Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is one of Australia’s leading theatre companies, with a rich and evolving program spanning mainstage productions, education, and audience engagement initiatives.

As STC’s digital ecosystem grew, so too did the complexity of its underlying technology. A heavily customised stack — built on Sitecore and a bespoke Tessitura integration — had become increasingly difficult to manage, costly to maintain, and limiting in its ability to evolve.

STC required a complete re-platforming of their website to simplify their technology approach, while still supporting the depth and nuance of their ticketing, content, and business requirements.

The challenge was not just to rebuild the site, but to rethink how content, ticketing, and user experience could work together more seamlessly.

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We delivered a full transformation of STC’s digital platform, balancing simplification with capability.

• Re-platformed from Sitecore to Umbraco
  Providing a more intuitive, flexible CMS that empowers internal teams and reduces operational overhead.

• Transitioned from a custom Tessitura API to TNEW
  Reducing complexity while retaining core functionality and improving long-term maintainability.

• Extended TNEW with targeted customisations
  Supporting critical business requirements such as ticket exchanges and nuanced booking rules.

• Brought performance data into the CMS
  Syncing availability and performance data to enable real-time transparency across the site.

• Improved the path to purchase
  Introducing on-site date selection and clearer booking flows before handing over to TNEW.

• Delivered tailored journeys for key audiences
  Including dedicated flows for education bookings and venue enquiries. 

Throughout the project, we focused on creating a cohesive experience where content and ticketing feel unified, rather than fragmented across systems.

The result is a streamlined, future-ready platform that supports both STC’s audience and internal teams.

• A simplified technology stack with reduced maintenance and operational complexity
• A clearer, more intuitive journey from discovery through to purchase
• Greater flexibility for STC’s team to manage content and evolve the site over time
• Improved transparency around performance availability and booking options
• A platform designed to scale with STC’s future ambitions

A considered approach to Tessitura

Rather than treating TNEW as a limitation, we approached it as a foundation.

By carefully defining where to rely on TNEW and where to extend it, we were able to create a balanced implementation that delivers both efficiency and flexibility.

This included:

• Owning key parts of the user journey within the website
• Extending functionality only where it delivered real value
• Preserving complex business logic without over-engineering the solution

The result is a more sustainable, maintainable platform that still meets STC’s sophisticated requirements.

Digital Strategy

Discovery

User Experience (UX) Design

Visual Design

Front-end website development

Back-end technical development (Umbraco CMS)

Tessitura CRM integration

Testing

Accessibility compliance (WCAG AA)

Project management