Kaneohe woman loved community theater

Sylvia Hormann-Alper, daughter of noted Hawaii sociologist Bernhard Hormann and known for her involvement in local theater, died Jan. 24 at her home in Kaneohe. She was 78.

Born May 27, 1939, in Honolulu, Hormann-Alper was a 1957 graduate of Roosevelt High School and attended Hiram College in Ohio.

She appeared in more than 60 stage productions and won Po‘okela awards for her favorite lead role as Maria Callas in Diamond Head Theatre’s 1998 production of “Master Class” and for featured actress in Hawaii Pacific University’s “The Constant Wife” in 2008. Her other notable performances include a meticulously detailed portrayal of Reba Frei- tag, a member of Atlanta’s prewar Jewish elite, in “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” at Manoa Valley Theatre in 2001, and as socialite and convicted killer Grace Bell For- tescue in Kumu Kahua Theatre’s landmark staging of “Massie/Kasahara” in 2004.

More recently, as a resident of Pohai Nani, she performed minimalist “reader’s theater” productions with director Vanita Rae Smith.

Professionally, Hormann- Alper was director of group sales for Consolidated Theaters for more than two decades and was a familiar sight as “the lady in the pink hat” who greeted thousands of moviegoers over the years.

An avid reader and cook, Hormann-Alper was active at Lutheran Church of Honolulu in Makiki, where she taught Sunday school.

She is survived by children Jennifer Hartl-Davis, Nick Hartl, Amy Hart and Emily Allen; siblings Nicholas and David Hormann, Pauline Jacroux and the Rev. Phyllis Hormann; and five grandchildren.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Feb. 17 at Pohai Nani, 45-090 Namoku St., Kaneohe. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to Hawaii Meals on Wheels or The Good Samaritans at Pohai Nani.