Tip-Off
'Once Upon a Star' party and benefit concert Sunday
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor
"Once Upon a Star," a benefit concert featuring the works of playwright Lisa Matsumoto and composer Roslyn, will take place at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Leeward Community College Theatre.
A wine and pupu party under the stars precedes the performance in the theater.
Matsumoto and Roslyn are collaborators and creators of the pidgin musicals "The Princess and the Iso Peanut" and the "Once Upon One Time" trilogy. The fund-raiser will feature a compilation of songs and scenes from their works.
Performers will include Patrick Fujioka, reprising his role as the Mean Mongoose. The Menehunes Who, Wat, Wen, Why and How Come will join Prince Yoshi and Princess Alexis, the Three Pigs and Da Wicked Queen.
There also will be a sneak preview of the duo's forthcoming Broadway-style musical, "On Dragonfly Wings," an adaptation of the children's book "Wailana the Waterbug." Janel Parrish and Joseph Morales will perform "World to Explore," and George Benevente and Megan Mount will lead an ensemble in "Parade in the Sky," two new tunes from "Dragonfly," which will premiere at Leeward in July.
The Sunday event is a fund-raiser for 'ñhi'a Productions, co-founded by Matsumoto and Michael Furuya. The nonprofit organization's mission is to provide creative, educational and inspiring theater experiences for Hawai'i's schoolchildren and families through arts education.
Tickets: $1,250 for Constellation tables (groups of 10, includes a commemorative CD); or $100 per person, Shooting Star; $75 per person, Shining Star.
Reservations: www.ohia.com or 261-9722.