New life for old theaters
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i's historic theaters are practically held together by memories. "You hear so many stories," says Carmen Gardner, executive director of Maui OnStage, headquartered in the old 'Iao Theatre on Market Street in Wailuku town. "People associate theaters with their first kiss, their first date, their first Bruce Lee movie. They may not remember the show, but they never forget eating boiled peanuts or the jelly bean fights in balcony."
A talk by Lowell Angell, president of the Theatre Historical Society of America Noon Thursday Old Archives Building, next to State Library Cost: Free Info: 523-2900 Sponsored by: Historic Theaters of Hawai'i
Once, there were dozens of theaters like the 'Iao scattered across the state. In every town, on every plantation, movie theaters were the most important community gathering places, said Lowell Angell, a University of Hawai'i administrator and president of the Theatre Historical Society of America.
"People went to different churches, different stores," he said. "But everybody went to the same theater."
Today, the community theaters are disappearing, even if the memories are not. The artistic and economic success of the restored Hawai'i Theatre in downtown Honolulu is the exception, not the rule. (And even the relatively stable Hawai'i Theatre budget has yet to extend to a planned restoration of the facade, for which fund-raising continues.)
Faced with declining revenues, deteriorating structures and constant competition, many old theaters have gone silent. Others are barely holding on in the face of challenges from the modern megaplexes, with their air-conditioning, state-of-the-art sound systems and access to first-run films.
Yet, from the Big Island to Kaua'i, people are fighting to keep the old theaters Ü and the memories they hold Ü alive. Here's a look at how some of them are doing it. Our list isn't complete, just representative of the continuing interest in theaters and the memories they invoke.
Na'alehu Theatre, Na'alehu, Hawai'i
For more than 20 years, Joe and Sandy Demoruelle have struggled to keep the theater in the Big Island community of Na'alehu an active part of the community. It's not showing movies right now, but that doesn't mean the Demoruelles have given it up for dead.
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Joe Demoruelle began using the theater as an art studio when he moved to the remote town near the southern tip of the Big Island in 1979. About that same time, a group of rural Big Island theaters from Hilo to Hawi and from Honoka'a to Mountain View began banding together to book their own films. Since then, others have fallen by the wayside, but the Demoruelles refuse to be defeated.
Na'alehu Theatre on the BIg Island is in good physical condition, but has trouble generating enough support to remain open.
"The theater was built in 1940 and it's in good condition, but there's just not enough money in this community to keep it open," Joe Demoruelle said. "We hung in there as long as we could, but when the sugar mill closed, revenue took a nosedive. Sometimes, we made just a few hundred dollars on a weekend, and that didn't pay for all the expenses like electricity and advertising, let alone renting the movies."
The couple have turned to other interests to keep the theater alive, while Na'alehu awaits the return of better days. The theater is rented by a Baptist church on Sundays. Several local bands practice there regularly. Recently the Honolulu Theater for Youth presented a show that brought in hundreds of local school kids. A video rental business and video game center have operated in the theater at times; now Demorurelle has established a video production studio there. He also runs a small museum on the site and is hoping to present plays for tourists.
A $25,000 grant from the county a few years back paid for fresh paint, power washing and a new sign out front, but nothing for operations.
"We just have to find something to subsidize the movies a bit, and we'll start showing them again," Demoruelle said. He's hoping to start with a run of Ang Lee's Academy Award-nominated "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in the next few months.
Lihu'e Theatre, Lihu'e, Kaua'i
The Lihu'e Theatre, built in 1931 at a cost of $70,000, was so badly damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992 that the county was considering demolishing it. But Barbara Robeson, then vice chairwoman of the Kaua'i planning commission, had a better idea: Convert it to housing for senior citizens.
The theater was one of the biggest and most comfortable in the state. It sat about 800 people and, according to an early Kaua'i newspaper report, "compares favorably with any motion picture house in the Islands."
The Lihue theatre was already closed for lack of business when it was damaged by Hurricane Iniki in 1992
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After the hurricane, the theater seemed doomed.
