By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

"Anything Goes" on Friday when the Diamond Head Theatre opens it 90th season. The performance will have to go a long way to beat the first production in the old Opera House. "The Amazons" played to standing room only on April 28, 1915.

It seems incredible that this amateur theater company has been in continuous production in Our Honolulu for almost a century. The Diamond Head Theatre is an example of the cultural vigor and talent around us that we tend to take for granted.

Consider the improbable history of local theater. A black vaudeville star playing in Honolulu filed one of the first racial discrimination suits in the United States and won. A Chinese theater once outdrew the haole Opera House. Acting legend Edwin Booth played in Honolulu in 1906 and tacked up his own posters.

However, today we will talk about the colorful past of the Diamond Head Theatre that started as the Honolulu Dramatic Club, the brainchild of Mrs. Walter Dillingham (of the railroad, dredging, construction Dillinghams) and Mrs. Alfred Castle (of the missionary, sugar, steamship Castles).

According to The Advertiser, the Honolulu Dramatic Club was organized early in 1915 by ladies interested in drama. According to John Rampage, artistic director and keeper of the theater scrapbook, membership was restricted to women. Males performed only out of necessity. It was 1920 before men could join the club.

From stories in the paper, the director of "The Amazons" either shaped up or shipped out. The first one, Mrs. Francis R. Day, lasted a week. She was demoted to painting scenery and replaced by one William Lewers, who had played on Broadway and doubled as smooth-talking press agent.

One of the scenes called for Louise Dillingham, playing the leading lady, to juggle Indian clubs. Lewers said she did it as well as the star he acted with in "The Amazons" on Broadway. He added, "I can truly say that for general intelligence the cast is up to the average professional one."

Competition on opening night was fierce. Celebrated actress Florence Roberts starred in a six-reel movie version of "Sapho" at the Popular Theater while the Bijou presented "La Traviata" and Mary Pickford in "My Baby," with "Anthony and Cleopatra" as a coming attraction.

"The Amazons" got rave reviews. The Advertiser wrote, "Honolulu has seen no better amateur play, and it has seen many a professional company which could envy the production of last night."

Born during one World War, the Diamond Head Theatre has survived many wars under quite a few different names, and has never closed its stage door. You can be confident that history will repeat itself Friday with an amateur production of professional quality.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.