New Zealand performing arts venues are places in New Zealand that are set up to host

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

and

music events Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect o ...

such as theatre, dance and concerts. St James Theatre Wellington refurbishment

History

Built indoor venues specifically for performing arts were created by British settler-colonists to New Zealand soon after settlements were established. In Wellington the first theatre was the Royal Victoria Theatre on Manners Street, which opened in September 1843. It was a small wooden building with stalls and a gallery, lit by whale oil gas. The first performances were the ''Rover of the seas'' and ''Crossing the line, or the twin brothers''. The Royal Victoria Theatre closed in 1844 due to the competition of another new theatre, the Britannia Saloon (1844) in Willis Street. In Auckland the Fitzroy on Shortland Street opened in 1844. J.C Williamson's built and leased theatres operating in New Zealand including the Theatre Royal that opened in 1907. Others included His Majesty's Theatre in Auckland (demolished in 1987), the Opera House in Wellington, the Regent Theatre in Palmerston North and The Regent Theatre, Greymouth (opened February 1935). After the Second World War, over 300 memorial halls were built in city suburbs and small towns, using subsidies from central government.

Venues

This is not a comprehensive list of all venues rather an overview. Most towns have a town hall with concert facilities. There are also lots of venues owned and maintained by amateur societies (musical theatre and drama) such as Westpoint Performing Arts Centre, Western Springs, Auckland. There are also purpose built auditoriums and facilities in some schools.

Entertainment Venues Association Of New Zealand Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousan ...

(EVANZ) is a members organisation that does advocacy and development for venues such as theatres, stadia, arenas, convention centres, sports grounds and community event centres.

Whangārei

Forum North in Whangārei operating for over 40 years has a main theatre and exhibition hall. Civic Theatre Main Hall Seating Ranks

Auckland

Auckland central has on Queen Street the

Aotea Centre The Aotea Centre is a performing arts and events centre in Auckland, New Zealand. Located at the western edge of Aotea Square, off Queen Street, the centre provides a cultural, entertainment and conventions venue space in the heart of the city ...

, The Civic, Q Theatre, The Classic: Comedy Club and the Auckland Town Hall. The

St. James Theatre The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style a ...

, built for vaudeville acts originally is closed with a renewed campaign to save it in 2021 that has the backing of Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick. Three venues very different from each other that are near to Auckland city centre are Sky City Theatre in a casino, the

Basement Theatre The Basement Theatre is an Auckland theatre founded by Charlie McDermott in 2008. The theatre focuses on providing a venue for young people in the performing arts to enter the industry. Their priorities are making theatre accessible for both ...

and the

ASB Waterfront Theatre ASB or asb may refer to: * Ashgabat Airport, IATA code ASB * Antisocial behavior ** Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, an act of parliament in the United Kingdom, called the ''ASB law'' * Asymbescaline, a psychedelic drug similar to Mescaline * Amer ...

. Other notable venues in Auckland are the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna and the Corban Estate Arts Centre in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *He ...

that includes Te Pou Theatre.

Tauranga

The Baycourt Community and Arts Centre is a multi-purpose performing arts and theatre facility in the central business district of Tauranga. It has a main auditorium, the Addison Theatre, that seats 589. One of the unusual features of Baycourt is its Wurlizter organ.

Hamilton

Venues in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

include the Meteor Theatre, Clarence St Theatre, and Riverlea Theatre. The Founders Theatre was closed due to health and safety concerns in 2016. A new facility, the Waikato Regional Theatre, is due to open in 2022.

Taupō

The Great Lakes Centre at Taupō has a theatre for up to 600 people and an exhibition hall.

Wairoa

The Gaiety Cinema and Theatre, located at 252 Marine Parade was built in 1925. It was destroyed in the 1931 Hawkes Bay earthquake, but was subsequently rebuilt in 1932 in an Art Deco style, and is a Category 2 listed historic building. It has hosted many events including screenings of movies, concerts, political rallies and boxing matches. It closed in 1960 and was used for a variety of purposes including as a supermarket and basketball court. In 1998, work was completed to restore it to its former use as a cinema and theatre and it was reopened in 2000. Finances forced it to close in 2009. It reopened in 2015 with support from the

Wairoa District Council Wairoa District Council ( mi, Kaunihera o Te Wairoa) is the territorial authority for the Wairoa District of New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landma ...

. It has a capacity of 250 patrons.

Napier

In Napier is the Hawke's Bay Municipal Theatre. Royal_Wanganui_Opera_House

Whanganui

The

Royal Whanganui Opera House The Royal Whanganui Opera House is a theatre located in Whanganui, New Zealand. Built in 1899, it is New Zealand's last Victorian theatre. Located on St Hill Street in central Whanganui, the theatre seats 830 and is a venue for many local, nat ...

is a Category 1 listed historic building that opened in 1900. It is said to be the New Zealand's last Victorian theatre.

