22 resulted in $AU314 million invested into theatre productions, a fourfold return on investment.

The TTR is the model for the Live Performance Production Incentive currently proposed by LPA.

Lassen says the scheme has been "a game changer for the industry" in the UK, comparing it to existing film industry incentives in Australia which offer rebates of 30 and 40 per cent.

The LPA's proposed incentive is "activity-driven", coming into effect only once a show is being produced, Lassen says.

"It's not a grant; it's not a handout. It basically rewards activity and it applies at all levels."

The proposed offset would apply to any production that has a storytelling element, including opera, ballet and, in some cases, dance.

"It would be broadly available to commercials, not-for-profits, and not just at the big end of town, but across the ecosystem," he says.

Attracting international investment

Lassen argues the benefits of the proposal would be significant.

"It would really drive a culture of investment and make us competitive from an international standpoint," he says.

"It would help to de-risk productions at a time when producers at all levels are facing challenges, both in terms of rising costs and cost of living pressures."

Jones says her "world would change overnight" if the government introduced a live entertainment offset.

"I have a call a week from international producers asking if we can develop work here," she tells ABC News Breakfast.

"We have fantastic artists, technicians, set builders, lighting people — we have an amazing community here — but all they're waiting for is this offset because it puts us on a level playing field with … the West End."

While the proposal has the support of the state arts ministers, federal arts minister Tony Burke has so far avoided making any promises.

He says the consultation and development of the next National Cultural Policy is happening at a crucial moment for the sector.

"Cost-of-living pressure always has a particular impact on ticket buying in the arts. The impact on live theatre needs to be fully appreciated," he said in a statement to ABC News Breakfast.

"In an industry where permanent work is hard to come by, live theatre, and in particular musicals that have longer seasons, are the backbone of secure employment in a notoriously insecure industry."