The little orphan is back. Dickens’ classical story of pickpockets, petty larceny, and pretty songs with a chorus of children will be presented at Army Community Theater. You’ve got to love a show where Oliver’s mentor is a juvenile delinquent called “Artful Dodger”.
“Oliver” features music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. It has been a hit show on Broadway, in London, and on film. ACT’s version is directed by Stephanie Conching, with choreography by Grace Bell Humerickhouse and musical direction by Larry Cross.
Lead roles are being played by Lucas Cusick as Oliver, Michael Pa’ekukui as Fagin, Jennifer Sojot as Nancy, Peter Togawa as Bill Sykes, Chandler Bridgman as Dodger, and Bruce Smith as Mr. Bumble.
Others in the cast include: Amber Leonard, Rebecca Ramos, Katie Gray, Sue Koontz, Jennifer Falk Ruth Fearnow, Therse Crighton, Victoria Sprowls, Kristi Meechan, Winona Kiyabu, Elliott Kawahara, Al Paraso, Randall Galius, Jerrick Julio, Jeff Darger, Richard Bragdon, Joshua Lau, Ko Dee Martin, and Catlin Hatakeyama.
The “workhouse kids and Fagin’s boys” will be played by: Arianne Yago, Ronnie Allen Campman, Brandon Tiny Pave, AJ Humerickhouse, Cierra Lauro, Hailey Everett, Chance Bridgman, Chase Bridgman, Keith Dowsett, and Isaiah Graham.
Star, the famous Hawaii FIDO service dog, who appeared as Sandy in the ACT production of “Annie”, recently retired from show business and now works full-time as a highly trained canine service companion.
Her recent schedule included a conference in Park City, Utah where she fulfilled one of her Lassie fantasies by going on a hayride. After that she flew by private plane to her summer home in Lake Tahoe.
Reached by email, Star elaborated on her former life as a performer. One thing she learned was that theater was exciting but also very demanding. After reading the great notices that Maile the Scottie, received for the “Wizard of Oz”, Star believes dogs need their own actor’s union. “We can’t give these theaters a free romp anymore”, she said. “There should be dressing rooms instead of storerooms for us. Someone needs to give us more walks backstage so our caregivers can enjoy the shows. And when they extend the run of a production, there should be extra treats all around. And finally, make sure there’s a category for us at the Po’okelas.”
When I asked Star if cats would be included in this new union, she had no comment.
(Me & Star at Ben Parker Elementary School working with Special Ed students. Part of her service dog puppy training.)
Sometimes actors just like athletes can be superstitious. Not me of course. Although there was the time Edwin Booth came calling. I was in the play “Othello” at Kumu Kahua Theater playing Iago and one night quite impulsively I found myself making a gesture toward the heavens. It was a simple thing but for some reason my director was upset. After the play she came to me and said, “That moment you were raising your hand is not right. Iago wouldn’t do that”.
“How would you know,” I said, “ You’re not Iago”.
Now here’s where the legendary actor Edwin Booth makes his entrance. You see Booth was in Honolulu; it was over 150 years ago at a theater on King and Maunakea Street called The Royal Hawaiian. He was on tour and had come to the Sandwich Islands to perform Shakespeare. A few local actors were hired to fill out the cast.
But what does that have to do with Iago? All right, I’ll tell you. When I finished the run of the play, I was invited to Iolani School to discuss the production with students who had come to a performance. Since I was a teacher at that time I wanted to fill out my lecture with some anecdotes about the famous Booth acting family. That’s when I came across a fascinating piece of theater history. Apparently it was the custom to hand out prompt books or texts of the Shakespearian play being performed so that playgoers could follow along. One intrepid fan of Edwin Booth saw several performances of Booth in the role of Iago. And there in her prompt book she had meticulously marked each gesture and move he had made. And yes, in Act V, Scene 1 on Iago’s line, “This is the night that either makes me or fordoes me quite”, Booth does indeed point toward the heavens.
One acting teacher told me that you were like a shaman calling in the spirit of a character when you are on the stage. I like to think Edwin was roused one more time to lend a hand to a fellow actor.
