Melbourne’s East End theatre district has grown to rival London’s West End and New York’s Broadway with four of the biggest musicals in the world all sell-outs in the city this weekend.
The casts of ‘Les Miserables’, ‘The Rocky Horror Show’. ‘Wicked’ and ‘The King And I’ came together on the steps of Victoria’s Parliament House in Melbourne to mark the occasion with an historic photo.
“Melbourne is a great theatre town – plain and simple,” says leading producer John Frost AM. “Unlike other cities in Australia the location of Melbourne’s theatres in close proximity and within the central city brings a lot of energy and excitement to the experience of going to the theatre. And not only the location, but the theatres themselves are historic and iconic in their own right – Melbourne is very lucky to have held onto these beautiful theatres. They’re a wonderful asset for the city.”
Over 1.5 million tickets will be sold in Melbourne’s East End this year injecting $230 million into the Victorian economy this year. 22,000 tickets were sold for this weekend alone.
Melbourne’s East End theatres have a combined capacity of 7,000. The city hosts up to eight performances at each theatre per week.
On behalf of the East End District Jason Marriner commented, “A tourist arriving in Melbourne could quite easily be mistaken for thinking they had arrived on New York’s Broadway or in London’s West End given the amount of theatre currently on offer in the city”.
“Melbourne, as the nation’s arts capital, is at the forefront of a thriving theatre scene which has flow-on effects to the broader Victorian economy,” Minister for the Arts Heidi Victoria said.
Melbourne’s East End theatre district this weekend features:
– The Rocky Horror Show, Comedy Theatre, 95 performances until July 13
– The King and I, Princess Theatre, 81 performances until August 17
– Les Miserables, Her Majesty’s Theatre, until December
– Wicked, Regent Theatre, until September 7, 145 performances
as well as Mark Wilkinson at the Forum and The Burning Light at the Athenaeum.
