KANE'OHE — An award winning local playwright who was driving drunk when she caused a collision that killed her and seriously injured a young mother last month was mourned by friends and family as they celebrated her life and work yesterday.

Lisa Y. Matsumoto, a local actress, author and playwright whose career spanned two decades, died Dec. 14 when she ended up driving the wrong way on the H-1 Freeway at 3:32 a.m.

Matsumoto collided head-on with a car being driven by a 35-year-old mother of two. The woman Matsumoto hit, Cassie M. Olaivar, was hospitalized for nearly a month with head injuries and a broken right leg and ankle.

An autopsy revealed Matsumoto had a blood-alcohol content the night of the crash of .242, more than three times the legal limit.

Yesterday a room set for 800 was overflowing with friends, family and colleagues at the First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu at Ko'olau. They had come to remember the effort she gave to the community and those she worked with.

A banquet room with chairs fanning out in a wide arc from a stage was filled and mourners stood two deep against the glass walls at the back of the room.

A framed picture of Ma-tsumoto was at the center of a table heaped high with lei in front of the stage.

Her family sat to the left, greeting well-wishers before the ceremony.

A choir of about 60 people who worked with Matsumoto, including some who organized skits with her while she worked as a camp counselor at the Atherton YMCA in the mid-1980s, gathered and sang two songs that were favorites of their circle of friends from their college days, and two songs that were associated with Matsumoto's theater work.

"We have sang and danced and dreamed and laughed and lived with her. We are here because we are better people because our lives crossed with hers," said Pastor Dan Chun.

The ceremony included presentations by Matsumoto's professor at the University of Hawai'i, Tammy Montgomery, and brief remembrances by cousin Vernon Omori and collaborator Roslyn Catracchia.

Omori played an audio recording of Matsumoto singing numbers from the musical "Jesus Christ, Superstar" at the age of 7.

Omori said Matsumoto once sang so loudly at a summer fun program she drowned out all the other kids.

"The saddest thing in the world is wasted talent and we all know that Lisa did not waste her talents," said Omori.

"Her gifts made us laugh, made us cry, made us dance and made us feel good. Long after all of us are gone, Lisa's work will live on."

A slide show depicting Ma-tsumoto's life was shown as music she wrote was played.

Musical numbers and pieces of dialogue excerpted from "Arkansas Bear," a play that was not written by Matsumoto but was one of her personal favorites, was acted out on stage.

Former collaborators from as far away as Japan and New York flew in.

"Look around at all the people who Lisa's life touched," said Montgomery.

Matsumoto was best known for stage productions such as the "Once Upon One Noddah Time" fairy tales with a pidgin spin.

Her works have been staged all over the state, and 'Ohi'a Productions, which she co-founded, offers in-depth theater programs in several schools.

According to interviews with police, co-workers, friends and family members, Matsumoto at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 13 — the night before the crash — attended a board meeting in Kailua for 'Ohi'a Productions, the nonprofit theater organization she co-founded in 1995 with her cousin, Michael Furuya.

Matsumoto, who produced "Christmas Gift of Aloha" at Ala Moana Center, left Kailua shortly before 8 p.m. and met cast and crew members at Slammers Bar and Grill on Kalakaua Avenue at about 8:30 p.m.

Dinner and cocktails accompanied the meeting.

At some point, Matsumoto got behind the wheel of her green 1997 Toyota Camry, and somehow got on the H-1 Freeway going in the wrong direction.

At 3:32 a.m., she slammed head-on into a 1998 Toyota Corolla driven by Olaivar, a receptionist at the Ala Moana Hotel, who was driving home to Waipahu after working the late shift.

Matsumoto died later that day at The Queen's Medical Center.

Olaivar said she forgives Matsumoto, whose family came to visit her during her hospital stay and offered support and well wishes.

Honolulu police are continuing to investigate the case.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.