The Happy Prince Ballet

Kim Carpenter AM

Company: Theatre of Image & The Australian Ballet
Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne and The Sydney Opera House

Year the project commenced:2019 
Year it became impossible:2020 
Audience not reached:66,000​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
It is rare that the Australian Ballet engages an all Australian creative team for a new commission. But they did in bring in Kim Carpenter (designer), Graeme Murphy (choreographer) and Christopher Gordon together to adapt The Happy Prince as a new full-length ballet. Oscar Wilde's immortal tale of The Prince and The Little Swallow is a story of love and sacrifice, tenderness and joy. The Happy Prince had its premiere season at Queensland Performing Arts Centre from 25-29th February, 2020. That first season was a huge success and seasons at Arts Centre Melbourne (August - September) and the Sydney Opera House (November) were to follow. However, due to the pandemic, these were cancelled. Almost all tickets had already been sold. The team do not know when The Happy Prince might return. The Australian Ballet plans years in advance so the 2021 season is already locked in, without The Happy Prince.
Although the ballet has been hidden from public view, the exhibition of Kim Carpenter’s art based on The Happy Prince which was planned to coincide with The Sydney Opera House season will go ahead. It will now be on from 13-25 October 2020 at The ARO Gallery, William St, Sydney.
Choreographer - Graeme Murphy AO 
Artistic Associate - Janet Vernon 
Composer - Christopher Gordon 
Designer - Kim Carpenter AM
Lighting Designer - Damien Cooper 
Digital Media Artist - Fabian Astore


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