Flights of fantasy

Stories by Wayne Harada
Advertiser entertainment writer

"Green Eggs and Ham" is far different from "Bat Boy: The Musical."

One is a children's fave, sung in rhyme, opera style. Bright costumes accompany this flight of fantasy, intended for youngsters.

The other is a little bizarre, with comic-book whimsy and dark themes, perhaps too intense for youngsters. Adults, definitely. Older kids with a battitude, too. Hey, it's make-believe, on-the-edge musical mirth.

The plays herald the start of a lively theater season. Be the first on your block to devour eggs and ham and batter up with the bats.

To get you started, we chatted with folks involved in both productions.

Collaborations give 'Green Eggs' a musical twist

From left, Jonathan Clarke Sypert, Louise South, BullDog, Julius Dae-Sung Ahn and Georgine Stark are colorful cast members of Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham" in the Honolulu Theatre for Youth season opener that begins Saturday at the Hawai'i Theatre. Brad Goda photos

Hawaii Opera Theatre trouper Julius Dae-Sung Ahn is the Grouch in "Green Eggs and Ham." The production is a collaboration with HTY and the Honolulu Symphony.

'Green Eggs and Ham' and 'Gertrude McFuzz' An opera based on works by Dr. Seuss, with music by Robert Kapilow; produced by Honolulu Theatre for Youth, in collaboration with the Hawaii Opera Theatre and the Honolulu Symphony 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and 1:30 p.m. Sundays, beginning Saturday and continuing through Sept. 21 Hawai'i Theatre $24 and $12 general, $12 and $6 children and seniors 839-9885, 528-0506

"Green Eggs and Ham," a Honolulu Theatre for Youth production opening Saturday at the Hawai'i Theatre, is the grub in vogue and an é la mode collaboration with the Hawai'i Opera Theatre and the Honolulu Symphony.

Seldom has local theater been so energized with ambitious partnerships.

"It's a big one for us," said Mark Lutwak, HTY's artistic director, about the scope of Sam-I-Am, the Dr. Seuss character and tale of rhyme and reasoning, set to music (and coupled with "Gertrude McFuzz" in this outing). Its musical scope is the reason a symphony ensemble is involved (conducted by new associate conductor Joan Landry, in her debut). And because of its operatic posture, three Hawaii Opera Theatre singers signed on, too.

"It's a very rich aesthetic experience," Lutwak said, "and obviously, something very different for us — and our followers."

Indeed, the show sets the Seuss story, about Sam-I-Am and his attempts to persuade his friend to eat green eggs and ham, and is sung to Robert Kapilow's score, just like grand opera.

The friend hates green eggs and ham. In a box. With a fox. Perhaps he prefers lox?

"It's kid- and family-centered, like most everything we do," said Lutwak, who earlier directed the work without so grandiose a vision. But the outlook is grand, the colors bold, the concept big. "It's taking the show to the next level," he said.

"For us, it's all about collaboration," said Stephen Bloom, executive director of the symphony. "It's our first time with HTY ... together with the Hawai'i Opera Theatre. For many years, our organization was insular; this enables us to reach out to do more things with other community groups."

HOT has a similar stance. "Mark had done this presentation earlier but wanted it to be more collaborative," said Henry Akina, general and artistic director of HOT. "I thought it was a good idea when he came to me with his plan, and I said we need an orchestra."

So the Honolulu Symphony obliged.

"It's a giant welcoming party for me," Landry said. "Since I'll be working with the orchestra's educational program, this show is ideal for me. It involves me, as conductor and emcee; musicians walk out onto the raised pit, we show the children each instrument; I discuss what an orchestra does, the pit lowers, the show begins. It's going to be fun."

"Musically, this definitely is an opera," Akina said of the "Green Eggs" structure: mostly sung, not spoken. "This show nicely augments our education program, doing in-service opera with younger audiences (in schools). While there's a lot of acting, there's that vocal demand. And that's where we came in."

The HOT troupers — Louise Smith, Julius Dae-Sung Ahn and Georgine Stark — join HTY regulars BullDog (narrator and cameo roles) and Jonathan Clarke Sypert (Sam-I-Am).

While "opera" may scare off audiences unfamiliar with the genre, Akina advised: "Leave the adults out it. Let the child decide. I recall a similar collaboration when I was in Germany, where we did opera with kids in mind. Parents were skeptical; teachers were reticent. Face, it with 'Green Eggs,' everyone knows the libretto; we've all recited 'green eggs and ham.' It's a wonderful way for kids to be aware that there are many ways of presenting words and literary material."

It's been an artistic stretch for the HOT singers.

"It's quite different," said South of her singing style here, playing a fox. "More musical theater than opera, but pretty special, and I'm enjoying working with Mark at HTY. The music, for a mezzo, is quite high — and since the children know the words, I'm taking a lot more interest in the lyrics than in tone."

Ahn, who affectionately is dubbed the Grouch in "Green Eggs," said the physicality has been a new experience. "There's a lot more action, jumping, and running around (than traditional opera)," he said. "At one point, I'm well over 11 feet in the air, maybe higher."

