As big musicals struggle, Brisbane's indies are innovating to keep the spotlights on

As big musicals struggle, Brisbane's independent theatres are innovating to keep the spotlights on While Australia is seeing multi-million-dollar musical theatre productions collapse mid-tour under the weight of soaring costs, resilient, small-scale models are using every available means to find ways to thrive in the local market. Brisbane's independent companies say while the community's appetite for musical theatre is enduring, they are not immune to mounting economic pressure and are calling for more support. A self-sufficient cycle Taylor Atley is the creator and artistic director of Millennial Productions, and started the company in 2021 to produce and advocate for high quality theatre in Brisbane. But Atley said those aspirations come at a significant cost. "[The cost of putting on a show] varies, so typically I like to have about $25,000, which is a very low and conservative budget, but that in the past has also gone up to about $80,000 as well," Atley said. "We're not immune from it. We're in the same boat as everyone else." The company aims to keep prices down for attendees, with tickets selling for $35 for the past five year. This year, that increased to $45 to keep up with outgoing costs. Millennial Productions is completely self-funded, and expenditure does not cover salaries. All cast, crew and creatives involved with the company are volunteers, with cast members also contributing to their own insurance. Its funds come from ticket sales, fundraisers and food and beverages sold at shows. "It started with me investing actually my house deposit into the business … to get it off the ground and now, luckily it was able to pay me back, and it's a self-sufficient cycle," Atley said. The independent theatre company's success comes as a string of major musicals including Beetlejuice, Waitress and Back to the Future have cancelled, scaled down, or cut short national tours. Production companies have cited a rise in production and travel costs, as well as changes in consumers' ticket-buying habits. Extreme financial creativity Staging high-quality productions is an expensive undertaking for both large and small-scale theatre shows, with tech, lighting, venue hire and licensing fees among the elements populating budget spreadsheets. Independent operators say their ability to deliver professional standard productions has emerged from extreme financial creativity and resourcefulness. "Community theatre is all about being creative. There's no other way … we really have to think things through line item by line item," Atley said. For their recent production of The Addams Family, Millennial Productions completely recycled and repainted set pieces from previous shows, and swapped physical programs for digital ones to eliminate printing costs. The production team also resorted to loading up "as many cars as possible" with multiple loads to bump in and out of the theatre, which Atley said was more economical than a truck hire and diesel costs. "The viability piece is hard, because we're having to make cuts left, right and centre to make this work," she said. Similarly for independent company A Night at the Musicals (ANATM), keeping ticket prices affordable while maintaining high standards requires a strenuous balancing act. ANATM presents two staged musical theatre concerts a year, as well as monthly industry nights called Broadway Mixers where local emerging performers take to the stage alongside industry professionals in a stripped back showcase. The Broadway Mixers, which are hosted out of a bar in Woolloongabba, consistently sell out, sometimes within the day of tickets going live online. Company director Alex Watson said ANATM's larger scale productions are typically able to pay for themselves in one cycle, with tickets ranging from $54.95 to $74.95. But the model is constantly being pushed to its limit. "You can do anything with time, energy and passion, and if we don't raise the ticket prices but the artists are getting paid more … something has to be sacrificed," he said. "We've tried our absolute best to make [ticket prices] manageable ... but there is a point where we reach a ceiling where we don't feel comfortable going higher on ticket prices in fear of losing audience." He said all levels of the musical theatre industry need more support. "At this independent level, the risk is you don't see it at all. It'll be gone forever,"he said. "[Full scale] musicals are one day, something we want to do … but there are elements that we've never had to play with in our variety concerts that constitute a cost that we haven't fronted yet, which is really scary to think of," he said. With both large and small companies struggling to cover costs, Watson said more government support could help ease operating pressures. A spokesperson for Queensland Arts Minister John Paul Laengrook said the government hopes to grow the state's experience economy, and highlighted recent theatre upgrades delivered in line with election promises. "The Crisafulli Government is committed to investing significantly in the state's arts, cultural and creative sectors, including the independent theatre companies and performers that create jobs and contribute to our economy." Taking risks in smaller environment Performers and organisers in the theatre community have also speculated the cancellations could lead to companies opting for 'safe' revivals of shows that have already performed well in the Australian market, like the recently announced expansion of The Lion King, rather than run the risk of introducing new, unfamiliar material to audiences. Atley said many companies were having conversations about what shows would be economically viable. "What can we put on a stage? But also, what are people going to buy tickets to?" she said. "It's really unfortunate because I know everyone else is having the same conversations and then we see the same shows over and over, which then floods the market and causes even bigger issues." ANATM is using their platform to bring fresh art to Australian shores, performing new songs sweeping Broadway, and The West End at their variety concert later this year. "As far as we know, we're going to be some of the first people putting on those songs and exposing them to an Australian audience, which will be really great," he said. "It's really special that we can take those risks in a smaller environment without worrying about doing a national tour to get audiences to see that work."