Melbourne's State Theatre Reopens with 18,000 Free Tickets to Housewarming Festival
The Ian Potter State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne will celebrate its early reopening with a Housewarming festival from October 9 to 12, six months ahead of schedule. This venue, the largest for performing arts in Australia, has undergone renovations for the first time since 1984, remaining closed for over two years. The festival will feature 18,000 complimentary tickets for shows directed by Michael Kantor, showcasing talents like Jude Perl, Brett Chynoweth, Emma Donovan, Eliza Hull, roya the destroya, along with Circus Oz and Opera Australia. Family-friendly performances by The Listies are scheduled for October 11. The opening act, Gugu Dindi Gunyah, will take place on October 3, followed by Opera Australia's The Wagner Gala Concert on October 16 and The Nutcracker beginning October 24.
Key facts
- Arts Centre Melbourne is giving away 18,000 free tickets to Housewarming, a series of free performances from 9 to 12 October.
- The Ian Potter State Theatre is reopening six months ahead of schedule after its first major refurbishment since 1984.
- The theatre has been closed for over two years and is the largest performing arts venue in Australia.
- Housewarming is directed by Michael Kantor and features Jude Perl, Brett Chynoweth, Emma Donovan, Eliza Hull, and roya the destroya.
- Participating companies include Circus Oz, Opera Australia, The Australian Ballet, Melbourne Theatre Company, and Bell Shakespeare.
- The first performance in the upgraded theatre is a First Nations-led concert, Gugu Dindi Gunyah (Many Rivers. One Home), on 3 October.
- The reopening is the first completed milestone of the Victorian Government's Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation project.
- A free concert, Soundtrack to Our Lives, is scheduled for 18 April 2027.
Entities
Artists
- Michael Kantor
- Jude Perl
- Brett Chynoweth
- Emma Donovan
- Eliza Hull
- roya the destroya
- Robin Fox
- Joseph O'Farrell
Institutions
- Arts Centre Melbourne
- Ian Potter State Theatre
- The Australian Ballet
- Opera Australia
- Melbourne Theatre Company
- Bell Shakespeare
- Circus Oz
- The Australian Ballet School
- Stephanie Lake Company
- The Yarra Voices
- Cypher Culture x Jungle City
- Victorian College of the Arts
- The Listies
- Australian Museum of Performing Arts
- Australian Performing Arts Collection
- Born in a Taxi
- Flying Fruit Fly Circus
- Victorian Government
- Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation project
Locations
- Melbourne
- Australia