"Exhausting," Burton White says of his November and December schedule. "This would be cruel punishment if I didn't love it."

Up at 4:30 a.m., the artistic director and general manager of the Hawai'i Theatre reads the newspapers, checks his messages, and often has early meetings before arriving at his Bethel Street office by 8 a.m. daily.

His positions with the Hawai'i Theatre mean that he is on call for every performance hosted by the theater, which largely functions as a space for rent, hosting such shows as December's "Stomp!"

There's more: He is the executive producer of the theater's two big holiday shows this year — "A Merry Christmas with Friends & Nabors" and "A Cazimero Christmas" — and the creator of the long-running Hana Hou Hawaiian music series.

White creates and directs song and dance, sets and lighting. He runs sound checks and back-to-back, four-hour technical rehearsals. On any given day, he may have to search the back recesses of the theater's storage spaces for last year's props, troubleshoot a tech question or prompt a more cohesive dance move from an onstage troupe.

A quick dinner break and he is back to produce and direct show rehearsals that go late, sometimes to midnight. The next morning, redux.

A master of multitasking, he sits quietly at the rehearsal sound and lights board, temporarily perched mid-theater. Looking like a gentle giant, he suddenly bounds down the aisle to clap a rhythm for the young dancers and singers weaving into lines that cris-cross the stage.

"Deep breaths, wave big! Walk off stage but look at the audience!" he gently coaches.

Is he always that kind? White says he saves the tough stuff for the last rehearsal. He tells the dancers, "Watch where you are on stage. If something is moving above you, get out from under it!"

Performer Robert Cazimero says, "Burton is completely different when he is calling the show than when he is being our friend." Brother Roland agrees. As pals, they get together for lunch or the occasional movie. In show mode, the Cazimeros say White is all business — and they listen carefully to his critiques.

"He honors his artists," says Robert Cazimero. "We have to raise ourselves up to his level."

As a first this year, kumu hula Mapuana de Silva is bringing her young girls to dance in the Cazimero Christmas show.

"In the 10 years our hälau has performed our own show in the Hawai'i Theatre, Burton has made it easier every year," de Silva says. "I would only bring my dancers for him, and for Robert."

White's laughing comment about the Cazimero Christmas special: "The show is like a big family, but every year, we never know what our brother Roland will do. Flashing red nose? Who knows?"

20-YEAR HISTORY

Born in Pittsburgh, White has produced more than 100 full-scale theater and concert productions. His celebrity show production list runs from Tammy Grimes music to his favorite Carols — Burnett and Channing.

White has been artistic director and general manager of the Hawai'i Theatre in Downtown Honolulu since 1995.

In 1989, he came to Hawai'i to work with the famous Tommy Aguilar when he brought the hit show "Dreamgirls" to the then-decrepit Hawai'i Theatre.

"Then it was still an old movie house with rotting seats, a patched-up stage and bugs and lizards in the attic," White recalls. "It was long before our $27 million theater restoration."

That didn't stop him from falling in love with the theater and its setting. Despite his stage management and directing success in many Mainland cities, all he wanted was to work in Hawai'i. "This year makes 20 years," he notes. "I never want to leave!"

He is executive director of "A Merry Christmas with Friends & Nabors," returning after a two-year break for a hana hou, and he's executive producer for "A Cazimero Christmas." Between the two holiday extravaganzas, the Hawai'i Theatre will host the Kamehameha Schools' annual Christmas concert.

When the curtain comes down on the Cazimero show, White will be ready to close Pauahi Street, lift the theater roof with a giant crane and install a new air conditioning system before the Dec. 22 opening and 10-day run of the sound-and-dance show "Stomp!"

Despite the economic downturn, the theater was able to go forward with plans to replace the malfunctioning former system. White says he is looking forward to "no more meat-locker chill" and a better environment for the audience.

Roland Cazimero is relaxed about the Christmas show. However, Robert Cazimero tells of a barrage of e-mails from White, discussing and designing the show, as evidence that White is key to organizing the show.

"Burton wants to start planning in January. I don't want to think about it until the next December," Robert Cazimero says. "We compromise and start in October."

RETURN OF NABORS

"When Jim Nabors decided to stop after a decade of shows, he told me he 'didn't want to stay too long at the fair.' It turns out not having a show wasn't much fun," White said. Coming up on his 80th birthday next year, Nabors decided he wanted to bring the entire cast back.

That posed a few challenges, to say the least. John Rampage, director of the final Nabors show, was busy directing "White Christmas" at Diamond Head Theatre.

"When I told Jim," White says, "he just looked at me and said, 'I guess you're it.' "

That sent White into a bout of extreme organization, unboxing the show's production notes and materials from storage, and sourcing a new cartoon image of Nabors in a Santa hat to be projected on the stage curtain, among myriad other details.

Nabors' knee replacement meant no "Ziegfeld Follies-style stairs" as were used in the past, White notes. To get what he calls "more real-estate" on stage, he worked with Wally White, set and props designer, to stack tiered levels for the musicians. They go straight up, topped by a house-high ledge for dancers.

"I've come to realize what a really gifted guy Burton is," Nabors says. "I have worked with the best around the world, and he is right up there with the best."

'GREAT ESCAPE'

White and Hawai'i Theatre's executive director, Sarah Richards, are both confident about the theater's outlook, despite the tough economic times.

White quotes his favorite mantra: " 'They call it showbiz, not show-art.' And by that I mean we need a balance between the business of theater and pleasing the audience."

Budgets are tight, but White says, "Sometimes when the economy goes down, ticket sales go up. Our shows provide a great escape."

A full house reinforces the theory that live theater can be a richer reward than other entertainment. Richards notes that the Hawai'i Theatre depends on rental programs for 80 percent of its business, "so Burton's first job is keeping the hall fully booked.

"Secondly, we present and produce shows like our successful Hana Hou series. (White) has a great ability to identify the artists and shows that will work. He understands our market, can negotiate contracts, stay within budgets and produce the shows," Richards says.

The shows range from classical ballet to Jack Johnson, productions that will draw a thousand or more ticket buyers for an audience. Richards says many Hawai'i are presented by nonprofit groups, as fundraising events.

White says he has grown by way of his experience in Hawai'i, where a multi-ethnic mix of people creates an opportunity to go outside the conventional box of entertainment experiences. "I have learned a lot of new tricks regarding communications with the challenge of language barriers," he says.

He and Richards have a running conversation about the direction of the theater. On the theater's behalf, they say they share a commitment to financial responsibility and future stability, as well as entertaining programming.