Waikato Times: ‘Big and fabulous’: arts crowd gears up for theatre

Originally published in Waikato Times, Saturday 15 March 2025.

By Richard Walker.

Bring it on: Victoria Munro can’t wait for opening night at the Waikato Regional Theatre. PHOTO: Christel Yardley / WAIKATO TIMES.

Auditions are over and rehearsals will soon begin for Cats, this year’s big Hamilton Operatic show. There’s a lot to do before the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical opens a two-week winter run at Clarence St Theatre. Sets to be built, lines to be learned, costumes to be sewn, dance routines to be practised.

But it will no doubt be all right on opening night, July 26. And, with a 500-seat theatre capacity, Hamilton Operatic can reasonably expect the show will be seen by thousands, parting with their hard-earned cash to be transported to another world for a couple of hours.

Nothing beats the live experience, says board chair Victoria Munro. She thinks back to her first Hamilton Operatic experience in 2017, working backstage on Mary Poppins, and becomes emotional at the memory.

“I couldn't believe it, the breadth and the depth of talent was something I had never seen,” she says. “It's extraordinary, extraordinary talent.”

Munro was hooked. She did another show backstage, and soon joined the board. Last year, she was elected chair. “I'm really excited about being here at this time,” she says.

But the 500-seat Clarence Street venue is not Founders, where Hamilton Operatic used to stage its big musicals before the venue closed in 2016, and nor is it the Waikato Regional Theatre, due to open late this year.

Munro, talking to the Waikato Times in Hamilton Operatic’s sprawling, crammed, colourful wardrobe department behind Clarence St Theatre, is enthusiastic about the city’s newest live venue.

She’s not counting her chickens, but there is obviously the possibility next year’s production could be staged at the Victoria St site overlooking Waikato River.

If so, it will be “something big and fabulous”, she says.

Much like the 1300-seat theatre itself, which she says has wonderful facilities, both backstage and when it comes to the fly area and lighting. Hamilton Operatic have been bringing in their own equipment to Clarence Street, but the new theatre’s will be state of the art - and free. She says the tiered auditorium design also means no bad seats or obstructed views for the audience.

“For our audience, it will be fantastic. For our performers, it's going to be just thrilling.”

Lights, costumes, action. There’s nothing like live.

Bar owner John Lawrenson is skeptical about the theatre’s impact. PHOTO: Mark Taylor / WAIKATO TIMES.

But every (feel)good drama needs conflict and a prominent south end bar owner is considerably less enthusiastic about Waikato Regional Theatre. John Lawrenson doesn’t pull his punches, describing the $80m venue as a white elephant that he expects to be used 15 or 20 times a year.

With Waikato University now holding graduations on campus, he thinks the regional theatre will be priced out of community groups’ reach and will get used less than Founders - which he says was itself little-used.

“If this one theatre could revitalise the whole central city with all the bars and restaurants that are going to be able to fund themselves off the back of it, can you name me just one bar, restaurant or cafe to open near Founders Theatre when Founders was in use?”

Lawrenson is also scathing about US-based Live Nation, which has signed a 15-year lease to operate the theatre, describing it as the “most anti-competitive” events company in the world.

He expects Live Nation to exclusively use Ticketmaster, which it owns, for ticket sales.

“And then they put massive fees on every ticket sold through Ticketmaster, which inflate the prices and make it unaffordable to the customers.”

As he sees it, with the council paying $1m annually for maintenance, all Live Nation needs to do is get a return over 15 years on its $2m worth of inhouse technical equipment.

Lawrenson says he hopes he’s proved wrong, given he stands to gain through his multiple south end bars from the theatre’s success. “The problem is I don't think I am wrong.”

General manager Gus Sharp says the theatre will be operated with no risk to ratepayers. PHOTO: Mark Taylor / WAIKATO TIMES.

Live Nation is one of the world’s largest live entertainment companies and, along with Ticketmaster, is the subject of a government antitrust lawsuit in the US. The suit seeks to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster, claiming they limit competition for live event ticketing. And in Australia, a Four Corners story quoted industry figures including musicians critical of Live Nation over ticket fees and market dominance.

But the regional theatre’s pre-opening general manager, Gus Sharp, says New Zealand has a very different approach from that in the US.

“New Zealand has much stronger consumer protection written into law,” he says. “We have a top of the cliff regulatory approach, and the States have a bottom of the cliff approach.”

Sharp also draws attention to an online rebuttal to the Four Corners story by industry body Live Performance Australia, which says in part that Australia’s live music scene is highly competitive and the “hidden” fees referred to by Four Corners are established practice under Australia’s consumer law. (It’s worth noting that Live Performance’s 18-person executive council includes a vice-president from Ticketmaster and a councillor from Live Nation.)

Ticket prices are set by the act, not the promoter, Sharp says, and rising prices are a challenge besetting the industry as recording income has declined.

“You can point to the broader music industry changing where it gets its income from, away from selling albums and more towards selling tickets.”

He says significantly increased production values, with the likes of LED screens, are also driving up costs.

