Updated June 28, 2026 โ 5:24 p.m.first publication at 16:00
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Dealing a devastating blow to Australian live performances, Broadway hit musical Waitress announced it was cutting its Sydney shows due to lower-than-expected ticket sales, just a week after abruptly canceling national shows Beetlejuice.
Rob Mills and Natalie Bassingthwaite star in Waitress.Jeff Busby
Waitress, The play, starring Rob Mills and Natalie Bassingthwaite as pie-making waitress Jenna, was due to open at Sydneyโs Lyric Theater on August 1.
The show made history on Broadway with a top four creative seat filled with women and a storyline that embraced girl power, but on Sunday the cast was given the devastating news that the show would not be traveling to Sydney at the end of its Melbourne premiere.
Show producer John Frost confirmed the โdifficult decisionโ Waitress will play its final performance at Her Majestyโs Theater in Melbourne on July 19.
โThis decision has not been taken lightly. As many of you know, live theater is deeply linked to audience demand, ticket sales and wider economic conditions,โ the chief executive of Crossroads Live Australia said.
โWhile we remain incredibly proud of the production and grateful for the dedication and enthusiasm of everyone involved, the challenging economic climate that audiences are currently experiencing has had a significant impact on the live entertainment industry.
โCost of living pressures, rising interest rates, and domestic and international economic uncertainty have contributed to lower box office receipts across the country, putting significant pressure on productions of all sizes.
Andy Carl was to take on the role of Beetlejuice for the Australian tour.Eugene Hyland
โUnfortunately, we were not immune to these problems. Although audience enthusiasm for our work remained strong, attendance levels and box office receipts were not sufficient to cover the cost of production.
โI am disappointed that we cannot develop this production further, and am immensely grateful to the exceptional Waitress company and everyone who embraced the show so wholeheartedly.โ
Canceled musical theater shows across Australian cities are creating big gaps in schedules, another sign of growing unrest in Australiaโs live performance sector, which has bounced back sharply from pandemic shutdowns. Foundation Theater chief executive Graham Kearns said he expects his cinemas to be dark for 30 weeks over the next 10 months.
โWeโre like the canary in the coal mine as discretionary spending disappears.โ
Foundation Theater CEO Graham Kearns
In a sprawling country with several major theater centers (mostly located on the East Coast), the economics of trucking, interstate travel and high-tech technical installations are proving difficult to sustain. This is especially true during a time of declining cost of living that has turned a premium theater ticket into a discretionary purchase for families. This has hurt pre-sales, which has undermined the producerโs confidence that he will be able to tour his productions.
โWe are the canary in the coal mine as discretionary spending disappears. As consumer confidence declines, the harsh reality of what that canary is experiencing is starting to hit very close,โ Kearns said. โTheatre, on the other hand, is usually the first to see an upturn and we remain optimistic that 2027 will be a brighter year for show business.โ
Last week, Michael Casselโs band announced the sudden cancellation of Eddie Perfectโs national tour. Beetlejuice the Musical. Two days ago, the producers of Italian opera Aida, which was included in the Adelaide Festival the following February, performances were canceled due to exorbitant price increases.
Sydney Theater Company chief executive Anne Dunn warned on Thursday that price-sensitive and risk-averse theatergoers were putting off buying tickets and increasingly wanted reassurance of success before purchasing.
Representatives from the performance and entertainment industry visited Canberra last week to launch a new parliamentary group, Friends of Live Performance. They also advocated for incentives for live performance production for commercial and non-profit producers to create original works, as well as expanding fringe benefits tax laws to include cultural organizations.
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The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance announced abrupt cancellations such as Beetlejuice highlighted the need for stronger protections, greater accountability and better government support to ensure cultural work is valued and workers are not left unprotected.
Based on the 2007 indie film. Waitress musical follows Jenna Hunterson (Bassingthwaite) as she works at an isolated pie shop in the American South.
Bassingthwaite was also part of the 21st anniversary tour for Australian dance rock band Rogue Traders, and some Melbourne audiences noted her absence from some shows.
But it was the economy and the war in the Middle East that alarmed the audience and became the last straw. โGiving a company three weeksโ notice is never easy,โ Frost told the headline. โTheyโre a great company, theyโre very good and the audience loves the show, but it didnโt do as well as it should, which is unfortunate financially, and it would have been difficult to come to Sydney, so we had to be tough.โ
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