Opera Australia posts box office surge amid Timothée Chalamet’s opera and ballet comments

When Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet suggested few people cared for opera and ballet, the arts world bristled.

However, as the latest financial reports for last year roll in, Opera Australia has met Chalamet’s scepticism with an impressive turnaround — one that appears to be no flash in the pan.

The national company has worked its way back to near break-even at an operating level, posting a minor deficit of $271,776 just a year after recording a staggering $10.1 million loss. This newfound breathing space came courtesy of a $15 million surge in box office receipts as it leaned into more musicals, giving the company its largest audiences in three years.

“2025 was a year in which Opera Australia regained its footing,” chief executive Alex Budd said. “Box office is up, activity is up, donations are up.” Budd cautions recovery is “a beginning, not an endpoint,” and predicts a “modest surplus” this year, helped a little by the publicity Chalamet generated.

In the lead up to this year’s Oscars this year, Chalamet declared to Variety that he preferred working in film and television. “I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this any more,’” Chalamet had said.

The resulting furore actually sparked a mini opera ticketing boom around the world. “We had packed houses. I genuinely want to thank Timothée Chalamet,” Budd said.

As a result of the backlash, “even if you weren’t a ballet or an opera attendee, or it wasn’t your favourite genre, there was a recognition that we mattered to the arts ecology”. “As the largest arts organisation in Australia supporting employment across the industry—including designers, directors, and costume makers—we carry a lot of responsibility.”

The picture, however, was less rosy for the Australian Ballet, whose 2025 deficit of $4.7 million was a slight improvement on 2024’s $6 million shortfall. Its temporary relocation to the Regent Theatre—while Melbourne’s State Theatre undergoes refurbishment—has heavily impacted box office revenue.

The removal of several rows of seats to accommodate the orchestra, a smaller stage, and an auditorium configuration that drives lower average ticket prices cost it revenue. The company noted it has also experienced a post-pandemic reduction in its subscriber base, leading to an increased reliance on single ticket sales which came at the last minute.

On a positive note, donations and bequests rose by 20 per cent to $14.1 million, helping to ease the financial strain. With another year of theatre exile ahead, the Australian Ballet anticipates another operating loss this year.

Back at Opera Australia, Budd attributed the improved results to a healthy balance of artistic ambition and financial discipline. He credited acting CEO Simon Militano for guiding the company through its toughest times, noting that the strategic focus is now on broadening the repertoire. Musicals, he said, will remain a core pillar of their programming, though the genre often overlapped with opera.

Attendance was the strongest since 2022, with 574,809 people attending 457 shows across Australia. The program leaned more heavily into musicals than in previous years, a resurgence partly led by the unorthodox Broadway hit Hadestown, a reimagining of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice starring Christine Anu.

With 2026 not even half over, Opera Australia has already sold its 500,000th ticket. Following its Queensland debut, The Drover’s Wife — a new opera based on Leah Purcell’s play, novel, and film, with a score by George Palmer—is headed to Sydney and eventually Melbourne. Budd said OA’s summer season was almost a record.

“Phantom [of the Opera] was completely sold out; there wasn’t a spare seat in the house. The weather gods were good to us, and we got through every performance with only one delay. Its box office was 50 percent better than our previous record with Phantom in 2022.” Still, he noted that audiences for middle-tier shows remained unpredictable.

Final decisions have yet to be made regarding the redevelopment of Opera Australia’s Elizabeth Street home, but options will be explored over the next 12 months, including potential commercial partnerships.

“Opera is like nothing else,” Budd said. “People are performing at the extremes of human abilities with their voice. In this increasingly AI-driven, algorithmic world we live in, we are a niche that people will cherish even more because of what we represent about the human condition—the ability to come together and experience a live performance.”

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