Q&A with Theatre Manager Loreen Domijan

Whitehaven Theatre attracts marquee talent on stage and behind the scenes. Exemplifying the latter is Loreen Domijan, manager of Marlborough’s performing arts centre.

Her 15-plus years of experience include – but are not limited to – the New York City Ballet, New York Fashion Week, the Tribeca Film Festival and Walt Disney World Entertainment. She managed productions touring the world, then built a “picture car” company (supplying vehicles to film and television sets) with a $100-million entertainment hub.

Loreen took on her current role four months ago. How is it going? She answered that and other questions from Marlborough Weekly in a conversation last Thursday afternoon, in a quiet corner of the venue hosting the Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival.

Q: First of all, how do you pronounce your name?
A: Lo-REE’n DAH-me-ahn. Good question! [laugh] No one ever asks that!

Q: How have you found life in Marlborough?
A: It’s good! I’m not new to New Zealand – I’ve been visiting off and on for over a decade, about a dozen times – but strangely, in all those travels, I never knew Blenheim existed. I would come into Picton and always go toward Nelson or the West Coast. I never realised there was a pocket of towns over here, including Kaikōura. It’s a different pace here, which is part of the reason I did this big move. So, it’s been great!

Q: What surprised you when you took on the position here?
A: Any time you move countries, there’s a different work environment. Theatre also is different country to country; theatre terms can be different country to country, as well. So, there was that learning curve. Something else I had to get used to: New Yorkers are very fast-paced and straight to the point – I’m sure at first people were taken by aback my New Yorkisms.

Q: When you walked into this theatre, what struck you?
A: Last November, I video-interviewed, not seeing the theatre in person. When I got into the country, I was landing other interviews, and I had seen other regional theatres just from my travels. When I first saw this facility, I was blown away. This facility, for sure, is batting above its weight. For such a small town not only to have a 700-seat, well-built, well-designed presidium theatre, but also a black box and an events space, this is by far the nicest regional theatre that I’ve seen.

Q: Do you see potential for growth beyond the variety of offerings already here?
A: One of the things that drew me here is I like that the goal of this theatre is community based. I’m very passionate about sharing this industry with other people, especially young people – I do feel it’s life changing. The variety is fairly normal [compared to] other institutions where I’ve worked. Is there room for growth? Absolutely. But I think with venues like this, you have to be careful of event fatigue and try to keep it as fresh as possible.

Q: Event fatigue can be not only the community but also your staff?
A: Absolutely.

Q: What should people look for, and look forward to, as your first year turns into your second year?
A: We definitely are brainstorming about bringing different events that haven’t been here in the theatre before. We have a murder mystery dinner happening in October; that’s one of them. It certainly feels that this year and next year, the schedule is busy – busier than it’s been in a couple of years. Some of the slowness from COVID still is trickling into the entertainment world. [But] we have a really strong rest of the year going into 2027.