FAQs

A Lyric Theatre at HOTA is the next step in the City’s vision to create a precinct for civic, cultural and artistic celebration. 

Culture is central to our community wellbeing, our city’s reputation and liveability and our economic growth. The new Lyric Theatre will deepen the Gold Coast’s cultural offering and provide further opportunity for our residents and visitors to explore, participate and experience live performance. 

The new Lyric Theatre will bring world-class performances and events right to our doorstep. The Gold Coast’s population, visitor numbers and location place the city in an ideal position to secure touring international and domestic performances – think musicals, ballet, opera and comedy, just to name a few.

The Lyric Theatre will be a cultural landmark for performing arts in the city and South East Queensland. 

As Australia’s fastest growing city the Gold Coast will be home to 1 million residents by 2046. We need infrastructure befitting of a large contemporary city. 

The new HOTA Lyric Theatre will have 1800 seats. It will be designed to host world class performances from headline musicals, ballet, opera, comedy and amplified music.

We are still working on the design of the Lyric Theatre and won’t know the exact cost until after that work has been completed.

The project includes an 1800-seat Lyric Theatre, a suite of rehearsal and warm up spaces, generous foyers, front of house and new food and beverage offerings.  

The City is in the early design phase and aims to have the project shovel ready by 2025. We plan to have the theatre open when we welcome the world to our shores for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The new Lyric Theatre will provide jobs for our arts workers, career pathways and inspiration for our aspiring performing artists and young people.

The Lyric Theatre will be a catalyst for creative industries, businesses and artistic talent to exchange ideas and develop partnerships. 

HOTA Central will continue to host regional shows and emerging artist performances, showcasing our local talent. Local groups such as schools and community organisations will continue to use the space for award nights, recitals and other presentations. 

The new Lyric Theatre will complement existing infrastructure within HOTA including HOTA Central, deepening the offering of the precinct and maximising the use of the site. 

As it stands, the Gold Coast is behind other smaller regional cities in terms of its theatre offering. The current HOTA theatre is not large or modern enough to host major international and domestic performances. The new Lyric Theatre will be a cultural landmark for our city and will serve generations of Gold Coasters to come.  

Your feedback will help us collect information about what you would like to see and experience at the new Lyric Theatre. We will use this information when we advocate for the project with the Queensland and Australian Governments so that they can hear directly from you.

From 25 June to 15 July 2024, you can have your say on how you want to experience HOTA Lyric Theatre by completing a survey online. 

Visit the GC Have Your Say webpage at gchaveyoursay.com.au/hotalyric where you can find out more about the HOTA Lyric Theatre.