Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 9 : Construction of the cultural centre, 1977-1981

may ypass new arts centre By DAVID ROWBOTHAM THE AUSTRALIAN Ballet Company will not perform in future at any centre with a seating capacity of 1111 than 2000. · This was predicted in Brisbane yesterday by the com– pany's administrator, Mr. Peter F. Bahen, of Melbourne visiting the city for the company's 1977 season here. ' It means the 'c01n– pany may not be a ble to use Bris– bane's proposed Pertorming A r t s Cent.re. A maximum capacity o! only 2000 has been planned for the centre. Mr. Bahen confirmed an earlier opinion of Aust.rallan Ballet Foun– dation direct.or !Sir Ver– non Christle) that the centre would not be big enough for large visiting national and inter– n a t Ion a I performing companies. The capacity for big ballet - and opera - co m p n n l e s should be 4000, or not less than 3000. No talks 1:he Per!ormlng Arts Cenl,re wlll be part of the Q u e en s I an d Cultural Complex. t.o be built on the south side o! the Brisbane River. Mr. Bahen said yc, ter- day planners of the Per– formin0 Aris Centre had not COllSUiled the Austra– lian Ballet Company. The Australian Ballet's 19i7 BrislJnne season Is at Her Majesty's Theatre, whioh has a capacity or 1387. The season Is a sell– out.. "Brisbane ls a great ballet c!ly,'' Mr. Bahel1 said. "But the capacity or Her Majesty's, and the theatre ltsel/, are no Ionqer rnlttlblc for Aus– traitan Ballet p~rform– ances. Bigger "This Is not the rault of the management." l\lr, Bahen said t11e company, In economic pursuit of larger-capnc- 11.y· theatres, nnd payable box-office, wns moving Into bigger theat.res in other capt1.nl cities. In Sydney, the com– pany wns playinc three seasons only at the Op– era Houae theatre (ea- pacl!y, 1425), ana two seasons nt the Regent Theatre 12150 , . 1 n Melbourne, the co m p n n l' hna mo\'ed from tile Princess Theatre 0500) 10 the Paints Theatre (2R50J. In Perth, the company could att ract 4000 people a night nt the Perth En– tertainment Centre. In Adelaide, the company ll'as still usln~ the Festl• ,,ai Theake 0050 ). I on eatre size Brisbane's proposed performing arts theatre has become the centre of a wrangle reminiscent of that which engulfed the Sydney. Opera House 10 years ago. Once again It's a case or the professionals versus the rest - those engaged In the performing arts battling those responsible for providing the venue. The theatre, designed to seat 2000, wlll be part or the S47 mllllon Queensland Cultural Complex being built on the south bank or the Brisbane River. In March the Queen orrtclally opened the plaza and fountain or the complex, which Is due for com– pletion In 1984. Two or Australia's most experlen\:ed performing arts administrators last week descrl~ the theatre as a monument to elitism and a ;rotentlal white elephant. · . . They were Sir Vernon Christle, a director or the Australian Elizabethan Trust and the Australian Ballet Foundation, and Mr Peter Bahen, director or the Australian Ballet, and one or Australia's most succe.,arul entrepreneurs. ! ·:1 ·· 1 l • \ Land swop Lined up against them were the Cultural Com– plex architect, Mr Robin Gibson, and Mr Tom Brown, a Sydney theatre consultant responsible ror staging and production facilities. Sir Vernon said the performing arts centre should seat between 9000 and 4000 people - not 2000. He said Increased seatlnr· would lend credence to the Intended purpose or the arts centre: To brine art to the people. Sir Vernon said: "Unfortunately those people charged \\'Ith building the arts centre are technical in their outlook, and not looking to the future." - Home for arts Mr Gibson said too often quality was forsaken for quantity. He said the arts centre had a two-fold purpose: to sponsor the arts In Queensland, and to provide a home tor the arts and ,•isltlng artists here. "It's no use building an auditorium like the one In Perth which can seat 8000 people, and then have It hair rilled," he said. ! "There's nothing worse than a halt empty theatre. We mu~t ,keep our eye on the quality and standard or performances - and this has keystone • 1n city TOW~SVILLE. - Th, Stota Gover11ffle11t 1111d th1 1,11111111 1 City Cou11c1I hove agreed 011 o tror11fer of l-,11d for two fflejo, city d1Ye• lopfflent project • • , Tht Lands Mln– l~ter (Mr. Tomkins), ancl the BrlsbBne Lord Mayor (Alder– Sleeman) ls– sued a Joint state– ment here yester– day, They IB!d that the counrll \l'Ould tran!fer tn the Cro\\Tt land In Ft!h Lane on !he IOUth bLnk or I.he ll1'11bana RJ,-er for lnelUllon In the Quee111- land 0ultlll'III Centre. In ntum, the CNNTt Wllllld srant tc the eoun– ell t.ht lllld In Ann be rr:1.11ted In about three )' e l rs ' 'O'OUld be ln– rorp::-rittd In the Cath– edra.J &iuare proJeet. ( or our dellberatlohs at the Cultural Complex," Mr Gibson said, Mr Bahen said ti,e Australian Ballet earned a reputation as one or the moat travelled perrormln1 arts groups in the world. He said: "We haye performed rlsht throurh North and South America, In Ruula, Eastern Europe, In London - you name It. "Venues can be so restricted that, ,Ip this tabor– Intensive operation, It leads to elitism/ - "Most theatre owners today iook · to the box orrtce ror some form or relief from the burden or paying for, say, 140 people directly connected with the ballet, plus the orchestra. "Last year we played at the Urls Theatre, orr Broadway, which seats 2950, with a packed house. "All the smaller theatres around, on and oft Broadway were closed," Mr Bahen said. Mr Brown said that In the performing arts and lyric · theatre fields limitations In size must be observed. "Opera singers have voice limitations, and a big theatre 'Is useless ;without undesirable artificial am– pl!rlcatlon," he said.