'Oliver!' performer finds niche in acting world

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Dion Donahue, left, is Fagin; Eric Jones, back, is the Artful Dodger; and Kaitlin Kiyan is Oliver Twist in the Army Community Theatre production of "Oliver!" The 41-year-old Donahue has taken on the roles of artistic creative director and consultant for the production, and says he is ready "to make acting more of a career." Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser 'Oliver!' A musical by Lionel Bart, produced by Army Community Theatre Premieres at 7:30 p.m. Thursday; repeats at 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, through May 25 Richardson Theatre, Fort Shafter $15 and $12 adults, $8 and $6 children under 12 438-4480

Most days, he bops from one teaching gig to another as a substitute with Kelly Services, filling in at private schools when he's needed.

Other times, like the next few weeks, he'll be on stage, playing myriad roles. Starting Thursday, Donahue is Fagin, the irrepressible petty crook in the musical "Oliver!" in an Army Community Theatre revival at Fort Shafter's Richardson Theatre. He last did Fagin several years ago for Diamond Head Theatre, so it's a hana hou of sorts.

Next month, he starts rehearsals for Lisa Matsumoto's revival of her "Once Upon a Kapakahi Time" trilogy, which will descend upon the Hawai'i Theatre July 26 through Aug. 4. He recently wound up a daytime public-school tour of a Matsumoto play, which he stage-managed, along with a brief run with Jamarama Productions' "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat" musical at the Hawai'i Theatre, in which he played Reuben, demonstrating an acceptable French accent.

"I'm at that point in life, yeah, where I want to make acting more of a career — I'm going through that issue right now," said Donahue, 41, a 1979 Saint Louis School grad. "I'm thinking East Coast. Mainly because you can't make a living (by acting) here. "But Hawai'i has been a fantastic practice field."

He said the teaching helps the acting, and vice versa.

"As a teacher, theater often is educational for some of the kids in 'Oliver!' who look to me for guidance," he said. "Stephanie (Conching, the director) has given me permission to be AC/DC — artistic creative director and consultant — and I often help with character molding, helping people find deeper meaning through body language.

"I had a wonderful experience doing 'Joseph' with Jamarama. It's a fabulous program for kids; Matthew (Pedersen, the founder-director) wants me to work with some of the kids, teaching acting this summer, so I'll probably do that. I tell youngsters that acting helps no matter what job you take — doctor, lawyer — because you get in front of people, and it's important to learn poise and body language, which you get when you interact with theater."

His longish hair and beard are natural for Fagin, a character he adores. "I like the overall challenge of interacting with the kids in a light-hearted comedy that often gets quite dark," he said of the Lionel Bart chestnut. "When people hate you (in a role like Fagin), you're doing a good job. And people love to hate me."

His physical appearance and a lack of proper credentials posed a problem recently. "I was stopped at the (Shafter) gate; the MPs (military police) wouldn't let me in to go to a rehearsal," Donahue said. "You know, the long hair, the beard ... they jokingly said they'd put me in cuffs, but I told them I only wore French cuffs."

He made frantic calls to Vanita Rae Smith, Army entertainment director, and actress Linda Ryan, his good friend, to vouch for his legitimacy. "It all worked out, but it took an hour," he said.

Donahue, of Hawaiian, German and Irish descent, is the eighth of 12 children. He said he has always been interested in acting, doing a bit part in "The Wizard of Oz," when he was in the first grade, and getting serious while in high school and college.

At Chaminade University, Ryan was his teacher and mentor. "She's been my guiding light, always with the yea or nay about my characters, never saying anything bad but goading me on to make up my own mind, challenging me," he said.

The musical co-stars two youngsters — Eric Jones, a Punahou freshman, as the Artful Dodger; and Kaitlin Kiyan, a sixth-grader at Kalei'opu'u Elementary, as Oliver Twist.

That's right: Kaitlin, a girl, is playing a boy, but Donahue said "she's fabulous. You're not seeing a girl or a boy, because she plays the character well."

Indeed, she brings a new twist to the Oliver lore.