Showtime as city unveils new stage
THE name of the city’s new cultural heart and the cutting-edge program of local and international acts locked in to celebrate its arrival will be revealed this morning.
Gold Coast City Council will unveil the city’s stunning new state-of-the-art outdoor venue today when it launches the first program of major acts and events booked to play the space.
Years in the planning, the program will serve up a mix of free and ticketed performances for up to 3500 people from March 17.
Surrounded by parklands and Evandale Lake, with views through to Surfers, the amphitheatre is the centrepiece of the $37.5 million Stage 1 of the Evandale Cultural Precinct.
Arts Centre Gold Coast chair Robyn Archer said the precinct’s ”cheeky” new name was a closely guarded secret until 9.30am today.
She said the new outdoor stage would provide the city with a brilliant platform to commission, produce and present artists from the region, Australia and the world.
“It’s done. It’s complete. It’s paid for. It’s terrific and the first program we’ll announce will test people’s appetite for it and how it works,” she said.
The stage is 20m wide from wall-to-wall and 1.4m high. The structure, which took almost two years and more than 1500 workers to build, is framed by a 100tonne self supporting screen that protects performers from sun and glare.
Ms Archer said its inaugural program would feature numerous free events designed to encourage people to try out the multi-use space.
“There was always the plan to have a number of free events and I imagine in the future there will also be free events but in the English spirit of the arts, if people can afford to pay for the artists they love and the activities that appeal to them, then that helps subsidise the other kinds of things that will be going on here and also, the nurturing of local talent and trying to get local talent involved,” she said. She said the facility marked the beginning of a new era for artists and audiences on the Coast.
“You never know – this might become an absolutely unique venue for a great star who is used to performing to 20,000, 50,000, 100,000 people but might like the opportunity to perform in a beautiful venue that suits a smaller crowd,” she said.
The outdoor stage includes a “stage within a stage” that allows it to be configured as a black box theatre, a sitdown dinner venue or a cocktail area for up to 350 people.
The next stage of the cultural precinct, due to begin mid-year, will see a ‘green bridge’ built to Chevron Island before the new regional art gallery opens in 2019.