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 16:30

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 OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the 2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in early 2020. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association in 2021, and a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Photo: Fiona Hamilton. Follow Richard on Bluesky @richardthewatts.bsky.social and Instagram @richard.l.watts