Palmerston North

The Regent Theatre, Centrepoint Theatre and the Globe Theatre are three performing arts venues in Palmerston North. St_James_Theatre_Wellington

Wellington

In Wellington are a number of theatre venues. The smaller ones in Wellington City are

BATS Theatre BATS Theatre is a theatre venue in Wellington, New Zealand. Initially founded as the Bats Theatre Company in 1976, then established in its current form in 1989. BATS Theatre has seen the development of many performing arts talents of New Zeala ...

in a restored building,

Circa Theatre Circa Theatre is a professional theatre company in Wellington, New Zealand, that was established in 1976. They present a number of plays each year in their two auditoriums, and have a unique partnership and funding model with incoming shows unde ...

on the waterfront, the

Hannah Playhouse The Hannah Playhouse is a theatre venue situated on the corner of Courtenay Place and Cambridge Terrace in central Wellington, New Zealand. The Hannah Playhouse was given by Sheilah Winn (first cousin of Edith Campion, mother of Jane Campion) an ...

formally the home of Downstage Theatre and the Gryphon (84 seats), home of Stagecraft. The bigger venues are the Opera House,

, the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

and the

Michael Fowler Centre The Michael Fowler Centre is a concert hall and convention centre in Wellington, New Zealand. It was constructed on reclaimed land next to Civic Square, and is the pre-eminent concert site in central Wellington. Commissioned in 1975, building be ...

. Wellington is also home to

Te Whaea Te Whaea in Wellington, New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. ...

, in Newtown. This is the New Zealand National Dance and Drama Centre, and is home to the New Zealand School of Dance and Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School. In the Hutt Valley there is the

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

Little Theatre next to the War Memorial Library on Queens Drive, and in Upper Hutt is Whirinaki Whare Taonga (formally Expressions) an arts centre that includes a theatre.

Granity

The Lyric Theatre in

Granity Granity is a small town on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, north-east of Westport on State Highway 67. Karamea is further north. Squeezed between the often-tempestuous Tasman Sea to the west and steep forested cloud-shrouded moun ...

on the West Coast was bult in 1956 to replace a theatre that was destroyed in a fire. In 2014 the roof was blown off in

Cyclone Ita Severe Tropical Cyclone Ita was the strongest tropical cyclone in the Australian region by central pressure, since George in 2007, and since Monica in 2006 by wind speed. The system was first identified over the Solomon Islands as a tropical lo ...

and the community rallied to replace and upgrade the facility.

Christchurch

The

Court Theatre A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...

moved from premises at the Christchurch Arts Centre to The Shed in Addington after the 2011 earthquake. It has planned a permanent home in the city centre. Built in 1908, the Isaac Theatre Royal is the only operational Edwardian style theatre remaining in New Zealand. It was closed for four years for repairs following earthquake damage, but reopened in 2014. The Ngaio Marsh Theatre in the student union building at the University of Canterbury opened in 1967, replacing The Little Theatre, which burned down in 1948. The Ngaio Marsh theatre was destroyed in the earthquake of 2011, and the rebuilt theatre reopened in 2019. The

Odeon Theatre, Christchurch The Odeon Theatre in Christchurch was the oldest masonry theatre in New Zealand, and one of only three remaining purpose-built 19th-century theatres in the country. The building has had different names over the years, and was put to many differe ...

, a masonry building with a Category 1 heritage listing, opened as the Tuam Street Hall in 1883. It was partially destroyed by the earthquakes, although the facade has been retained.

Oamaru

The

Oamaru Opera House The Oamaru Opera House and former Town Hall in Oamaru is a historic building and current performance venue on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The building is classified as a "Category I" ("places of 'special or outstanding his ...

is a Category 1 listed historic building that opened in 1907, originally as the town hall, but is now an auditorium and performing acts venue.

Dunedin

The

Globe Theatre, Dunedin Globe Theatre is a theatre located in Dunedin, New Zealand, and the amateur theatre company that runs it. The theatre was built in 1961 by Patric and Rosalie Carey as an extension of their house. The building to which it is attached, at 104 Lond ...

was the first purpose-built theatre for repertory in New Zealand, when it was built in 1961. It may also have been the first in New Zealand built without a proscenium arch. Dunedin's Fortune Theatre was housed in an adapted church, with the wardrobe up the hill at King Edward Technical College, and the Regent Theatre in Dunedin was built as a cinema. Other venues in the city include

Allen Hall theatre Allen Hall, also known as the Allen Hall Theatre, is a building at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is named after James Allen, Vice-Chancellor and then Chancellor of the university, who was instrumental in raising funds for ...

at the University of Otago, the Athenaeum, the

Dunedin Town Hall The Dunedin Town Hall, also known as the Dunedin Centre, is a municipal building in the city of Dunedin in New Zealand. It is located in the heart of the city extending from The Octagon, the central plaza, to Moray Place through a whole city blo ...

, the Mayfair Theatre in South Dunedin, and the Playhouse Theatre, home of the

Dunedin Repertory Society Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. There are several performing arts centres at high schools, notably Otago Boys' High School,

Kavanagh College , motto_translation = With Her As Our Guide , type = State-integrated secondary , established = 1989; years ago (antecedent secondary schools: 1871, 1876, 1878, 1897 and 1976) , streetaddress ...

, and a shared performing arts centre for King's and Queen's High Schools.

Invercargill

The Civic Theatre complex presents touring companies and local organisations with an auditorium that can seat approximately 1000 people .

References

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