Posted on: Sunday, October 3, 2004
Saint Louis gets first Hawai'i staging of 'Aida'
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
Saint Louis School has scored a theatrical coup, becoming the first performing group in Hawai'i to produce the Tony Award-winning Elton John-Tim Rice musical, "Aida," next March 4.
"It's because of our isolation," said Kakuno about Disney's decision to offer "remote" markets the rights to stage a fresh-from-Broadway production.
"It's extremely exciting," said Kakuno. And it will be a daunting challenge to stage with limited resources.
The production will play two weekends at Mamiya Theatre, on the school's Wai'alae campus, and will replace an earlier-announced "Sweet Charity" musical, which had already been cast.
"We will have to tweak our cast and perhaps hold additional auditions once we get the 'Aida' libretto and script," said Kakuno. A check to cover the rights was mailed last week.
"Aida" will be the second production in three years to receive its Hawai'i premiere under the Saint Louis banner, before more established community theater groups. In 2002, Saint Louis produced "Footloose," the musical about a community banning dancing that is based on the movie and features songs co-written by Dean Pitchford, an award-winning composer and a Saint Louis alumnus.
For "Aida," no one pulled strings; Saint Louis secured the show on its own merits.
"Aida" is a modern retelling with grand-opera roots — the retelling of the classic love story involving an Egyptian captain, Radames, and an enslaved princess, Aida. The plot entails burial chambers, legendary cultural differences between two warring nations, set on the banks of the mythic Nile and taps classic characters that test the power of love against the threat of death.
The production, with book by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls and David Henry Hwang, won four Tony Awards, a Grammy, the Drama Desk Award and the Drama League Award.
The musical score includes the pop hit by John, "Written in the Stars."
Music will be particular challenge for Saint Louis, said Kakuno, since the production requires a full, resounding sound with equally powerful choral effects.
In addition to the "Aida" conquest, Saint Louis still is reeling from excitement about bringing its recent spring production of the musical, "Chicago," to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, next August.
"The cast and production team is looking forward to this trip," said Kakuno. To help finance the journey, students are operating a concession at Aloha Stadium and selling Rehab Hospital cookbooks to generate trip money. Other fund-raisers will be held next year.
"It's going to take a group effort, with families involved, to make it all work," said Kakuno.
Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, or fax 525-8055.
"I found out, on the Internet, that the rights to the Disney musical were going to be released," said Kyle Kakuno, Saint Louis drama director, who will direct the student production. The coveted musical, which just closed Sept. 5, is touring the Mainland, but rights were made available only to Hawai'i and Alaska.
