Theater’s history includes humble start, Hollywood star

‘5000 miles off Broadway." That’s how artistic director John Rampage described the third-oldest live theater company in the United States. Yes, we are way, way off Broadway but, in some ways, closer than you might think.

Founded in 1915 as the Footlights, Diamond Head Theatre is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

You may have attended a show at Diamond Head Theatre in the past. I saw "Spamalot" and "Mary Poppins" in the last few months. Both were excellent.

During World War II many mainland production companies shut down. But the Hono­lulu Community Theatre, as it was called beginning in 1932, refocused. Most of their performances would be to entertain the troops.

The Honolulu Community Theatre had begun in 1915 as the Footlights — a women’s group that mostly held readings of plays in their homes. Once or twice a year, they’d put on bigger productions at the old Opera House downtown (where the post office is today).

During World War II the group took on the immense task of entertaining the hundred thousand-plus military men and women who came to Hawaii. Their goal was to offer a play a month to all service personnel. To do this they put on hundreds of free performances.

The entertainment section of the Army even took them on the road to the Gilberts, Marshalls, Mari­anas, Palau and other islands in the Pacific.

One play, "Ten Nights in a Barroom," played to 18,865 servicemen and women in 21 performances held at Schofield Barracks, Pearl Harbor, Tripler Hospital, Red Hill, the Ewa Marine Barracks, Fort Shafter, Fort Weaver, Hickam and several other venues.

For the current Diamond Head Theatre to seat 18,865 patrons, it would take 365 performances in its 500-seat theatre.

One of the plays the HCT decided to produce was "Arsenic and Old Lace." Boris Karloff had starred in the play when it opened on Broadway in 1941. Sgt. Frederick Stover in Hawaii wrote to Karloff, asking him to send a photo so they could get the makeup right.

Instead, Karloff responded that he’d be happy to come to Hawaii and play the role himself. A phone call to the actor in Hollywood confirmed that he was not kidding, and the soldiers in Hawaii got to see the famous actor in the role he originated on Broadway.

While we tend to think that shows start on Broadway and years later end up in Hawaii, every now and then the opposite happens.

The HCT originated a play in Hawaii that, after the war, debuted on Broadway. The show was called "G.I. Hamlet" and was a variation on the Shakespeare play, set in modern military times.

Lead actor Maurice Evans called it the "Jeep Version" of Hamlet. Evans was the top Shakespearean actor in the U.S. During World War II he became a major in the Army and was put in charge of entertainment in the Pacific.

When "G.I. Hamlet" finished, 344 performances had been played, only three of which were to civilians.

When it moved to Broadway in 1945, the producer offered the Hawaii "G.I. Hamlet" cast the opportunity to perform there, and many of them did. Life magazine called it a "walloping good show which has lost none of Shakespeare’s poetry or power."

It played 131 performances — at the time a Broadway record for "Hamlet" — and then went on tour of the country.

The general public paid to attend HCT productions, and that money subsidized the soldiers. They were told that "when you buy a ticket, you are in effect taking at least 20 servicemen with you as your guests."

During the war years, HCT performances were seen by over 150,000 soldiers in the islands. It’s hard for me to grasp the magnitude of what this did for our servicemen’s morale.

Following the war, the Army wound down its activities at Fort Ruger. The Post Theater became available, and the HCT took on a 50-year lease beginning in 1952. Until then the group had never had a home of their own. They performed at 18 different venues in their first 37 years, not counting military bases.

In 1990 the name was changed a final time to Diamond Head Theatre.

Because we’re so far off Broadway, and therefore not seen as competition, many current Broadway shows have been allowed to play in Hono­lulu, such as "A Man for all Seasons" and "Teahouse of the August Moon." We’re the only community in the United States to be given such an honor.

Bob Sigall, author of the "Companies We Keep" books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.