John Frost, the man behind blockbuster productions of Legally Blonde, Annie and Wicked said an expansion of the venue to a 1450 or 1500-seat performance space would make it commercially viable for big shows.

“Anything under 1450, it’s really hard to make a dollar out of it. If it was closer to 1450, it would be worthwhile and I’d look at it seriously,” he said.

Comedy promoter Adrian Bohm undefined who has toured some of the biggest names to visit Down Under including last week’s John Cleese shows undefined said an expansion would be welcome.

“We would definitely consider bringing some of our shows to the area as the majority of our shows are presented in Sydney and we feel that Parramatta is big enough to support a larger venue,” he said.

Parramatta Council has commissioned architects Cox Richardson to develop plans for an upgrade to the theatres, with the process in full swing.

One proposal has been costed at about $75 million and includes new rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, a hugely expanded foyer including restaurants and shops.

Riverside Theatres director Robert Love said the master planning process was ongoing, with extensive market analysis, and he could see a revamped Riverside becoming part of a flourishing entertaining and leisure precinct around the Parramatta River precinct.

Parramatta Lord Mayor John Chedid noted such a development would be a step forward for the whole of Western Sydney.

“It would be a huge benefit not just to Parramatta but to the whole region, to attract great international music acts, great theatre productions, it’s exactly what the city needs,” said

Sydney Business Chamber Western Sydney director David Borger, pointed out that less than one per cent of the state government’s arts funding went to Western Sydney, and the region’s taxpayers were not seeing much of a return for their contribution to the state’s coffers.

“It’s time we saw a theatre with a capacity to serve a region with more than two million people,” he said.

Jorge and Megan Giunta of St Clair loved the idea of an expanded Riverside with bigger shows, saying it would make excursions with their three kids much easier to take on.

“Transport-wise, with the family, Parramatta is a lot easier to get to,” Mr Giunta said.

“I think for most people like us, people with young families, going into the city requires a bit of effort, a bit of planning,” Mrs Giunta said.

“If a show starts at 7pm you have to worry about traffic and getting there on time, but Parramatta is just 25 minutes away, so you’re even more likely to make a spur-of-the moment decision to go into Parramatta.

“And Riverside is really nice, then you’ve got all the restaurants around there, I think if they did this it would mean a lot more business going into Parramatta overall,” Mrs Giunta said.

Source: The Telegraphy by Chris Hook. Original article.