Despite increasing its audience the nation’s flagship opera company fails to turn a profit.

Opera Australia has announced a consolidated deficit of $918,059, and an operating loss of $2 million for 2014, down from $2.4 million in 2013. Despite some record-breaking commercial successes, and a programme that was largely viewed as intentionally conservative, in its 2014 annual report, released yesterday evening, the nation’s premiere opera company announced that it had failed to make a profit last year.

With almost half of Opera Australia’s box office revenue generated by its musical theatre offerings, the report also showed a marked departure from the organisation’s mission statement to “present opera that excites audiences and sustains and develops the art form”.

Opera Australia’s biggest hit in 2014, The King and I

An increase in overall box office revenue on the previous year was almost entirely the result of two touring musicals (The King and I and the South Pacific). The company delivered 882 total performances, seen by over 650,000 audience members in 2014, generating almost $16 million more in ticket sales than 2013 – $67.4 million compared to $51.6 million the previous year....