Waikato Times: Inside job - Regional Theatre's interior rapidly taking shape

Originally published in Waikato Times, Saturday 25 January 2025, including video.

By Mike Mather.

The Waikato’s new regional theatre is about to become a theatre of mystery - or, to describe it a little more eloquently, a masterpiece mystery theatre.

The Waikato Times was this week granted a tour of the building’s interior - a guided visit that provides more than a few hints of the sheer magnitude of splendour the Waikato Regional Theatre - due to open later this year - will provide the people of Kirikiriroa.

But it was also the last opportunity to take a gander at the grandeur for several months. Visits by anyone not directly involved in the construction are being curtailed as the building of the superstructure comes to an end and the fit-out of the interior picks up pace.

As well as not bumping into the builders who will be moving in and installing wall linings, seats, doors and other elements the teams at Foster Construction and Live Nation - which will soon take over day-to-day operations at the theatre - have another logical reason to keep people out.

They simply don’t want to spoil the surprise.

“It’s all steel and concrete now, but eventually it will be timber and velvet. The skin is yet to go on,” Momentum Waikato communications and marketing manager Mark Servian said.

“You might think it looks impressive now, but just wait until it’s finished.”

The completed theatre will include a flat floor with moveable seating. This will provide standing and dancing space where required. The “black box” flying tower, from which pulleys for curtains and scenery backdrops are controlled, can be seen above. PHOTO: Waikato Times / Mark Jephson.

For the meantime, construction is continuing at a steady pace. As you read this, the roof will be being installed over the top of the auditorium. Soon after, in the first week of February, the building will effectively be deemed weather-tight - and the interior work can begin in earnest.

“We will also be topping off the final three metres on the flying tower,” Foster’s site manager Dave Middlemiss said.

“That will effectively bring the structural work to an end ... When the last piece of steel gets brought in by the crane, it is a pretty big deal. There will be a few signatures going onto it, and you will see a few flags flying.”

The regional theatre’s foyer will be a spectacle in its own right. It is already possible to get a feel of what the completed space will look like. PHOTO: Waikato Times / Mark Jephson.

The stateliness of the atrium, the auditorium and the main riverside foyer - “our favourite place in the building” says Middlemiss - is already apparent.

A striking artwork by Ralph Hotere, saved from the dilapidated and now-demolished Founders Theatre across town, will eventually adorn the upper level of the foyer.

Outside, the distinctive Hinuera Stone cladding can already be seen by passers-by on the theatre’s north-facing wall, and a space where the city’s beloved Riff Raff statue will be placed will also mark the site of the revered Embassy Theatre.

An artist's impression of what Ralph Hotere's Founders Theatre mural will look like in the new Waikato Regional Theatre. This view looks towards the viewpoint from which the previous photo was taken. IMAGE: Momentum Waikato.

The story of the regional theatre recently got an exciting twist with the announcement that global entertainment titan Live Nation had signed a 15-year deal with theatre owners the Waikato Property Trust to manage it.

Live Nation, which has its headquarters in Beverley Hills, California also operates top Auckland venue Spark Arena and, among other feats, recently brought Coldplay to New Zealand.

This fresh artists' concept for the new Waikato Regional Theatre gives those eagerly awaiting the facility a vision of the future. IMAGE: Jasmax.

Meanwhile, Hamilton-based philanthropic organisation Momentum Waikato will soon be winding down the Take a Seat initiative.

The plan - part of the Share the Stage fund-raising campaign to ensure the theatre opens debt-free later this year - involves the purchase of plaques for a $1500 donation. Each plaque will be permanently affixed to one of about 670 chairs in the theatre’s 1300-seat auditorium.

The theatre’s auditorium will arguably be the biggest room in the Waikato and - once completed - definitely the most impressive, with likely the best acoustics in the country. PHOTO: Waikato Times / Mark Jephson.

Many of the plaques are being bought by local families, companies and individuals keen to leave their mark on the new facility. So far 280 seats have been “taken”.

“Take a Seat will be coming to an end in the next two or three months, and we don’t want anyone who is thinking about buying one of those plaques to miss out,” Servian said.

“Those seats will need to go in before long, and they will be going in with the plaques attached, and in alphabetical order.”