The following is a shortened version of a media release (unpublished) sent to the NZ Herald on 1 October 2025.

The Last Tour – St James Theatre

Another 188 Aucklanders now know what it currently looks like behind the façade of the St James Theatre. Just days before restoration work is due to begin, the final of six tours of the building were held on 27 September as one of the sold-out events in the Auckland Heritage Festival. 

Civic Trust Auckland ran the tours with the kind permission of the theatre’s owner, Steve Bielby of Auckland Notable Properties Trust. They have been so popular that there is a waiting list of 237, in anticipation of future tours.

CTA has run tours of the St James in the heritage festival three years in a row.

Bielby, who bought the building in 2014, said he’s very much looking forward to the restoration finally getting under way. “I think what’s so special about it, as society evolved and needed different things, the theatre changed from vaudeville, to movies, live theatre, and, most recently, music concerts.” 

Members of the public had the opportunity to walk through parts of the theatre and hear about some of the history of this 1928 Category I and Category A heritage building, as well as details of the planned restoration work.

Many of them had fond memories of attending performances there several decades ago: The Pretenders, Joni Mitchell, The Pet Shop Boys, Miles Davis, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Pearl Jam, Neil Finn, Sir Howard Morrison, the Auckland Philharmonia, the New Zealand Ballet Company, The King and I, Cats, Charlie Girl … The list goes on – and the shows will go on again, in a couple of years’ time.

Civic Trust Auckland, and no doubt many Aucklanders, will be thrilled to hear that Bielby is aiming to have the works finished in time for the centenary of the theatre in 2028.

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See posts on September 29.