AusLeisure

The generosity of the Packer family to the arts has been rewarded with the recent renaming of the Sydney Theatre Company's main auditorium at Walsh Bay as the Roslyn Packer Theatre.

Announced late last year and effective from 31st March, the 850-seat venue's new name reflects, according to Sydney Theatre Company Executive Director Patrick McIntyre, Roslyn Packer’s “generous philanthropic commitment to (the) Sydney Theatre Company, and to the arts in Australia over the past 40 years.”

In 2013, James Packer pledged a philanthropic contribution to the city's arts community of $30 million from the newly established Crown Resorts Foundation which forms part of the casino's corporate social responsibility programs.

Sydney Theatre Company stands to receive $15 million of this funding, the largest-ever single philanthropic gift to an Australian performing arts company. A further $15 million is to be shared among cultural institutions including the Art Gallery of NSW, Bangarra Dance Theatre, The Museum of Contemporary Art and the Sydney Dance Company.

Already abbreviated to ‘The Ros’, performances staged in the venue as part of the Sydney Theatre Company’s 2015 season are being met with wide acclaim.

25th February 2015 - $600 MILLION PLAN TO UPGRADE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE AND ARTS VENUES

26th October 2014 - BARANGAROO DEVELOPMENT TO INCLUDE NEW SYDNEY THEATRE? 

23rd May 2013 - LONG LEASE AND $5 MILLION SECURES SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY 

20th September 2011 - LIVE MUSIC WORTH $1.2 BILLION TO AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY

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