I have been rather busy lately and I fear the quality of my blog entries has been suffering. I am helping to produce a world premiere piece that will debut in 3 weeks so right now I am embroiled in program book layouts, marketing and donor reception planning. Since I won’t make a cent from any subsequent touring it might do, I don’t feel any conflict promoting it a bit here.
I do feel a little conflicted though about the fact the show is based on a Hawaiian legend after I have bemoaned the lack of originality in new shows these days. On the other hand, there aren’t any major works outside of Children’s Theater shows based on Hawaiian myths so the stories are due a little recognition. Second, the style of the performance pretty much requires it be a traditional story.
Also I am damned proud to be associated with it. We filmed a commercial two weeks ago and I was astounded at how far along the show was at 5 weeks out.
The story itself is pretty recognizable. Two lovers of different classes are transformed into flowers for engaging in a forbidden relationship. These particular plants, the Naupaka, only bloom in semi-circle flowers so the tradition is to get a flower from the mountains and a flower from the seaside and bring them together to form a full bloom.
The execution of the show is the interesting part. We are billing it as a contemporary Hawaiian opera because it has that feel and scope and will be rendered entirely in Hawaiian with English supertitles. There is a lot more dance and movement than you will find in opera. The dance encompasses modern, ballet and pōhuli.
Pōhuli refers to hula inspired dance. Because of the great respect the company has for the traditional Hawaiian dance form, they are very clear about the fact that they do not do hula. An eminent Hawaiian scholar chose the word pōhuli, which actually refers to a new shoot on a banana plant, as the term to use for hula inspired off shoots.
The musical elements are a mix of traditional and contemporary as well and includes Hawaiian slack key guitar, flamenco guitar, violins, bass alongside the traditional ‘ipu heke and chanters.
I will tell you right now. Hawaiian chant will give any other language a run for its money in opera when it comes to creating a powerful mood or atmosphere. The hair on your arms will stand up when some of the adepts perform. If anyone was at Wolf Trap this past weekend to see Halau o Kekuhi, you can probably attest to this fact.
The set will be very contemporary with flowing fabrics and projected images creating time and place to make the set easily tourable.
If you are interested in learning more you can check out our website which includes set sketches. Wait about a day and we will have an informational guide available for download about the Hawaiian cultural elements present in the show.