Monthly Archives: November 2014

Giving Tuesday 2014!

GivingTuesdaylogo-Education

“We have a day for giving thanks. We have two for getting deals. Now, we have #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to giving back. On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, charities, families, businesses, community centers, and students around the world will come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give.” ~ GivingTuesday.org

HOT will be a part of #GivingTuesday this year!  Stay tuned!

Get HOT this Spring!

3 Packin

The Opera Three Pack is now available!

Enjoy the epic slate of operas we have ready for you this Spring!  You are sure to love Wagner’s classic The Flying Dutchman (Feb.), Dove’s modern Siren Song (Mar.), & Sondheim’s killer Sweeney Todd (Apr.).

HOT is offering you the opportunity to experience all three Operas for as little as $85 and savings of up to 30% (on our highest priced tickets).

To purchase your Opera 3 Pack, buy online here, call the HOT Box Office at 808.596.7858, or download the order form here and mail to:

HOT Box Office / 848 S. Beretania Street, Suite 303 / Honolulu, HI 96813

Get HOT this Spring!

Opera Ball Highlights – GenHOT!

An exciting new energy filled the air of this year’s Opera Ball!  It was GenHOT!  Mahalo to the very hard-working committee and the generous donors who came together and made the GenHOT experience a reality!

Many thanks to Megan Takagi and her team for helping to create “Generation HOT” (or “GenHOT” – like GenX only HOTer!)  This wonderful group of young arts supporters & opera enthusiasts were tasked with their own fundraising so as to allow the next generation to attend Opera Ball.  And what a ball they had!

Enjoy this pic below reenacting their own version of HOT’s upcoming season finale, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd.  If you are interested in learning more about GenHOT, please call HOT at (808) 596-7372 or email development@hawaiiopera.org.

GenHOT Group Photo

Pictured

First Row –  Kaulana Chang, Ryan Sweeney, Jeffrey Knox, Jennifer Knox, Rebecca Ramos, Lacey Justinger, Andrew Strand
Second Row – Rachel Gibson, Jeff Pauker (HOT Board Member), Kristin Pauker, McKibbin Mist, Sasha Capone, Taea Takagi-Jones, Aaron Lo, Tee Phan, Christina Maffei, Michelle Garcia, Anna Smolentzov, Shaaroni Wong
Back Row – Ryan Markham, Lindsay Mist, Megan Takagi (GenHOT Co-Chair), Kirk Mueller, Grant Jones (GenHOT Co-Chair), Kenneth Byrne, Vince Monaco, Reed Bowman
Not pictured –  Natalie Banach (Co-Chair), Juliet Johnson-Moore Matsumura, Karen Vance, Nadege Hickman, Megan Mount

The GenHOT Committee

Natalie Banach (Co-Chair), Grant Jones, (Co-Chair), Tee Phan, Lauren Williams, Luke Williams, Juliet Johnson-Moore Matsumura, Ryan Markham, Megan Mount, Reed Bowman, Megan Takagi (Co-Chair), Taea Takagi-Jones 

GenHOT Supporters 

Gene Castagnetti, Jack & Janet Gillmar, John & Helen Gillmor, Joshua & Joanna Habermann, Mark & Diane Hastert, Lynne Johnson & Randy Moore, Nancy Jones, Kiyomi Lueck, Betty McCoy, Marita Nelson, George & Joan Owens, Scott Settle, Settle Law, John H. & Sigrid Southworth, David and Lee Takagi, Gail Takagi, Verne & Debra Takagi

 

HOT Opera Ball 2014 – Gorgeously Gothic!

It was a wonderful evening this past weekend at The Modern Hotel for HOT’s biggest fundraiser of the year, The Gorgeously Gothic Sweeney Todd Opera Ball!  Long known as ‘The Best Party in Town,’ this year’s Opera Ball did not disappoint and was a great experience for all!  Many thanks to our hard-working Ball Committee for guiding this all together!

Enjoy but a few of the many highlights from that evening here!

‘Pared-down ‘Pirates’ is perfect for keiki’ by John Berger / Star-Advertiser

Generations of Americans have grown up thinking of opera as the cliche of arcane and stuffy, the domain of “fat ladies” screaming in foreign languages. Erik Haines, director of education at Hawaii Opera Theatre, hopes that HOT’s Opera Express production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “The Pirates of Penzance” will show Hawaii keiki — and perhaps a few of their parents, too — that opera can be fun.

“This (show)may be one of the friendliest ways to go get involved in the world of opera,” Haines said recently. You have a very light comedy which we’ve shortened from 21/2 hours to 40 minutes or so, and (the audience) gets to sing opera, too, and participate, so it doesn’t have to be this foreign thing with giant ladies with horns yelling as loud as they can. It’s ‘you can do this.’ It has the potential to be 45 minutes of good fun.”

“Pirates” follows the misadventures of a young Englishman named Frederic, who was apprenticed by accident to a group of pirates. Frederic’s apprenticeship ends on his 21st birthday, and so he is footloose and fancy-free when he meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley. It’s love at first sight until Frederic discovers that he was born on Feb. 29 on a leap year and, technically, has only had five birthdays. Since his apprenticeship to the pirates ends on his 21st birthday, he must remain with them for another 63 years! Mabel promises to wait for him.

Haines said that condensing the show from two acts to one takes “a great deal of fun and ingenuity.”

“We try to maintain the main part of the story, of course. We get rid of characters that we don’t really need, and we try to make sure that we include all the hit tunes in the show. Those are our main criteria,” he said.

Matthew Walker plays Frederic and Major-General Stanley. John Gruhler is the Pirate King. Marlise Ahuna and Erin Winker Fasone play multiple supporting roles. Seven members of the audience will join them on stage; two will play pirates, two police, two will be Mabel’s sisters, and the seventh will be a prisoner. Everyone in the audience will be encouraged to sing along.

“We usually pick a couple of the more memorable tunes from the show that the audience can pick up easily. We’ll go through the music with them before the show starts — they get to sing along and be part of the show.”

A free study guide with background information, suggestions for story-related activities, and the lyrics of the songs are available at www.hotpirates.weebly.com.

‘THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE’
Presented by Hawaii Opera Theatre:
Where: Hawaii Theatre
When: 6 PM Wednesday, November 9
Cost: $10, children under 4 free
Info: www.hawaiitheatre.com or 528-0506
Note: The show is recommended for grades K through 8.