New dates for 'Phantom'

Opera Australia has announced new dates for its Phantom of the Opera, which was originally scheduled for this year. The production will now open at the Sydney Opera House in August 2022 and Arts Centre Melbourne in October 2022.

When this year's seasons of Phantom had to be cancelled, it was a huge blow. The production had sold about 100,000 tickets worth about $20 million – a box office record for the company.  The cancellation led artistic director Lyndon Terracini to declare the company was in dire straits. Since then it has received a financial boost of about $5 million altogether from the Australian Government's Arts Sustainability Fund.

The OA has confirmed that the same stars will appear as originally advertised – Josh Piterman, Amy Manford and Blake Bowden will be playing the roles of the Phantom, Christine, and Raoul respectively.

 Being set in the Paris Opera, the show has a large dance component – this new production has new choreography by Scott Ambler and  is overseen by Matthew Bourne, who has a long track record of staging large, narrative dance theatre, particularly as founder/director of New Adventures company in the UK.

More info here.