Waikato Regional Theatre - Stage is shared and seats are taken

Above: The Gallagher Auditorium. Photo: Jasmax.

From the Momentum Waikato Annual Report 2025 - see full report in PDF.

The final year of construction of the Waikato Regional Theatre, 2025, was a steady stream of remarkable achievements.

The Waikato Regional Property Trust (WRPT) and its manager Gus Sharp ably led the Theatre project to its epic conclusion, working with RDT Pacific and Foster Group on delivering the building, and with Live Nation on preparing for its operation.

Their efforts culminated in the opening of the newly re-titled ‘BNZ Theatre’ in January 2026.

Gus, Chair Ross Hargood, Treasurer Belinda Mulgrew and the rest of the WRPT committee are to be applauded for governing and managing the creation of the Theatre, they have done a remarkable job.

The Theatre project began in 2016 as Momentum Waikato’s undertaking, and we drove it through the early planning, consenting, site selection and primary fundraising stages, led by our then-Chief Executive Kelvyn Eglinton from 2018 to 2023.

The WRPT was created in 2018 by Momentum Waikato to commission and own the Theatre building and its eventual business operations.

From when construction began in late 2021 through to the end of 2025, Momentum’s roles were fundraising led by Janice Lapwood, and public communications driven by Mark Servian.

The ‘Share the Stage’ fundraising campaign, and its ‘Take a Seat’ call-out, officially closed in March 2025, capping off three years of that appeal and eight years overall of fundraising. Janice and colleague Andrea Jones then spent the following months finishing the job, including plotting the donor and sponsor recognition inside the Theatre.

Telling the stories of the Theatre’s construction was driven by the Waikato Times’ enthusiasm for the project. The task for Mark was primarily identifying potential tales on site and then organising the journalists’ visits. Then came packaging it all up in the ‘Share the Stage’ website and email newsletter.

In late February 2025 the ‘signing the steel’ ceremony saw the site’s workers and other project people autographing the last girder to be bolted in place atop the fly tower, completing the skeleton of the building.

The impressive restoration of the Hamilton Hotel façade was uncovered as the scaffolding came down in three stages between February and May.

Mid-year, the complexity of the wiring installed by a local team was on display, and later the stage engineering was signed off by a visiting UK technician, showing that the goal of applying local expertise backed up with international best practice, has been achieved.

In November the Ralph Hotere mural from Founders was hung in the Nancy Caiger Landing, and the Hamilton Hotel’s restored century-old oak staircase was unveiled in the Atrium. Completion of the street-front commercial premises allowed the new bars there to open a month before Christmas.

Foster Group handed the building over to the Waikato Regional Property Trust on 1 December 2025. Live Nation moved in as the venue operator soon after and then announced the building would be known as the BNZ Theatre.

An official civic opening ceremony, including blessings from mana whenua hapu Ngāti Wairere, Ngāti Māhanga, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Korokī Kahukura and Ngāti Hauā, took place on 14 January 2026.

The following week ‘To The Stars - Ki ngā Whetū’, a showcase of Waikato talent with a huge cast, opened the Theatre for supporters with three nights of performance. Live Nation’s inaugural public shows then followed, Teeks and Dave Dobbyn taking the stage on consecutive nights.

Momentum Waikato is proud of its role in creating the Waikato Regional Theatre, and wholeheartedly thanks everyone who played a part in making it happen.

The Theatre is the Kapunipuni, ‘the place where we gather’, that was envisioned a decade ago, and after a remarkable journey, the dream really is now a reality.

For lots more on the history of the Waikato Regional Theatre project, visit sharethestage.co.nz.

Photo: Jasmax.