Tuesday is a momentous day for the theatre industry with the opening of the first large-scale musical production in Australia since COVID-19 hit.
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Kerri-Anne Kennerley, Simon Burke and Ainsley Melham star in the acrobatic Broadway musical, PIPPIN, at Sydney's Lyric Theatre which will run until January 31.
"It's such a sense of relief, apprehension and excitement," said Burke, who plays Charles, Pippin's demanding father.
"There's also a bit of guilt because we're the first people working.
"I can't help but think about the rest of people in the industry ... but there is a feeling of quiet hope that things are going to get back to normal."
It comes as Wollongong's premier theatre company Merrigong is finalising their 2021 program, which will be a "full season".
Merrigong artistic director Simon Hinton said normally they would launch the program in November for the following year, but some production companies on the schedules were dependent on funding to tour.
"We have lots of stuff lined up but a lot of it has little funding question marks," he said.
"We've decided to hold off until February to launch the whole thing [rather than releasing the schedule in parts]."
To increase audience capacity for shows within guidelines, Hinton said they were thinking outside the norm for venue choices with some quirky outdoor ideas planned.
"We're looking at our own main stage program a little differently," Mr Hinton said.
"Different venues, the MerrigongX program ... [is] considerably bigger than normal with a lot more local artists in it."
Meantime, the opening of PIPPIN this week, he said, was a great sign for the industry.
"Performing arts venues are a very controlled environment, where the audience is seated and all facing forward," Mr Hinton said.
"It's not a concert kind of environment like a mosh-pit and we have extremely good COVID-safe practices and contact tracing through the box office."
NSW Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Stuart Ayres, said the opening of PIPPIN was an exciting milestone, and audiences would not only be "treating themselves, but giving local businesses a boost".
PIPPIN tells the story of a young man at a crossroads in his life and told by a travelling troupe of actors and acrobats, like a play within a play.
It includes spectacular circus performers and award-winning songs, while Kennerley (Pippin's "saucy" grandma) will be seen dressed in a corset and heels, doing trapeze - a far cry different from her morning television appearances.
"I have sailed out of three choppers and down the side of a building or two, but no I haven't been on a trapeze before [this production]," she laughed.
"I spent the first two weeks [of rehearsal] thinking 'finally I have bitten off more than I can chew'.
"But after COVID-19, it is time to start living."
The star said the fun production was just what people need, with energetic songs to inspire and breathe life back into NSW.
PIPPIN plays is at the Sydney Lyric at The Star from November to January 31.
Tickets through www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100.