Seymour Centre Rudderless

The future direction of the Seymour Centre is in doubt after it was revealed to SAJ that the current General Manager, Julie Mullins has been on extended leave from the entertainment venue for a number of months. It has been reported that contractual disagreements with the venue’s owner, the University of Sydney has lead to a fall out with Mullins.

Mullins who was appointed as General Manager in 2006, last year launched the centre’s first subscription season as a way to make the troubled venue become more profitable.

But a string of events made the relationship between Mullins and the University unworkable. It culminated when the University intervened in a decision by Mullins to sack a popular and long-serving staff member at the centre. Mullins and the University had faced harsh criticism by many in the arts industry and were successfully lobbied through letters, petitions and even condemnation through groups on Facebook.

Staff at the centre told SAJ that Mullins’ attendance of the opening night of the new Hatpin musical was the first time they had seen Mullins “in months”.

This turn of events for the centre follows a history of bad luck and a mixed reputation. Most recently, centre management feared that the opening of the new Carriageworks Contemporary Arts Centre in nearby Redfern would force the venue’s closure.

But the Seymour Centre turned it all around when Belvoir Street Theatre moved to the centre temporarily while renovations were being completed in their Surry Hills headquarters.

The centre managed to attract large audiences through Belvoir and exposed its venues to a wide range of stake-holders. The launch of the 2008 season which includes a wide range of local and international acts was a positive step in the right direction that now seems to have gone very sour leaving future plans in doubt.