Sound upgrade ‘crucial’
Palmerston North’s heritage theatre and premier performing arts venue is struggling to host top shows because of its out-dated sound system.
Regent on Broadway manager Charles Forbes says the system installed 20 years ago is being stretched beyond its capacity, to ‘‘disastrous’’ results.
Many top productions overcame the problems by bringing their own gear, but that was becoming a financial burden.
Local productions such as Cats, Miss Saigon and Wicked had spent about $30,000 to hire an alternative to the Regent’s ‘‘inadequate and unreliable in-house system’’.
Forbes estimated about $1 million had been spent in 20 years on work-around options to ensure sound quality was sufficient for larger productions.
Forbes said a new system was likely to cost about $420,000.
That would exhaust the trust board’s financial reserves and was well beyond the capacity of the Friends of the Regent, who had raised more than $800,000 to buy equipment for the theatre in the past two decades.
The Regent’s funding application to the Central Energy Trust had been turned down and Forbes was not optimistic about attracting Lotto funding.
City councillors have raised the possibility of ratepayers chipping in to help maintain the Regent’s reputation and capacity to cater for all types of shows.
Cr Jim Jefferies said it was an anomaly that the council had been able to contribute more than $800,000 to replace seating, but had a different attitude to replacing equipment in the building.
Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith said ‘‘things that are plugged in’’ were just as important as other elements of the theatre. ‘‘This sound system upgrade is crucial to the reputation of the Regent and the city.’’
He suggested a three-way cost share between the Regent, council and trusts could be the solution.