FRIDAY-JUNE 25
Play focuses on key figures in isles’ history
Hawaii’s post-contact culture comes to life in the play “Muses of Hawaii,” premiering Friday at Oahu Cemetery.
Written by Zachary Thomas Woods and directed by William Ha‘o, “Muses” brings to life five influential figures who played key roles in creating or preserving traditional Hawaiian knowledge and practice.
Emma Nakuina (1847-1929), curator of the Hawaiian National Museum under King Kalakaua’s reign, was the first woman to hold such a position in Hawaii. She also wrote books about ancient Hawaiian water policies and Hawaiian legends.
Thomas Thrum (1842-1932), a bookstore proprietor, started producing the Hawaiian Almanac and Annual, commonly known as Thrum’s Annual, in 1875 and published several volumes on Hawaiian legends and heiau.
Nathaniel Emerson (1839-1915) also wrote about Hawaiian legends and hula.
Cultural figures will also be featured, such as musician Johnny Noble (1892-1944), who in the early 1900s played a key role with Sonny Cunha in the creation and promotion of hapa haole music, and playwright Ethel Moseley Damon (1883-1965), whose plays include “The Romance of Reality: A Historical Play in Two Acts.”
The play is the latest in Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives’ Cemetery Pupu Theatre series, which has presented plays like “Tales from the Sea,” pictured.
Where: Oahu Cemetery, 2162 Nuuanu Ave.
When: 5 p.m. today, Saturday and June 24-25
Cost: $50, includes pupu and two drink tickets
Info: missionhouses.org or 447-3926. Reservations required.
THURSDAY-JUNE 26
Fischer coming to Blue Note Hawaii
Lisa Fischer, whose life as a session singer for top rock stars was detailed in the Oscar-winning film “Twenty Feet From Stardom,” brings her powerful vocals and inspiring story to Blue Note Hawaii.
Fischer sang backup for Melba Moore, Luther Vandross and other vocalists before recording a solo album, “So Intense,” in 1991, winning a Grammy for the single “How Can I Ease the Pain.” She preferred to remain in the background, however, singing background for the likes of Tina Turner, Chaka Khan and Nine Inch Nails. Since 1989 she has toured with the Rolling Stones, gaining notice for her duets with Mick Jagger on “Gimme Shelter.”
Her story in “Twenty Feet From Stardom,” a film about background singers, propelled her toward a solo career, where she has won great acclaim. “Ms. Fischer, with her band Grand Baton, is a mischievous free spirit unencumbered by the responsibilities, including the glamorous image-making, that go with pop stardom,” wrote The New York Times’ Stephen Holden after a concert last year. “She brought down the house in the single best show I’ve seen in the many years I’ve visited Birdland.”
Where: Blue Note Hawaii, Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort, 2335 Kalakaua Ave.
When: 6:30 and 9 p.m. Thursday-June 26
Cost: $29.75-$55
Info: bluenotehawaii.com or 777-4890
SUNDAY
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Honolulu will sing a range of tunes
There may be no more appropriate event to take in this weekend then Sunday’s Gay Men’s Chorus of Honolulu’s concert. The chorus will bring a message of hope and inclusiveness to the Hawaii Theatre with a diverse program of tunes.
“We have songs from the big-band and swing eras, through TV theme songs, like ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘The Golden Girls’ and ‘Star Trek,’” said chorus spokesman James Ramos. “We have some Broadway tunes that we’ll be performing as well, and some Hawaiian-themed music.”
The 30-member chorus includes a diverse group of men from “all walks of life and all ages, from 20 up to 70,” said Ramos, adding that while all members “identify as male” — there was a transgender member last year — not all are gay. “We just ask that they accept the mission of the chorus.”
The chorus started four years after the Men’s Chorus of Honolulu disbanded. Former members of that group organized a new chorus, including gay as part of the organization’s identity, because “for as much advances as the gay movement has experienced, there’re still a lot of struggles both on a public and an individual level,” Ramos said. “We want to let the community know about our positive contributions to the community.”
Where: Hawaii Theatre
When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday
Cost: $20-$50
Info: hawaiitheatre.com or 528-0506
MONDAY
Reading of ‘Colored Museum’ honors play’s 30th anniversary
Celebrate Juneteenth — the commemoration of the official end of slavery — with “The Colored Museum,” an exploration of the struggles and celebrations of African-Americans.
Premiering 30 years ago, “The Colored Museum” has been playwright George C. Wolfe’s “most controversial play,” said Jeanne Wynne Herring, pictured, of Excellence Happens, a local group that will stage a reading of the play. “There were people who loved it. There were people who hated it because it is a very offensive play, if you perceive it that way.”
The play consists of 11 vignettes — akin to works in a museum — that represent African-Americans’ experiences. The first vignette, called “Get on Board,” has Africans sitting in first class on an airplane to America. “‘Welcome to the slave ship!’ This is how we start the show,” said Herring. “It’s satire, but the idea is to get to the crux of the idea that our ancestors’ identity was taken away from us when they were brought over as slaves, and ever since then black culture has been trying to recover that identity.”
The performance is part of a project by Project1VOICE, a New York-based organization that is presenting the play in 40 locales across the nation, insisting on a large, ethnically correct cast, to represent the broad scope of African-Americans’ experiences.
“We have about 20 local actors who are African-American or who are of African descent in this show, and they’re talented, they’re passionate, they’re amazing. On top of that, we have four African-American directors,” said Herring, who is directing three vignettes herself. Also directing are Lillian Jones, Twan Mathews and Lymari Graciono.
Where: Honolulu Museum of Art, Doris Duke Theatre
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday
Cost: $15-$35
Info: honolulumuseum.org or 532-6097
———
TICKER: Everybody will be kung fu fighting at the Honolulu Museum of Arts’ Family Sunday. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. honolulumuseum.org
