Musical Theatre in Hawaii

For those who've never seen a musical before, you should really take the opportunity to! Sure, this is not Broadway and the streets are not lined up with marquees, but there are several theatres that really showcase the best of Hawaii's musical theatre talent, ranging from the most prepared school students to the refined adult professionals.

The two that seem to generate the most buzz around Hawaii's musical theatre scene are the two independent community ones:

Diamond Head Theatre
Manoa Valley Theatre

Diamond Head Theatre tends to deal with ensemble musicals while Manoa Valley Theatre tends to delve into musicals with small casts (due to stage size, audience size, budget, etc.)

The two college ones:

Paliku Theatre
John F. Kennedy Theatre

Paliku generally deals with large musical shows (Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, etc.), while John F. Kennedy Theatre hardly does musicals and usually showcases plays, dance concerts, and Asian repertoire.

There are other theatres such as Kumu Kahua and Hawaii Theatre, although those usually produce plays. And I was never really into the "straight" play scene. Singing and dancing just seem too much of a value to give up in a production! Especially when you have so many amazing singers and dancers in Hawaii.

There are also high school performing art centers, although they usually only allow high schoolers to audition (with some being an exception, although those require Alumni-status).



P.S. There is always Neil Blaisdell for their stunning Broadway national tours, but those are very professional and usually come only every once or twice a year.