LPA Ticket Attendance and Revenue Survey 2013

Photo: Waiting for Godot - Sydney Theatre Company, Lisa Tomasetti

OperaClick for more info

The Opera category drew attendance of 11,303 and generated $384,166 in revenue, equating to 1.9% and 1.5% of total revenue and attendance respectively. While it is one of the smallest categories in this survey, opera performances have the second highest average ticket prices ($41.98) across the industry. 19.0% of tickets in this category were unpaid, which is just above the average of 17.8%.

This category only staged 31 performances, but those performances attracted an average of 365 attendees per performance, one of the highest figures in the industry. Aided by high ticket prices, the Opera category was able to generate average revenue of $12,392 per performance, which is the third highest figure in the industry.

The majority of revenue and attendance were generated by regional and metropolitan venues, as very few opera companies are funded as Key Organisations. In particular, Theatre Royal made a significant contribution to this category in Tasmania.

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Opera - Revenue and Attendance (2004–2013)

Revenue ($) Growth (%) Total Attendance* Growth (%) Average Ticket Price ($)** Growth (%)
2004 $62,562,433 629,808 $108.88
2005 $46,390,544 -25.8% 531,595 -15.6% $94.38 -13.3%
2006 $48,331,324 4.2% 515,927 -2.9% $102.40 8.5%
2007 $47,249,031 -2.2% 591,605 14.7% $85.28 -16.7%
2008 $41,316,885 -12.6% 402,549 -32.0% $114.46 34.2%
2009 $44,044,027 6.6% 448,096 11.3% $111.62 -2.5%
2010 $40,128,943 -8.9% 409,541 -8.6% $112.86 1.1%
2011 $47,305,786 17.9% 439,041 7.2% $124.66 10.5%
2012 $47,843,971 1.1% 430,904 -1.9% $126.84 1.8%
2013 $43,283,705 -9.5% 344,761 -20.0% $145.28 14.5%

*Based on both paid and unpaid tickets

** Average Ticket Prices are calculated based only on paid tickets

State/Territory Breakdown Close Table

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Opera - Revenue by State/Territory (2013)

State/Territory Revenue ($) Proportion Industry Share Change From 2012 Attendance Proportion Industry Share Change From 2012
NSW $26,510,867 61.2% -2.6% 193,272 56.1% 5.1%
VIC $11,848,442 27.4% 7.9% 82,572 24.0% -0.8%
QLD $1,368,433 3.2% -5.8% 19,402 5.6% -7.1%
WA $1,915,455 4.4% 0.7% 27,705 8.0% 1.9%
SA $1,601,321 3.7% 0.5% 20,545 6.0% 1.9%
TAS $0 0.0% 0.0% 0 0.0% 0.0%
ACT/NT $39,187 0.0% -0.7% 1,265 0.4% -1.0%

Photo: La Traviata - State Opera of South Australia, Darren Williams

Individual Category Results