Instead, the county came up with a plan to restore the front 40 feet of the building along with its lobby and facade. Behind that, 21 new apartments were built for Kaua'i's senior citizens. The lobby and gallery areas were developed as a small exhibit space detailing the history of the theater, old movie posters and the people whose lives were touched by it over the years. The project received a preservation award from the Historic Hawai'i Foundation last year.
'Iao Theatre, Wailuku, Maui
Maui's 'Iao Theatre got a million-dollar makeover in 1995 and 1996, but is still struggling to find its place as a living entertainment facility.
"The county allocated the money to purchase the building from Holiday theaters and preserve its structural integrity," said Carmen Gardner, executive director of the Maui OnStage group which is headquartered there. "But we still have lots of work that needs to be done inside. We're not even close to being done. We're in dire straights and struggling to keep it alive."
The 'Iao Theatre in Wailuku, Maui, served as the site of the premiere of "From Here to Eternity" in 1953.
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Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Charlie Chan are among those who appeared in person in the theater, which also served as the site for the premiere of "From Here to Eternity," Gardner said. Even with all the struggles, the 'Iao, built in 1928, can claim rights to being one of the oldest continuously operating theaters in the country, she said.
None of which jibes with the 'Iao's current conditions. Bulky second-hand couches are used where new, more expensive theater seats should be. A heavy red velvet curtain looks like it came with the original theater. One day last month, the theater was burglarized three nights in a row, Gardner said. "We had to delay the start of our show while police investigated the break-ins," she said.
Still, the theater group struggles on, hoping to restore the theater to full glory someday, just as a grass-roots group helped bring the old Hawai'i Theater in downtown Honolulu back to life in the 1980s and '90s.
Honoka'a People's Theatre, Honoka'a, Hawai'i
The Honoka'a People's Theatre was built in 1930 and operated continuously until 1988, when worries over the building's safety forced it to close.
Two years later, though, the theater found its guardian angel in Tawn Keeney, a local physician who has singlehandedly brought it back from the dead. Keeney bought the theater and personally did much of the extensive renovation work, including rewiring, that was needed before it could be reopened.
Honoka'a People's Theatre on the Big Island closed in 1988. Two years later, it was renovated, inside and out.
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He cleaned and painted, installed new stage equipment and lighting, changed the seating and opened a full concession area. Today, the theater seats 525 and shows films on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
"Dr. Keeney did a bang-up job," said his fellow theater enthusiast Pat Rocco. "He took the theater and brought it back to its nice, original condition."
It's a labor of love that hasn't gone unnoticed. Several years ago, Keeney was honored by the Historic Hawai'i Foundation for his work. Moreover, he's thanked almost every day by the residents of rural Honoka'a.
"The theater is right next to a high school and has a marquee at ground level" — a virtual invitation to pranksters to rearrange the letters, Rocco said. "It's a mark of Dr. Keeney's respect in the community that no one has ever done that. No one would even think of doing that."
The Palace Theatre, Hilo, Hawai'i
How's this for falling on hard times? A few years back, the Palace Theatre, built in 1925 and considered the grandest of Neighbor Island movie halls, was being used as a popcorn warehouse by Consolidated Theater's Hawaii Island division.
Closed since 1982, the theater sat empty until it was purchased by the Hilo Downtown Improvement Association in 1990, a nonprofit group of Hilo business people and community volunteers. It was opened briefly that year, but closed again for safety reasons the next year. It wasn't until 1998 that the structural rebuilding was complete, using state and county funding.
The Palace theatre in Hilo, built in 1925, operates on weekends and has a full range of programs planned for the future.
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Today, the theater is open on weekends, presenting a mixed fare of art films, stage productions and musical events.
Much work remains, including installation of new air conditioning, an expanded stage and restoration of original interior fixtures and decorations, according to the theater's manager and only paid employee, Sheri Winkelmann. The group hopes to get $3 million from the state Legislature this year.
"We've got great plans," Winkelmann said. "We'd like to have a full range of activities from first-run movies to our own theater group. Next year, we'd like to have a full-on Hawaiian music concert series and historical cultural program in place to coincide with the Merrie Monarch hula festival. We're going to be hosting the first world hula conference in July. We've had some success with our programs but there's still a lot more we can do."