Stark, who is Gertrude in "McFuzz" and a mouse in "Green Eggs," said she's losing weight because of the frenetic stage business. "I sing in 'Gertrude' but scurry around mostly in 'Green Eggs,'" she said. "One thing worried me when I auditioned: I was asked if I were afraid of heights. Now I know why. I'm up there quite a bit, but I can see why: Children tune out if there are no visual stimuli."

And she's been stimulating a lot — with the help of eye-filling costumes.

Melanie Burgess, the show's costumer, has embraced a vibrant palate. "My first goal was to bring dimension to the show," she said. "I looked at the Seuss books; nothing was symmetrical; what was evocative for me were the line sketches."

Burgess said it was essential to play with colors, too. "In the book, Sam has a yellow body and red hat; I swapped it in the show, with the body being red and the hat yellow. And fabric choices were a crucial element: They had to be highly textured, sweatery, hairy, fringy."

And yes, the eggs are green — and so's the ham.

Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, fax 525-8055 or wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.

'Bat Boy' a hit, but not of the baseball variety

Shannon Loo is the title character in "Bat Boy: The Musical," making its stage debut at Manoa Valley Theatre Wednesday. Photos by Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Edgar the Bat Boy, played by Shannon Loo, enjoys his meal in a Manoa Valley Theatre musical about a bloodsucking youth.

'Bat Boy: The Musical' A musical by Laurence O'Keefe, based on a tabloid story, produced by Manoa Valley Theatre Premieres at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday; repeats at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 4 p.m. Sundays, through Sept. 28 $30 general; $5 discounts for seniors and military; $15 for those 25 and younger 988-6131

In the parlance of director Scott Rogers, "it's 'My Fair Lady' meets 'Little Shop of Horrors.' "

"Bat Boy," opening Wednesday at Manoa Valley Theatre, is about a misfit, a boy who's also a bat and harboring a dark secret.

Blood-thirsty audiences, in search of the mixture of gore with guffaws — set to bouncy tempos — will find quirky delight here, as MVT plows for a new following of the young, hip and not-so-easily-offended who find tabloid fare ... well, appetizing. It's irreverent, fresh, outrageous.

But leave the wee ones at home.

"It's not for the young," said Rogers. "If you have young kids, go see 'Green Eggs and Ham' instead."

Fair warning.

"This is not your standard musical," said Shannon Loo, 20, an administrative assistant at Manoa Valley Theatre, who is playing the title character. Because his day job is answering the phone and taking reservations for the show, it's probably the first time ever that you can place your ticket order with the show's leading man.

Loo's biggest challenge: "I have to sing upside down," he said, about a precise moment when he's suspended, bat style, with blood rushing to his head. "It's hard enough singing lying down; it's way harder upside down."

But that inverted viewpoint is precisely what makes "Bat Boy" take flight.

"When this show became available, I heard the score; I loved the music," said Rogers, who operates the American Academy of Film and Television, where he has suspended some classes while he directs this show. "I like the fact that it was different — a little more horrifying than 'Little Shop,' but it grows on you — and the trick is you gotta play it truthfully. Even if it's ludicrous, you gotta play it real."

The story about the half-bat boy, identifiable by pointy Spock-like ears with movie-mayhem fangs, spotted in Hope Falls, W. Va., is horror-mystery fodder, reported by a tabloid weekly in the early 1990s. Served with tongue firmly in cheek, the show unspools the ultimate issue between Bat Boy and the townsfolk: Who is batty and who is the beast?

As the Bat Boy, whose name is Edgar, Loo said he had to think like an animal and move accordingly. "So I thought of a dog in a cage, because the character's adoptive father is a veterinarian. I thought of how vulnerable, how scary it would be, to be a caged dog."

It's his first time at bat — figuratively and literally — so he did his research and discovered "bats don't bite, but I do in this show; they lick blood, not suck; and bats can run and jump on all fours."

Loo fell in love with "Bat Boy" two years ago, when he bought the original cast CD cast. No, he hasn't seen it; few have.

"It had a fairly short run off-Broadway," said Rogers. "It was doing well, when 9-11 happened, so the show closed. When it reopened, they could never regenerate the crowds. But it's since become a big hit regionally."

"The show's title can be misleading," said Rogers, a tad concerned that kids might want to see it. Or even sports buffs. "It's definitely not about baseball or Batman. It has a lot of metaphors, and in a not so obvious way, it refers to homosexuality, prejudice, AIDS, racism — though it's never belabored. So potentially, it can be a little controversial, depending on interpretation. It's also anti-bigotry, anti-prejudice. I suppose it might also be called a comic musical tragedy."

It's not the customary musical theater dance either. "What makes it fun is the fact that a lot of its choreography has to do with animals," said Katherine Jones, choreographer, a teacher at Rosalie Woodson Dance Academy, who has training in classical theater dance, ballet and jazz. "The most challenging thing was making sure that the performers understood that there was continuous movement, whether human or animal, with the choreography in an experimental style. Lots of eye candy — great visual effects, hair, makeup. Plus mystery and intrigue."

Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, fax 525-8055 or wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.