Victoria has outstripped New South Wales as the country’s biggest live performance industry, attracting more audiences and generating more revenue for the first time in 2017, a report by Live Performance Australia has shown. The shift has been attributed to Sydney’s comparative lack of theatre venues, with Victoria’s increased audience and revenue share largely boosted by the popularity of Melbourne’s musical theatre shows.

In 2017, live shows in Victoria drew 7.5 million people and $639 million in ticket revenue compared with 6.9 million people and $616 million in NSW. More than 1.9 million people attended a musical theatre show in Victoria last year, compared with 1.2 million in NSW. These figures mean that Victoria generated $206 million in revenue from musical theatre ticket sales, almost double that of NSW at $117 million. The average Melbourne resident was forking out $100 a year on tickets to live performances, compared with those in Sydney who spent $78. Combined, Victoria and NSW generated approximately 66.7 percent of Australia’s live performance revenue and 61.9 percent of attendance in 2017.

The Book of Mormon

Nationwide, Queensland recorded the greatest growth in revenue at 46 percent, primarily driven by growth...