Waikato Times: The stories behind the names on the seats in the new Waikato Regional Theatre

By Mike Mather

Originally published in the Waikato Times, Saturday 6 May 2023.

Jill and Warwick McWha have bought a named seat in the Take a Seat initiative, part of the Share the Stage campaign to raise funds for the new regional theatre under construction behind them. Photo: WAIKATO TIMES

An expression of appreciation for the performing arts, a yearning to leave your mark on your home city, or just a simple giving of a gift.

The reasons people have chosen to have their names – or the names of their loved ones – inscribed on plaques that will be affixed to chairs in the main auditorium of the new Waikato Regional Theatre are as many and varied as the shows that will be staged there.

Carol Snaddon, for example, wants to memorialise the memory of her late husband Ron. For Ron and Janice Smith it was an unexpected – but very welcome – anniversary present.

And for Jill Rodgers and Warwick McWha it’s a form of voicing their support for the $80 million facility, now under construction on Victoria St in downtown Hamilton.

Construction of the new Waikato Regional Theatre is now well advanced. Photo: WAIKATO TIMES

The new theatre will be a venue for the quality shows and performances by big-name entertainers who have been largely absent from the city in recent years.

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

Full steam ahead

Carol Snaddon purchased a Take a Seat plaque in the new theatre to help preserve the memory of her late husband Ron. Photo: WAIKATO TIMES

One of those names will be that of former Railways Corporation area traffic manager Ron Snaddon, who in his younger years was a station master in Putaruru, Mount Maunganui, Ashburton and Hunterville and in other positions in numerous other towns around the country.

Ron ended up working in Hamilton from 1984 to 1989. It was effectively the end of the line of a 36-year career for the fourth-generation railwayman, however he and his wife Carol decided they liked living in the city and stuck around.

Ron died in 2019, but Carol has lived on in their home in Rotokauri – and she wanted to keep Ron’s legacy alive.

”At a later date I will probably get one for me too ... I have got his ashes in the bedroom, but I don’t want to bring him out here to the lounge and put him on display like a trophy. I’d like to acknowledge him in some other way.”

Carol saw Momentum Waikato’s Take a Seat community campaign and thought it would be a fitting tribute.

“We spent many happy hours in Founders Theatre over the years. We saw [English composer] Ron Goodwin and his Orchestra, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Suzanne [Lynch] from The Chicks ... I’m hoping to see some shows in the nice new theatre.”

Carol, who turns 88 at the end of this year, reckons she should be able to attend a few when the doors open in the middle of 2024.

”My maternal mother lived to 93. I think I can go at least one better than her.”

Diamond anniversaries are forever

Ron and Janice Smith received the gift of a named seat from their son Andrew for their 60th wedding anniversary. Photo: WAIKATO TIMES

Another seat-buyer was Prolife Foods chief executive Andrew Smith, who bought a seat for his parents, Ron and Janice Smith, for their 60th wedding anniversary.

“My parents are in their mid- to late-80s, and we don’t buy each other physical gifts any more. The last thing you want at that age is more things that you are only going to have to give away,” Andrew said.

“This is something that is not a belonging, but something that shows my love and support for them.”

Like the Snaddons, the Smiths are long-time theatre-goers in Hamilton. Ron, who worked at Waikato University and was a member of that institution’s trust board.

He also, to use the old expression, trod the boards – and was an active member of the Playbox theatre company throughout the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

“It is such a good scheme and such a good way of supporting the new theatre. It’s going to be an amazing thing for Hamilton when it is up and running.”

And Janice, a former schoolteacher, said she and her husband – who now live in the Hilda Ross Retirement Village – said they were thrilled with their gift.

“We had talked about it and thought it was a nice idea, but then we forgot about it. It was a complete surprise when Andrew gave it to us. I thought it was just lovely.”

A decision made in harmony

One couple who could be said to be completely concordant in their decision to purchase a plaque are singers Jill Rodgers and Warwick McWha.

“Singers” is probably not a sufficient description for the Hamilton couple. Rodgers is the national education co-ordinator for Barbershop Harmony New Zealand, the dean of the Coaching College of Harmony University, USA, the director of Mighty River Harmony, and a member of the current Women’s Barbershop Quartet Champions.

McWha, meanwhile, is the president of Barbershop Harmony New Zealand and a member of Mighty River Harmony.

Introducing the Share the Stage campaign

The Share the Stage fundraising campaign will ensure the Waikato Regional Theatre opens on schedule and totally debt-free. > PLAY VIDEO

As well as literally having their name stamped on the back of the chairs, the pair intend to leave their mark on the new theatre in other ways. One of these is using it to host Barbershop Harmony New Zealand national convention in September 2025.

The planned convention has not been formally booked, as such, but would likely be part of a very busy events schedule once the theatre opens its doors in mid-2024.

“We have sung at Founders [Theatre] previously,” said McWha. “While it served Hamilton quite well, there were deficiencies.

“When the idea of the new theatre came up, we thought, what a great idea. We went to a few of the Momentum sessions where they explained what was happening and how it would all go. It confirmed to us that it would be an absolute asset for Hamilton, which is a diverse and growing city and really needs a major new theatre.

The Take a Seat initiative aims to raise around $1 million of the $5m needed to allow the Waikato Regional Theatre to open debt-free, through donations for at least 670 of the 1300 seats in the main auditorium.

“We decided we wanted to support it in whatever way we could, and the Take a Seat scheme was a way we could tangibly do that.”

Added Rodgers: “We are really looking forward to having a new wonderful theatre. It will be great for the youth of the region ... And another thing I really like is that it will be facing the river, that it is embracing the awa.

“That’s something which is becoming more and more important to me. I have become aware of the spirituality side of Māori culture, and how significant that is. I think that the new theatre will be something we can be really proud of.”

People with someone or something they want to honour by naming a seat in the theatre can go to sharethestage.co.nz/takeaseat or contact janice@momentumwaikato.nz.