Marcus Feisst: 'The Waikato is full of great people.'
A top company director’s passion for supporting young people has prompted him to back the Waikato Regional Theatre.
Marcus Feisst and Feisst Group have donated $100,000 to the transformational Hamilton-riverbank project.
“Growing up these days is not easy,” says Marcus. “Young people need more positive places to gather and have real world experiences, we need to surround them with opportunities to grow.”
A key element of the vision for the new theatre is local kids and youth experiencing world-class performance in the same space where they themselves can strut their stuff.
“I’m looking forward to seeing my kids on its stage,” he says, recognising that getting up in front of an audience builds self-confidence and character, regardless of where you then go in life.
“I would love to see Kevin Hart perform here, stand-up comedy is right up my alley and it will be great to able to attract such top international comedians here.”
Born and bred here, Marcus says the fast-growing Waikato needs to build world-class facilities like the Waikato Regional Theatre to really fulfill its potential.
“If the quality of the building is top level it will attract top talent and have a big flow-on effect to further development. We’ve got to be committed to producing something spectacular.
“We were involved in the Avantidrome and there was lots of commentary at the time about whether it should go ahead, but look at it now, its busy all the time, it is really positive for the kids and it helps New Zealand bring home medals.”
Feisst Group is one of the largest multi service-orientated businesses in New Zealand, made up of six well-established companies that collectively employ 200+ staff – Feisst Electrical, Eastside Refrigeration, Select Alarms, REL, Waikato Electrical and Structured Technologies.
“The Waikato is full of great people, business here is relationship based, there is a lot of trust.”
Marcus sees the theatre’s chosen location on Victoria Street’s South End as critical to its potential impact.
“It is a great site in terms of continuing to turn the city to the river. I think the CBD is still quite tired, there is some good redevelopment going on, but there’s restrictions on what can be achieved. So, I support any initiative to add new and exciting architecture that will brighten it up and bring greater vibrancy.
“I’m all for moving the city forward. Few opportunities come along to get involved in such a huge community initiative like the Waikato Regional Theatre, so I’m right behind it.”