Jim Hesse is a renaissance man living and breathing the life of theater in Hawaii.
I’ve long suspected he is actually William Shakespeare masquerading as a master of the marionette. We met in Hawaii doing “Midsummer Night’s Dream” for the Olde World’s Faire in 1982. It was a wonderful summer performing outdoors where we also did a children’s show called “The Crying Princess”.
Jim began his career in Ohio where he learned puppetry and his other loves, music and playing the piano. He traveled in the U.S. and Europe and by 1968 he was performing “Snow White” at Ala Moana Center.
Finally moving here in 1974, he did a shadow puppet show at U.H. called “Shrew” based on Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”. He went on to create “Broadway Puppets in Paradise” a spoof of great stars performed at Mama Mia’s in Puck’s Alley.
Along the way, he has been an assistant stage manager for HOT, hosted a classical music radio show, directed “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Romeo and Juliet” for Aloha Theater at Kainalu on the Big Island where he also designed sets, and was music manager at Barnes and Nobles.
When he was cast in “Taming of the Shrew” for Randall Duke Kim at Diamond Head Theater, the experience inspired him to create a reading group called “Shakespeare on Sunday” which currently meets at the Academy of Film and TV. Not only has the group read all the Bards play’s 4 times but also thanks to him I met my lovely wife Anne Marie at a play reading back when they were held at Barnes and Noble in Kahala Mall. I won her over reading Oberon, the king of all the fairies, from a “Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
If Jim’s not Shakespeare, he’s certainly his brother because he can be seen everywhere on stage and off-stage at the yearly Summer Shakespeare productions. You can also find him teaching a Dramatic Reading Course and Music Appreciation for Osher Lifelong Instruction for seniors. All that good will and generosity has come full circle because the Osher group is financing a fund for him to travel to London on their behalf next year.
It was an auspicious beginning to my night at the Summer Shakespeare production of “Henry V”. Sitting right in front of me was a young boy who had been my student in a production of “Scenes by Scenes by Shakespeare” which was part of the Castle Performing Arts Program. He played Laertes in “Hamlet the Circus”. We spoke briefly and I was thrilled that he came to watch the play.
In the darkness, the innovative Damned Spots Drum assemble and before us appears the Chorus (Erin SuJan Kim) wearing a trench coat. Looking very much like a model doing a photo shoot, she sets the stage. What follows is a confusing array of costumes: the court of King Henry favors the camouflage look while the French on the other hand had better designers and look more stylish. (The French sovereign has even taken a liking to Asian fashion.) The French just don’t have that rough and tumble look of the English. You learn that even though Henry’s men seem a disorderly lot who love to quarrel that they beat the French handily even though vastly outnumbered. Perhaps the French have better manners and know you’re not supposed to get your good clothes ruined.
Shakespeare has given us some wonderful comic characters for this play and the director (Tony Pisculli) has found able actresses to fit the bill. Betty Burdick is a stand out and completely disappears into the role of Pistol. Margaret McAleavey (Bardolph) is delightful. Ann Bradman had double duty as Nym and Alice and handled both effectively. And Gretchen Nilsen as Quickly, Governor, and Burgundy juggles them all with skill.
When the English army assembles in France, they look like something out of “Mad Max”. Ably led by Henry’s officer’s Eden-Lee Murry Jellinek (Gower) and Peggy Anne Siegmund (Fluellen), both actresses create loveable, eccentric characters. Charmaine L. Devera (Canterbury/Orleans) has a wonderful voice and stage presence that gives a glimmer of hope to the French side. And Elanor C. Svaton as Katherine, the daughter of the French King and Queen, is just what a princess should be.
The battle has a slapstick quality and the director wisely chooses slow motion to finish off the French.
The final scene is by far Elizabeth Wolfe (King Henry) most convincing as the English monarch. She’s much better as a suitor than a soldier. She convinced me with that crown and garment that she could indeed be the legendary King and no pretender to the throne. As a bonus there’s a kiss that could rival the one in a “The Thomas Crown Affair” and should not be missed.
It’s an entertaining evening where comedy is king and the queens fill the stage with aplomb.
