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Australian Ballet surplus leaps on Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, donations

Michael Bailey
Michael BaileyRich List co-editor
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The Australian Ballet nearly doubled its surplus to $5.5 million in calendar 2017, helped by a surge in philanthropic donations, while its operating deficit was controlled by sharing the costs of blockbuster Alice's Adventures In Wonderland with the Ballet Of Japan.

Described by artistic director David McAllister as the Ballet's "most ambitious production ever staged", the special effects-fuelled Alice took in a record 75,840 paid attendances across 41 performances in Sydney and Melbourne, helping the company boost its overall box office to $31.6 million from $27.5 million in 2016.

Releasing the Ballet's annual report yesterday, chairman and former AMP chief executive Craig Dunn pointed out that, unlike Opera Australia, his company's box office had actually benefited from its forced relocation from the Sydney Opera House's Dame Joan Sutherland Theatre while it was refurbished for most of 2017, as Sydney's Capitol Theatre where Alice was staged was a larger venue.

Ako Kondo as Alice. The Australian Ballet's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland was one of its most expensive ever. Simon Schluter

However, the Capitol's commercial rents, relocation costs and Alice's hefty production costs contributed to the Ballet's most expensive season ever at $52.3 million, up from $49.5 million in 2016, and including a $4 million jump in production and stage costs.

"We knew we had to program something special to absorb the extra cost of the Capitol and Alice allowed us to do that," the Ballet's executive director Libby Christie told The Australian Financial Review.

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The Ballet's $17.8 million shortfall between revenue and expenses was actually better than 2016's $18.6 million gap, in part because the company did not tour internationally last year, and also because the Ballet of Japan contributed $1.4 million to staging Alice under a new strategy for international co-productions. The operating deficit of $620,000 was slightly higher than 2016's shortfall of $550,000.

The Australian Ballet has also signed co-production deals with New York's American Ballet Theatre and Chicago's Joffrey Ballet, whose Harlequinade and Anna Karenina respectively will have their sets, costumes and props shipped to Australia in time for the Ballet's 2020 season. The Houston Ballet and National Ballet of Canada have also signed co-production deals with the Melbourne-based company.

"Halving the cost of a new production in this way is a good way of maintaining our artistic vibrancy and affording the number of new ballets that both our audiences and our dancers demand," Ms Christie said.

The Ballet's surplus was assisted by sizeable increases in government grants, donations and bequests associated with the refurbishment of its headquarters at Melbourne's Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre.

The Australian Ballet's production included optical illusions, such as Alice appearing to grow as the set shrank. Simon Schluter

The $13.6 million HASSELL-designed upgrade, due for completion this year, will give the company a rehearsal space the same size as where it performs at Melbourne's State Theatre, and raise its roof height by 1.8 metres.

Designed for the company's then 55 dancers when it opened in 1988, the Centre had been squeezing in almost 80 dancers, but Ms Christie said the new space would allow the company to eventually accommodate more than 90 dancers.

The Australian Ballet's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland was one of its most expensive ever. Simon Schluter

Michael Bailey writes on entrepreneurship and the arts. He is also responsible for the Financial Review's Rich Lists. He is based in Sydney. Connect with Michael on Twitter. Email Michael at m.bailey@afr.com

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