Sondheim show goes on

Two of the best-known sayings in theater are "The show must go on" and "Break a leg!" The first one is self-explanatory. The second is a way of wishing a performer good luck without tempting fate.

 

Jade Stice experienced "the show must go on" in a big way when she made her community theater debut in a 1989 production of the musical "13 Daughters" at the Hawaii Theatre. She broke her ankle at a party and ended up doing the show — including her big dance number, "Puka Puka Pants" — with her left leg in a cast.

 

"The look on (director) Joe Layton’s face when I showed up with a cast was not awesome," Stice said. "Fortunately the broken foot worked for my tomboy character! We worked it into my ‘Puka Puka Pants’ number, and it was a hit. I was never sure if the audience was applauding me or the fact that I had a cast on — ignorance is bliss." She went on to recall, "I had the cast removed early so that I could do a few performances without it. What a mistake. To this day, that ankle gives on me all the time."

"13 Daughters" was the start of a career that took Stice to New York and included two lengthy runs in the Broadway production of "Miss Saigon." In the years that followed, she returned to Hawaii from time to time — starring with Guy Merola and Matthew Pederson in Diamond Head Theatre’s 2001 production of "Chess," and appearing as the American wife, Ellen, in "Miss Saigon" opposite Brittany Browning (Kim) and Michael Bright (Chris) at Paliku Theatre in 2008.

 

By the time she did "Miss Saigon" at Paliku, Stice was married, had had her first child, and was making a transition out of theater. When she returned to Hawaii with her growing family several years later, theater wasn’t part of the picture. ("This is my season in life to focus on my family, their first years are so important!" she explained parenthetically.) In addition to her children — she now has three — Stice has a license to sell real estate, teaches natural childbirth, manages a parenting support group and sells Terra Essential oils.

 

It’s a full life, but Stice is coming out of retirement this month to do Tom Holowach’s production of "Side by Side by Sondheim," a musical revue of several dozen Stephen Sondheim songs, for two weekends at Paliku Theatre.

 

"Side by Side" is being presented in tribute to the late Ron Bright, a teacher, life coach and inspiration for several generations of island entertainers. Stice will be sharing the stage with Holowach and three other veteran performers: Shari Lynn, Kip Wilborn and Kim Anderson.

 

Stice, who started doing shows with Bright when she was in the sixth grade and continued through high school, remembers him as a teacher who expected everyone — from the leads to the chorus line to the stagehands — to always do their best.

 

"I’ve carried that with me throughout my life," Stice said. "’Always do your absolute best.’"

 

Although the Paliku Theatre production is a "show must go on" project for Holowach — plans for a previously scheduled fall production were shelved after Bright’s death in July, and Holowach put this one together in barely five weeks — it is even more so for Stice. Holowach called her after rehearsals were already in progress. A cast member had to be replaced. Could she step in?

 

She did.

 

"I was honored to be asked," Stice said, modestly downplaying the situation she was getting herself into. "A show that had about two weeks to rehearse? Sure! I have a new baby, two older kids, three jobs — let’s do a show! I love a challenge! The greatest challenge is that I am still nursing my 8-month-old baby, (but) the cast has been supportive of having a little guy at all the rehearsals. I just wear him and sing and do my blocking with him strapped to me. He likes to sing along with us, so it works out."

 

Stice adds that despite the complications that came with doing "Side by Side," it’s a show she felt compelled to do.

 

"This is very healing for me," she said. "People grieve in many different ways. For me, this is the one way that I can honor (Bright) and his legacy.

 

"What better way to honor this man than to pull off a nearly impossible task of doing this show in record time, and with consummate professionals? Every time I step into the theater or on that stage, I know he is still with me."