A $400,000 federal grant will enable the Royal Theatre to bring its outdated audio technology to a gold standard on par with such venues as Carnegie Hall.
“The upgrades to the audio system will bring improvements in our ability to deliver impressive sound quality to every seat in the theatre,” said Byron Smith, board president of the Royal and McPherson Theatre Society.
Smith said in an interview the Royal’s new sound equipment will be of cutting-edge quality comparable to Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Toronto’s Massey Hall or New York’s Carnegie Hall.
“It catches us up to what the gold standard is in theatre,” he said.
The $400,000 grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage also funds the purchase of a scenic-projection system. Replacing the need for physical backdrops, such a system will make the Royal Theatre more “appealing and attractive” to touring companies, which must now rent them, Smith said.
The theatre owns three older scenic projectors — however, only one works.
The theatre society is accepting bids from sound-system companies. It will test one system out at the end of this month.
The plan is to make a purchase by the end of March, Smith said.
The grant is provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canada Cultural Spaces Fund. This initiative will provide $168.2 million over two years for the renovation and construction of arts and heritage facilities throughout the country.
The Royal Theatre is owned by the Capital Regional District and receives funding from the municipalities of Saanich, Victoria and Oak Bay.