“It's a bit simplistic to say big equals bad. You know, it all comes down to the people that are involved in these organisations, and we have the utmost faith in those people [at Live Nation].”

Ticketmaster will be used at the regional theatre, but Sharp says exclusive ticketing is the standard through the country, with Claudelands, for instance, using only Ticketek.

He says the lease means there is no chance of an operational deficit coming back onto ratepayers.

“It's going to be operated with no risk to the public. That's entirely unique in New Zealand.”

The tiered auditorium takes shape. PHOTO: Mark Jephson / WAIKATO TIMES

Meanwhile, the council is stumping up $10m over 10 years for theatre upkeep. “We've got this asset that we can now make sure is going to be properly maintained, properly cared for, and it's isolated from the vagaries of a very dynamic industry. I think we've now got a situation where we've got this asset and we can keep it for 100 years, 150 years.”

As for usage rates, Sharp is far more bullish than Lawrenson, and is looking for two to four shows weekly.

“A busy venue is a profitable venue, and our interests are in line with LN's [Live Nation’s] in making sure that the theatre is full, priced competitively and vibrant.”

It appears unlikely community groups will be priced out. Sharp points to a three-pronged approach that is “pretty remarkable” in the national landscape. One is a 40% discount off the commercial rate for hiring the venue, where the national benchmark is around 20%. Another is free access to the inhouse technical equipment. And thirdly, for every ticket sold, 30c goes into a fund to defray the cost for community users.

“It's intended to be a world class venue that is accessible to community users,” Sharp says. “That's quite an important distinction, because nationally, we do have these world class venues [but] often community users are locked out by pricing.”

Obviously, it’s a large venue to fill - too large for some. While the discount is available to all not-for-profits, Sharp cites the likes of Hamilton Operatic, Orchestras Central and kapa haka groups as among those who could draw enough people.

Creative Waikato’s Jeremy Mayall hopes the theatre will contribute to the wider performance ecosystem. PHOTO: Mark Taylor / WAIKATO TIMES

Creative Waikato chief executive Jeremy Mayall, meanwhile, thinks the likes of some of the dance schools and Smokefreerockquest could also fill the new auditorium. “I think the groups that are used to operating at that scale, they're very much counting down the days.”

He hopes the new theatre will get more people going to shows more regularly, which might then mean they look at what’s on offer at the likes of Clarence Street, the Meteor and Riverlea. Growing audiences could in turn help community organisations build up to performing at bigger venues, potentially including the regional theatre.

“It's about how that ecosystem supports itself to grow. And we've had a long period of not having a Founders.”

In an ideal world, an independently run theatre would be great, he says. But it would require sustainable operational investment from a local funder, at a time when the demand for funding is already “maxed out”.

He has spoken to Live Nation, who he says seems committed to supporting the community and working locally. “The proof is always going to be in the pudding and then what that first year looks like. But from what I can tell, it all seems like it's still very much about community engaging, both as audience members and on the stage.”

On that front, Mayall is positive about the recently announced appointment of Michael Gilling as venue manager, saying he has a long history in the Waikato creative community.

Live Nation, which runs several New Zealand venues including Spark Arena, declined an interview and responded to questions by email instead, in comments attributed to New Zealand venues general manager Mark Gosling.

He said their goal was to bring more local, community and international events to Hamiltonians. International and local talent that Live Nation had brought to Hamilton in the past two years included Crowded House, Allen Stone, The Ten Tenors, Urzila Carlson and Emma Memma.

“We’ve already received several inquiries from local groups, and we hope to see them on stage within the first three months of opening.”

He said the Four Corners story referred to the Australian business, and the US lawsuit had no impact on the New Zealand market.

“Ticket prices are set by the venue hirer and act – not the venue. Ticket prices and any ticketing fees charged to consumers in New Zealand are clearly stated at the time of purchase.”

Victoria Munro says the new theatre will mark a turning point. PHOTO: Christel Yardley / WAIKATO TIMES.

Victoria Munro is a good sport and, put on the spot, agrees to get dressed up for a photo shoot at the new theatre. Spoiled for choice in the costume wardrobe, she plumps for a glamorous purple dress, accessorised with white stole, wig and gloves. Heads turn when she materialises on the main street against a building site backdrop, where the new theatre is still very much a work in progress.

In among everything else the theatre offers, including its river views, Munro says it will be far more accessible than Clarence St, where patrons with mobility issues are restricted in the area they can access. “Everyone will be catered for at the new theatre, which I think will bring in more people.”

As for the hard-earned cash punters will be parting with, the average ticket price for Cats is $50-$53, Munro says. She doesn’t yet know what the price would be at the new regional theatre, given Hamilton Operatic doesn’t know what it would be charged for its use.

“I would imagine it's going to be more than what we are currently charging,” she says.

“But we're really mindful of what's going on in the community, and there's a price point beyond which people cannot go.”

Munro thinks people will look back at the opening of the new theatre as a turning point.

“It's going to be just such a brilliant place and space for people to come together.”