Waikato Times: Construction team member building new theatre aims to sing there

by Mike Mather.

Originally published in the Waikato Times, including video, Saturday 12 August 2023.

The 60-strong crew of Fosters Construction workers who are building the new Waikato Regional Theatre in downtown Hamilton are learning a lot about how to create a world-class performance venue.

But one of their number has a particular vested interest in ensuring the new theatre is the best in the country.

Quantity surveyor Kolitha Jayatunge just happens to be an opera singer - and he is relishing the prospect of performing at the very venue he is helping create.

Jayatunge will be a familiar face - and voice - to anyone acquainted with Kirikiriroa’s music community.

He is the musical director of the city’s famed Cantando Choir, the conductor for the Cathedral Singers of St Peter’s Cathedral, and a regular chorister and soloist at the St Peter’s Cathedral Cantata Vespers and for the Baroque chamber group Vox Baroque.

Those are what he describes as “my by-night jobs”. The day job is looking after the financial side of the theatre build: Figuring out the construction costs and ensuring the $80 million project is managed as efficiently as possible.

Kolitha Jayatunge says working in an office overlooking the construction site and seeing the architects’ vision slowly become a reality is “an amazing feeling”. Photo: CHRISTEL YARDLEY / WAIKATO TIMES.

Born in Sri Lanka and raised in the Middle East, Jayatunge came to New Zealand in the early 2000s and arrived in Hamilton in 2013. He joined Fosters in 2019, just as the theatre project was getting under way in earnest.

He is now one of 15 quantity surveyors among the 60-strong crew working on the theatre project - a long-awaited venue for the quality shows and performances by big-name entertainers who have been largely absent from the city in recent years.

As a performer himself, he has taken a particular interest in the advice and requirements of theatre consultancy experts Charcoal Blue, and Jasmax Architects, who have designed the building.

“We have listened to them and learned all of their needs, and we have met nearly all of them.”

The theatre is an $80m project. Photo: CHRISTEL YARDLEY / WAIKATO TIMES.

Jayatunge says it is an amazing feeling working in an office overlooking the theatre site and watching that vision slowly become a reality. He is also looking forward to giving the acoustics in the main auditorium a first-hand test once the building is completed.

“We know what we are going to deliver, and it is truly going to be something that’s world class - the same sort of experience that you would get at a Broadway show in New York.

“The standards and the specification are a lot higher that what we are used to in Hamilton.”

It’s a job not without its challenges. One of the biggest is what he describes as “the unknowns - the unexpected things that you don’t see coming”.

“One of those was the removal of asbestos from the old Hamilton Hotel. It’s a heritage building and we knew that there would be a reasonable amount of it, but it wasn’t until we were able to actually get inside that we realised just how much there was.”

Jayatunge has performed at all of the venues in and around Hamilton, including the old Founders Theatre which the new facility is a replacement for.

He has no problem singing the praises of his workmates and others behind the regional theatre initiative.

Opera singer Kolitha Jayatunge also happens to be a quantity surveyor working on the $80million Waikato Regional Theatre - and he is relishing the prospect of performing at the very venue he is helping create. Photo: CHRISTEL YARDLEY / WAIKATO TIMES.

“Currently the two best performance spaces for music are the Gallagher Academy at Waikato University and St Peter’s Cathedral. But this venue will surpass them both by far.”

It was an exciting time for arts and culture in the city in general, he said.

“It’s invigorating and it’s great to be a part of it.

“Coming to the Waikato has proved to be a fantastic opportunity for me. I just want to live here for the rest of my life - I love this city and all it has to offer.”

Momentum Waikato is raising the final $5m required to complete the new theatre, so the facility and its operations can open debt-free in 2024.

Part of that campaign is the Take a Seat initiative, which aims to raise around $1m of the outstanding amount by seeking donations for at least 670 of the 1300 seats in the theatre.

By donating $1500, either in one go or over several scheduled payments, the names of people, their families, or their business or group title will be permanently displayed on a plaque on a seat in the main auditorium.

Alternatively, people can simply make a donation through the main Share the Stage fundraising page.