Globe Theatre on track to host Christmas 2024 show, executive director says

Renovations continue at Regina’s Globe Theatre.

Executive director Jaime Boldt says the theatre is still on track to host a show by Christmas 2024 at its Scarth Street location.

On Friday, the Globe hosted a tour highlighting the construction of all of the theatre’s new features and amenities.

“I have a few favourite things that are happening in this building,” said Boldt, mentioning the main stage as well as the catwalk and the trap room that were shown during the tour.

The previous iteration of the theatre didn’t have a catwalk, according to Boldt. She said the catwalk will make it easier for crews to operate above the stage.

Lights will also hang from the catwalk.

“I love that we were able to have people walk and look down at where we will be able to fly some of that magic like a Tinkerbell or any (other) kind of surprises from above,” Boldt said. “So that was really fun to show off.

“And then walking onto that main stage and having people look and be able to imagine when they were seated what they would be looking at on that main stage. And then of course, the trap room, which is that magic from below. So those were kind of fun things to be able to show off.”

Boldt also pointed to the new freight elevator, which she said is a huge game-changer for staff and crew.

The elevator will allow for the efficient transportation of materials, many of which previously had to be disassembled for transport.

“(Transporting materials) was very complicated (and) very labour intensive,” Boldt said. “The freight elevator just really does that faster with more ease and is more user friendly for us, so that was really exciting to show off.”

While Boldt is very confident the renovation project will meet its goals, she did acknowledge some of the difficulties that have affected construction.

“I think renovating a heritage building in itself comes with complications. It definitely was an investment that we knew at the beginning that we would have to make. (But it’s) a really important investment to Regina’s downtown and something Globe wanted to do,” she said.

“However, when we started pulling things apart in this building — to quote James Youck, our principal architect — he said, ‘It’s like pulling the string on a sweater.’ And it just kept on unraveling.”

On top of that, Boldt said the theatre also has dealt with inflation and supply chain issues. Boldt previously said the project was more than $10 million over budget because of inflation.

“So I feel like we’ve been hit with a few things that have increased the cost of the space,” Boldt said.

A public campaign is underway to help raise funds to pay for the theatre’s rehabilitation.