The announcement that Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres complex is to receive a $188 million revamp may be one of Sydney’s biggest cultural reimaginings since the Opera House opened five decades ago, but it is also a reminder that we’re missing something. The highly anticipated winning design, led by COX Architecture with 3XN Architects, Aileen Sage, Turf Design Studio, and Bangawarra, will allow Broadway-quality shows to play Sydney’s second CBD for the first time , more than double the current capacity to 2780 seats, establish the venue as a world-class performing arts centre predicted to welcome more than 400,000 visitors a year, and supercharge Parramatta’s night and visitor economies. Along with the new 1500-seat lyric theatre, the venue includes a refurbished 760-seat Riverside Playhouse theatre, an all-new 420 seat black box drama theatre and state-of-the-art 80-seat digital studio and cinema and enhanced public spaces.
Redevelopment of the 40-year-old theatre complex is funded by $148 million raised by the City of Parramatta from the 2017 sale of a riverside car park, with the Minns government contributing another $40 million. Lord Mayor Pierre Esber said the state-of-the-art facility will attract major Australian works and the best of Broadway and the West End shows . “Parramatta is already the geographical heart of Sydney and the redevelopment of Riverside Theatres will create an iconic architectural landmark,” he said.
But the curtain is still some year.