Perth is missing out on hosting world famous, large-scale shows due to a paucity of venue options, according to Australia's most successful theatrical producer, John Frost.
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"You miss out on a lot of things here, without a doubt... We all say it's the tyranny of distance but that's rubbish, at the end of the day it's because the venues aren't here. They aren't good enough," the Tony Award winning producer said.
Mr Frost made the comments to coincide with last night's Perth debut of his blockbuster musical Wicked.
He saved his strongest condemnation for the new State Theatre Centre, which he branded a "white elephant" that was the wrong direction for a city that was trying to become more cosmopolitan and international.
"That's what I'm hearing and reading in Melbourne and Sydney so I think it was ill-conceived to have built it. When you think that every capital city in the country has a major arts complex, Perth doesn't have one; and it's supposedly one of the wealthiest cities in the country, it's crazy."
"I think it's beautiful but it's a total waste of time and money, it's too small," he said of the close to $100 million centre that features the 575-seat Heath Ledger Theatre.
"It's crazy they should have used the money on building a 2000-seat multi-purpose arts centre down on the water. Its nuts, it's a white elephant," said the producer, who was responsible for shows like The Phantom Of The Opera and Chicago.
The only venue in Western Australia with the infrastructure and audience capacity suitable for large-scale shows like Wicked is the 2300-seat Burswood Theatre.
"His Majesty's Theatre is gorgeous but it's too small, that's why in the next 10 years the city needs a big arts centre that can accommodate ballet, opera, big musicals and all that. It needs to happen because this is a seriously grown up city, it's great for lifestyle and culture."
It took three years for Wicked to arrive in Perth after breaking box-office records in Melbourne and Sydney. During the 13-month season in Melbourne, the Broadway hit generated over $125 million for the Victorian economy.
As well as Wicked, Frost has other projects in the pipeline including the revival of Annie: The Musical, Legally Blonde: The Musical and stage version of An Officer And A Gentleman.
"Audiences have doubled in the last within the last 10 years of live theatre in Australia. So more people are going to shows and theatre tickets are much more expensive, but they are going. Their appetite is ferocious for live entertainment and that's across the arts board," he added.
Veteran publicist Rosita Stangl, who specialises in large scale events like Cirque du Soleil and the Dalai Lama's recent visit to Perth, said the lack of space was an issue for big headline-grabbing shows.
"The Burswood Theatre is well attended by the public, however if it has a long-running show in residence there is no alternative suitable for other touring productions that need a similar capacity at the same time," she said.
"Aside from seating capacities, most of the larger-scale shows also need more production and staging space than the smaller venues can offer."
"To date I have not been approached by any interstate promoters about the possibility of presenting shows at the State Theatre Centre," she added.
Arts Minister John Day said the centre was not developed to attract large-scale shows, but to promote the prosperity of the local arts community.
"The Centre very much reflects the needs of Western Australia's theatre sector and offers a world-class performing arts venue," he said.
"The Centre was not designed to host acoustically enhanced large-scale musical performances of the nature of Wicked, which has found an appropriate home at Burswood."
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