Once upon an Arabian Night ...

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Special to the Advertiser

•	'Camaralzaman and the Princess' 10th in the story-theater series "Tales From the Arabian Nights" Indigo restaurant 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, through Feb. 28 $20 521-2900 E-mail: jeffgere@lava.net

Words, gesture and facial expression tell the story. The listener provides everything else.

When it's done successfully, the results are magic.

Perhaps literature's best known and most successful storyteller was Scheherazade, a vizier's daughter who delayed her beheading by entrancing a woman-weary king. Both characters are immortalized in "Tales From the Arabian Nights" — a collection of Persian, Arabian and Indian folk tales.

The incarnation at Indigo restaurant, near the Hawai'i Theatre in Honolulu's Chinatown, was conceived a year ago for limited performances at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Since then, the production team, headed by storyteller Jeff Gere, has worked its way through 10 stories at Indigo's Opium Den, a 40-seat room offering an ideal setting for this material.

A wooden mural dominates the room and red lanterns hang from the ceiling. Performers use an antique Chinese wedding bed and an oversized carved bench. Restaurant chairs are lined up for the audience.

Gere thrives in this setting, and to call him animated is a weak understatement. Costumed like an organ grinder's monkey, he seems to be everywhere simultaneously, vibrating like a human tuning fork and creating a resonance that spreads irresistibly.

Posture, gestures and facial expressions are remarkably liquid and bigger than life. Audience regulars respond to physical and oral cues, becoming part of the story and participating in the fun. But Gere's quicksilver presence is only a piece of the picture.

Part of the evening includes a lantern show, created on a device resembling a primitive laptop computer.

Room lights fade to black and focus goes to a small screen featuring shadow puppets lit from behind by a candle. This is primitive magic at its best, riveting audience attention on supernatural figures that spellbind us like fantastic figures on the wall of a prehistoric cave.

Considerably more red-blooded performance charm comes from belly dancer Willow Chang. She has two featured dance numbers, provides sound effects, and stands in for silent characters. More than just an exotic decoration, Chang is an integrated part of the action and adds subtle comedy through her interaction with Gere.

Flutist Steven Rosenthal and drummer Reggae McGowen add texture and ambiance with their musical accompaniment.

And the night's story? It's a convoluted tale of a Persian prince and a Chinese princess, filled with sex, violence, adventure and contemporary asides. Not to worry if you get a bit lost in the subplots and "meanwhiles." Trust in Gere's narrative skills to create vivid characters and bring you safely home through shipwrecks and sorcery.

"Camaralzaman and the Princess" is enticing entertainment for adults.

The ticket price includes a glass of champagne, and additional bar service is available.