Opera Australia thrown $4 million lifeline by Federal Government

Ten organisations to date have received support from the $35 million COVID-19 Arts Sustainability Fund.

26 Jul 2021

Richard Watts

Performing Arts

John Owen-Jones as the Phantom and Katie Hall as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera (UK Tour). Photo credit: Michael Le Poer Trench.

Opera Australia has received a further $4 million from the Morrison Government’s $35 million COVID-19 Arts Sustainability Fund, having previously received $1.026 million from the fund in May.

The $4 million relief payment to the national opera company follows last week’s cancellation of Opera Australia’s new production of popular musical The Phantom of the Opera.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts