The show will go on
THE PANEL
ASHLEIGH WILSON (MODERATOR)
Wilson is a Walkley Award-winning journalist, former arts editor at The Australian and author of Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing, and the short essay book On Artists.
LYNDON TERRACINI AM
Terracini has been artistic director of Opera Australia since 2009 following a career as an operatic baritone, actor, director and writer. He has previously served as artistic director of Queensland Music Festival and the Brisbane Festival.
LEE LEWIS
Lewis took the reins as artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company in 2020, having garnered critical acclaim as artistic director and CEO of Sydney’s Griffin Theatre Company.
IAIN GRANDAGE
Grandage is a highly celebrated and award-winning composer, music director and curator. In 2018 he was announced as artistic director of the Perth Festival from 2020 to 2023.
MICHAEL CASSEL
Cassel is an internationally recognised entertainment executive who has produced and presented some of the world’s biggest musical and theatrical productions through his company, the Michael Cassel Group.
ASHLEIGH WILSON: “I’m going to begin our discussion with a production I was reminded of when a bus went past almost mockingly. On it was an ad for La Traviata, which was scheduled to open on Sydney Harbour in March but fell victim to the virus like the rest of the performing arts industry. Shutdown was almost overnight and the economic impact has been extreme, but first I wanted to ask about the absence of live performance from the world. Lyndon Terracini, as artistic director of Opera Australia, how can we measure that?”
“It’s difficult to measure at any given time, because fundamentally, it’s changed significantly. But it’s interesting you mention the poster of on the bus – our last show was on March 14th and I will remember that night for the rest of my life. Initially, I think people felt [lockdown] would be a couple of weeks, but then it gradually impacted people. You know, questioning ‘what is the future?’, and ‘will we ever get back
