Music makes comeback in local theater productions

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Keola Beamer may have started something when he composed his first theatrical score for Lee Cataluna's "You Somebody," Diamond Head Theatre's just-closed hit summer musical.

Original music will be a player in the 2002-2003 drama season, already under way. At the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Henry Kapono will write new songs for one play, "The Last Paving Stone," with his music serving as a character. And in another HTY children's show, "Christmas Talk Story," a co-production with Kumu Kahua, Ray Bumatai — an actor who is also a sometimes musician — will play and perform live music on stage, in family weekend performances.

HTY is pushing the musical envelope for the first time in years, said Mark Lutwak, HTY artistic director. "It's been quite some time since we've done a full musical, but we're pushing our actors to sing, to have fun with songs," he said of the season's opener, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," premiering this Saturday. "It's a real musical, with different kinds of storytelling, and the combined popularity of the title and the quality of the script, opens up many possibilities."

A brush with a musical at Diamond Head Theatre — Lutwak directed "You Somebody" — inspired him at HTY. "The recent experience of the past year got me thinking, 'do musicals,' " he said.

Lutwak is not alone.

"We are trying to strengthen the theater-going audience, and yes, musicals historically draw better than non-musicals. Simple as that," said Manoa Valley Theatre producing director Dwight Martin. Manoa Valley Theatre is upping its cadence to three musicals, instead of two, this season, including a country-western bio on Patsy Cline, opening this Wednesday, and a good-fun sliver of nostalgia, "Beehive," down the line.

Magic five

Elsewhere, musicals are leaping into the limelight:

• Five of the six shows at Diamond Head Theatre are musicals; the big kick-off Sept. 27 will be "Chicago," still a hot number on Broadway. And "Sound of Music" is part of a line-up alive with nostalgia.

• Army Community Theatre, which only does musical revivals, has five of 'em, including "Oklahoma!," which still is running on Broadway. It starts this Thursday.

• The new Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College, which hosted a Shakespeare Festival in its maiden voyage this summer, will bring musical maven Ronald E. Bright back to the Windward drama scene. The retired Castle High School director helms the first musical there,

"Fiddler on the Roof," premiering Nov. 21. Presumably, he'll attract his young charges, who brought life and gaiety to the Castle stage that bears Bright's name today.

One reason for the abundance of revered old musicals: the newer ones just aren't available, or they're too costly for local productions.

ACT's "Oklahoma!" at Richardson Theatre may seem fresh, though it's not the updated version that's playing in New York now, with new choreography by Susan Stroman.

"There's such a scarcity of plays," said Vanita Rae Smith, director of Army entertainment, who assembles ACT's season. "So we have to look at the oldies. We're lucky to get 'Oklahoma,' which is still playing in New York. Every age group needs to see what I call the five magic shows, once every five or six years. And that's 'Oklahoma,' 'Sound of Music,' 'West Side Story,' 'Fiddler on the Roof,' and 'King and I.' For a performer, too, you ought to have the opportunity to put that in your resume."

DHT is reviving "Chicago," a Bob Fosse classic that still is packing 'em in in New York. The presentation here will be a cross between the original 1975 version and the Tony Award-winning revival of 1997. And "Sound of Music" makes a comeback.

"With what's out there, it's tough to book shows — because there are fewer and fewer available," agreed John Rampage, DHT artistic director. "There was a time when a show would run two to three years, then you could get' em; now, they run nine, 10, 12 years before they become available," he said, alluding to such ongoing faves as "Les Miserables" and "The Phantom of the Opera." "For us, we've been doing mostly musicals and one nonmusical, because that's what our subscription base supports."

DHT is deliberately opening its season with a bang, putting a lot of zeal and confidence in "Chicago." The company hired director-choreographer Andrew Sakaguchi, who has worked closely with Gwen Verdon, who was married to Bob Fosse, the show's creator-choreographer.

While Kumu Kahua is in cahoots with HTY in producing one musical ("Christmas Talk Story"), its forte is drama or comedy with an island spin.

"It's been difficult for everybody, filling seats," said Harry Wong III, Kumu Kahua's artistic director. "We have revivals (like the season's opener, "Aloha Las Vegas") but we're focusing on new plays."

Diversity

Kumu Kahua also benefits from cross pollination of its actors and active board members. "BullDog and his wife Nara are both company actors and board members at Kumu, but they work at HTY. Dennis Carroll, Keith Kashiwada and Craig Howes teach at the University of Hawai'i and are board members. I often direct at HTY," said Wong.

And while Kumu Kahua tried a musical a few years back, there's none on this season's slate: Too costly, and its downtown house is too small.

MVT knows that musicals are popular with stage-goers, so it has booked three musicals, including one with appeal to children ("Honk") and another targeting country-music fans ("A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline").

"The operative word at Manoa is diverse," said MVT's Martin. "When we select plays for our six-production season, we look for a diverse bill of fare; we hope to fulfill the cliche of having something for everyone."

MVT is adult-oriented, but couldn't resist "Honk" (for kids, but with appeal for Mommy and Daddy, too), said Martin. Hence, the storybook fable places MVT in the children's derby this season.

"The November production slot has been problematic for us, over the years, and we thought this show would be stylish and fun for families," said Martin. "It's a simply written script, with layers behind it, of personalities and relationships — leading up to powerful theater. It fits our mission of diversity. Ugly duckling. Beehive. Country. All with music. We're in the game."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, phone 524-8067 or fax 525-6055.