Jamarama goes big-time with 'Joseph'

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Matthew Pedersen has the title role and Shannon Nakano is the Narrator in Jamarama Productions' "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' Premieres at 7:30 p.m. Thursday; repeats 7:30 p.m. April 19, 20; 2 p.m. April 21 Hawai'i Theatre $15-$40 561-1412, 528-0506

Pedersen is producing via his Jamarama Productions, an organization of kids eager to sing and dance on stage, and also is starring in the title role. The show opens a four-day run Thursday, with a cast of about 45 youngsters (30 Jamarama students, the others from the community) and 27 adults.

"It's a big show for a small group like ours, but I wanted to do it at the Hawai'i because it's the closest to a Broadway house we have here. I wanted all the people to get that rare experience of performing at the Hawai'i. And I got lucky with a terrific group of adults who also wanted to share in our mission of putting on good, family theater."

TGIF talked to a few of the major players.

Matthew Pedersen, Joseph
(also producer)

He married a local girl, so Hawai'i now is home for Matthew Pedersen, 36, who earlier portrayed Joseph in a Diamond Head Theatre outing that was a quick audience favorite.

"It's the perfect family values show, with great music," he said. "But for a little theater organization, it's a big challenge to fill the Hawai'i Theatre."

He knew he had to tap dependable voices (and talents) to make this one work, so what are friends for?

"I asked Andrew (Sakaguchi), Dion (Donahue), and JB (John Bryant), who either did the show previously or had done theater here (and elsewhere)," said Pedersen. "We invited Jodi Leong, and what a nice lady; she asked if she could audition. We were lucky to find Shannon Nakano, who married a local boy, who's staying on to do the show before relocating to Maui."

Even Pedersen's daughter, Hailey, 8, is in the show. "She's having a ball, mostly because she knows these people. She loves her Uncle Andrew. And her Auntie Stephanie (Sanchez), who plays Sheila, because she's taught at Jamarama."

Pedersen, formerly in Broadway's "Miss Saigon" and "A Chorus Line," has opted to raise his two keiki, Hailey and Bryce, with his wife, Jackie, in Hawai'i. Though he appears in periodic productions in the community, his main thrust is to instill the desire of performing in the souls of his young students.

"We have great voices in our adult talent," he said. "And the kids, age 5 to14, have a lot of desire and enthusiasm."

Andrew Sakaguchi, Pharaoh
(also director-choreographer)

"This will be my fourth time doing 'Joseph,' " said Andrew Sakaguchi, 32.

"The first time was in high school at Punahou," he said. "Then at Manoa Valley Theater and Diamond Head Theatre. Every time, though, it's a different production and different experience."

The latest is simple and basic, playing off the musical virtues of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice music, as well as the Biblical story.

He believes the ongoing appeal lies "in the message of forgiveness and family love. It resonates over the ages."

Straight out of high school, Sakaguchi got on-the-job training. "While my classmates were in college, I was touring Europe, working in Japan, living in New York," he said. "My mind wasn't on college then; I feel I'm a whole lot more focused now."

He's taking classes at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, where he is a junior, hoping to earn his bachelor's degree in two years.

Being at UH has its benefits. "I was able to twist some arms, and get some singers from the UH choir to join our production," said Sakaguchi. "With so many musicals under way ('Mame' at Diamond Head Theatre, which also is casting for 'Titanic,' and 'Song of Singapore' at MVT), there was a shortage of singers."

Shannon Nakano, Narrator

For her first-ever musical, newlywed Shannon Nakano, 33, originally from Myrtle Beach, S.C., discovered she had 17 songs to sing in her role as the Narrator in "Joseph."

"I grabbed the CD and counted, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous," said Nakano.

She was a singer-dancer aboard the SS Independence before it went belly-up. Earlier, she had sung with the Gatlin Brothers in their Myrtle Beach theater, but they sold it in December 1998. She wound up in Hawai'i in January 1999.

"My husband was assistant cruise director on the Independence — he was my boss — and he just moved to Maui, where he is guest relations manager at the Westin Maui. He moved two weeks ago, and I'm here till the show closes."

She's not complaining. She loves the music and the concept of the show: "No words, no dialogue, only songs that are sung. And very uplifting," she said.

Indeed, the Narrator advances the story, informs the audience, is the conduit by which the characters appear, act and respond.

"I look at her as a storyteller, kind of a gypsy vagabond storyteller," said Nakano. "I get so caught up in the story, I hope I don't cry when Jacob comes to Egypt to see Joseph. For me, it's the most emotional moment."