Past and present trustees, longstanding volunteers and staff gathered at the Regent Theatre’s Clarkson Studio on Saturday to celebrate the trust’s 50th anniversary.
Welcoming the gathering, current trust chairwoman Alison Cunningham paid tribute to the original trustees and those who followed for their "extraordinary achievement" in buying and developing the theatre, and successfully keeping it operating.
The Regent Theatre opened in 1928 as a 2000-seat cinema, with an elaborately decorated interior and its own permanent 18-piece orchestra to accompany silent movies.
In 1972, Dunedin’s only live theatre venue, His Majesty’s (now Sammy’s) was condemned, leaving the city facing a future without a performing arts venue.
Supported by the arts community, a group from service organisation Dunedin South Round Table stepped in to form the Otago Theatre Trust (now the Regent Theatre Trust), lobby council and run a public campaign to save the Regent Theatre and convert it into a performance venue.
Supported by Dunedin’s passionate community, the trust raised $160,000 in 1973 to buy the Regent from Kerridge Odeon ... and the rest is history.
Among the many people involved were then Evening Star women’s editor and artist, the late Shona McFarlane, and the trust’s first chairman Richard Walls (later Dunedin mayor), both energetic supporters of the project.
"It has been a huge adventure, with hundreds of people involved with the theatre over the years," Mr Lovell said.
The gathering also heard from former Regent Theatre Trust chairwoman Carol Melville, who is now leading a project to write a history of the theatre to mark its centenary in 2028.
"I am working my way through the archives, which is fascinating, and in the coming months we will be putting photos on the Regent Facebook page in the hopes that people can help us update names and dates," Mrs Melville said.
Anyone with information is invited to contact the Regent Theatre, or email carolmelville@xtra.co.nz.
