Sir Ian McKellen Gay thespian Sir Ian McKellen has raised more than $350,000 to help with the repairs to an historic Christchurch theatre, which will now name a box in his honour. The Hobbit actor performed 15 shows in 11 centres throughout New Zealand and brought in $354,000 from ticket sales, programmed sales and donations for photos and autographs. The money will go to the earthquake-damaged Isaac Theatre Royal, which is 104-years-old. Earlier in May, British actor Miriam Margolyes performed a fundraiser in Christchurch raising $10,000, while last week’s Christchurch performance by the Flight of the Conchords added an estimated $125,000 to the restoration pot. Isaac Theatre Royal general manager Neil Cox says a personal donation from actor and writer Richard O’Brien brought the total raised to well over $500,000. He said he was astounded by the generosity and the funds raised meant that work on the historic theatre began on Monday with the first stage or restoration of the theatre’s iconic dome. “What Sir Ian, Miriam, Richard and the Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement have done has been overwhelming. The last two months touring with Ian McKellen on Stage and seeing the outpouring of support from people around New Zealand has just been incredible.” Ian McKellen says that he’s thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to create a special show and perform it around the country, opening in “Stratford on Patea” and taking it to audiences in small and large theatres from Auckland to Wanaka, Palmerston North, Tauranga and even Carterton. Highlights of the tour included the opening performance in Stratford’s King’s Theatre with Mastermind winner and Shakespeare expert Ida Gaskin in the audience, being challenged by a seven-year-old wielding Gandalf’s sword in Palmerston North; catching up with Lady June Hillary at the show in Auckland; discovering a long lost cousin in Hawke’s Bay and having a special ring made by the makers of the ‘One Ring’ in Nelson. The tour finished last weekend with the penultimate sold out show at Wellington’s Opera House with cast members from The Hobbit including Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Billy Connolly, James Nesbitt and Aidan Turner in the audience and later joining Sir Ian on stage for the encore and helping gather more than $10,000 in public donations from the collection buckets alone. Cox said Sir Ian’s contribution will never be forgotten in Christchurch and in special recognition of his overwhelming generosity, one of the Royal boxes at the restored Isaac Theatre Royal, known as “The Bard’s Box” for its bust of William Shakespeare, will become the Ian McKellen Royal Suite. “It’s been a very special two months. The theatre is one of the few historic buildings in Christchurch to survive the earthquakes and it is wonderful to know it can be rebuilt and serve as a beacon for Canterbury people,” Cox says. Work to rebuild the Isaac Theatre Royal began on Monday and it will take 18 months and cost in excess of $28million, funded largely by insurance with fundraising continuing to raise the remainder of the $6million shortfall. Cox says the full repair programme will see the theatre open in a ‘transitional’ format in July 2013 for three months before closing again completely between October 2013 and April 2014 “when ‘the Grand Old Lady’ will finally reopen again in her full restored and upgraded glory”.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 4th July 2012 - 6:16pm