Life begins at 40: Happy Birthday celebrations at QPAC!
Our much-loved Queensland Performing Arts Centre is turning 40 and everyone is invited to join the celebrations.
Queensland Performing Art Centre is turning 40? Really? As QPAC doesn’t look a day over … well, 40.
Still, our premier performing arts centre still seems pretty youthful and is still as fit for purpose as it was when it was brand new.
Interesting to note that QPAC was built and opened under the Bjelke-Petersen regime, which is proof that in Queensland the arts have bipartisan support.
To celebrate its 40th, QPAC is throwing open its doors on August 31, continuing its 40th anniversary celebrations with free backstage tours, workshops and entertainment for all ages.
‘Our 40th birthday celebration will pull back the curtain on QPAC, giving hundreds of people the opportunity to see and feel the workings backstage’
QPAC 40 Open Day marks a unique moment in the arts centre’s packed calendar, when the public will have the rare opportunity to step behind the curtain of every theatre – except for one, the Glasshouse Theatre, which is nearing completion.
QPAC chief executive Rachel Healy says the open day is designed to welcome everyone in the community to celebrate 40 years of applause, connection, on-stage magic and off-stage miracles.
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“Our 40th birthday celebration will pull back the curtain on QPAC, giving hundreds of people the opportunity to see and feel the workings backstage of what is soon to become Australia’s biggest performing arts centre under one roof,” Healy says.
“It’s also a chance to discover some of the treasures of Queensland’s performing arts history, while a lucky few will experience what it means to be a lighting operator at QPAC.
“There will be free performances in the Concert Hall, where internationally acclaimed organist Christopher Wrench will twice perform on QPAC’s magnificent organ.
“We are also offering a range of special tours, including tactile tours of the QPAC Collection; step-free tour options; Auslan-interpreted tours, talks and workshops; a deaf-led tour and self-guided tour.”
Celebrations begin after a welcome to Country by Nunukul Yuggera at 9am on the Melbourne Street Green.
The stage will host a raft of entertainment including a breaking workshop with Elements Dance Collective, followed by DJ sets by Jeremy Neale, Broadway Bingo by Outside the Jukebox, Toni Janke and Band and more.
QPAC backstage staff will lead workshops across audio, lighting, staging, stage management and wardrobe on the Playhouse stage. Technical activations will be rolled out on the set of Opera Queensland’s La Bohème in the Lyric Theatre. And there’ll be an opportunity to operate a follow-spot in the Cremorne Theatre, illuminating on stage costumes and props from the QPAC collection.
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Twelve backstage tours across the day will lift the curtain on QPAC’s venues and backstage spaces, offering insights from the venue’s production team that reveal how world-class performances are brought to life in the specially designed theatres.
The community is also invited to share reflections on the past 40 years and aspirations for the future
Artists will create a QPAC 40 artwork on the Green, in collaboration with audiences on the day.
The community is also invited to share reflections on the past 40 years and aspirations for the future as part of a collaborative art installation. Designed and facilitated by Brisbane artist and theatre designer Penny Challen, this artwork will serve as a time capsule to capture the thoughts, memories and sentiments of QPAC’s wider community.
Two free organ recitals in the Concert Hall – at 10am and 1pm – by Christopher Wrench are guaranteed to fill up quickly, while visitors are encouraged to keep an eye out for pop-up performances from local artists throughout the day in surprising spaces around the building.
Part of the QPAC collection – which comprises more than 80,000 items including costumes, photographs, set designs, programs and other ephemera – will be on display in the Lyric Theatre foyer, with collection talks to reveal the stories behind what’s on display and what’s stored away.
Two BlackCard Cultural Tours will take participants through local galleries, exhibitions and public art installations through the neighbouring Queensland Cultural Precinct and connecting them with Brisbane’s Aboriginal history.
A Cultural Precinct Architecture Tour led by former Queensland Government Architect Malcolm Middleton will give insight into the beauty and legacy of Robin Gibson’s design of the precinct.
State Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek says the Open Day will offer visitors a unique behind-the-scenes look at one of Queensland’s most iconic cultural institutions.
“For 40 years, QPAC has been the beating heart of Queensland’s vibrant arts and cultural scene,” he says. “The QPAC 40 Open Day is a wonderful opportunity for the public to explore the centre’s inner workings and fascinating history through backstage tours, entertainment and activities for the whole family.”
While the day’s festivities are free, select components of the open day – including the organ recitals, tours, workshops and backstage activities – must be booked in advance.
As part of QPAC’s 40th birthday celebrations, everyone purchasing a QPAC ticket in 2025 will go in the draw to win a new Hyundai Tuscan Hybrid, thanks to principal partner Hyundai.
For more information on the QPAC 40 program and to share and submit your QPAC memories and book for workshops and other events, visit the website.