FOLKS YOU MEET IN LONGS

OUR PRODUCTIONS ARE SPONSORED IN PART BY THE FOLLOWING:

Kumu Kahua productions are supported in part by the NME Fund of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, the Island Insurance Foundation, The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawaiʻi, The AAPI Community Fund, The Richard Aadland Fund, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, Spectrum/Charter Communications, ABC Stores, the Gloria Kosasa Gainsley Fund, Hawaiʻi Public Radio, H. Hawaii Media, Simply Storage, The Kim Coco Fund for Justice of the Iwamoto Family Foundation, Vacations Hawaiʻi, Zippy’s Restaurants, Hawaiian Electric, Edric Sakamoto, Ron and Rachel Heller, Lenard and Charlotte Chow, Hawaiʻi Conservatory of Performing Arts at Windward Community College, and other foundations, businesses, and loyal patrons.

LEE CATALUNA,
PLAYWRIGHT

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Born and raised on Maui, Lee Cataluna’s stories reflect the cultural acuity of an artist who grew up in an international crossroads. Her work is often uproariously funny, deeply emotional, and tightly wrought. Her plays include commissions from Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and San Francisco Playhouse. Her play Heart Strings premiered off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater in 2022. Her play Home of the Brave has been produced in schools across the country, and other scripts have had dozens of performances in Hawai‘i. Her work has twice been supported by NEA grants. Books include Ordinary ‘Ohana and Flowers of Hawai‘i, an anthology of plays. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside. She is of Native Hawaiian descent and lives in Honolulu.

PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTES

This play has been produced and remounted several times at Kumu Kahua. It has played at UH Hilo (with a huge cast!), Leeward Community College, and Punahou School. It was read at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and in Halawa prison. It is published as a book that has managed to stay in print close to 20 years and is taught in high schools and universities. It was on the list of 50 Best Books about Hawai‘i by Honolulu Magazine. I think one reason this script has endured is because it has strong roots. I had a lot of help with the very first production here at Kumu Kahua, which greatly shaped the collection of monologues, and I am so grateful to that director and that entire team for putting their mana into these characters and giving them life. Much love Keith and the OG Longs crew. Mahalo to every artist who has been part of this play's journey.

ALVIN CHAN,
DIRECTOR

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Alvin Chan is an educator, actor, playwright, director, and designer from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. He has worked as an actor and director in New York, Chicago, Washington, DC; and Japan, and was an artistic associate at Honolulu Theatre for Youth from 2011 – 2018. Alvin is a former recipient of Theatre Communications Group’s Fox Acting Fellowship, which allowed him to study traditional theatrical forms in China and Japan. He holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and an MFA in directing from Northwestern University.

For KKT, Alvin’s acting credits include Yew’s A Language of Their Own, Pak’s A Rice Paper Airplane, Smith’s All That Remains, Yamanaka’s Saturday Night at the Pāhala Theatre, and Tonouchi’s Echoes of Dat Red Guitar. Costume design credits include Tea, Mahalo Las Vegas, Kāmau, Cockadoodledoo, Ulua: The Musical, and Saturday Night at the Pāhala Theatre. Longs is Chan’s directing debut for KKT.

DIRECTOR'S NOTES

I came home to Hawai‘i from Chicago during the first year of the pandemic, right before the two-week lockdown. I remember being so scared to go outside. But one has to buy groceries. One needs to find toilet paper. And when the big oval cans of sardines in tomato sauce goes on sale at Longs… you just gotta mask up and chance um. I remember biking down to the Longs on King and Victoria, hoo was so different. I’d never seen so many tents and stolen shopping carts lining King Street. I locked up my bike, and took the seat off to go inside. When I got up to the cashier, the lady asked me, “why you take off your bike seat?” I told her, “Aunty, people steal more than just your seat if you no watch um.” She sighed and said, “Tings not da same dese days.”

We used to bike around neighborhoods and leave our bikes against the side of a tree to go play at the park. We used to be able to go into the park bathroom and not worry about being assaulted. And we used to have conversations with people. We don’t do that anymore.

To me, this play is canon as far as local Hawai‘i theatre is concerned. But it’s not how things are today. You don’t meet people in Longs, or any other store for that matter. Maybe that needs to change… if the mullet can make a comeback, why can’t human interaction?

Brandon Hagio was last seen at KKT as Father in Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers. His other credits include Gone Feeshing, Lucky Come Hawaii (KKT), The Taming of the Shrew (HSF), Blue (KKT), Oriental Faddah and Son (WCC), Hawai'i Nō Ka ‘Oi: A Sakamoto Celebration (UHM), Sganarelle (HSF), The Underneath (WCC) as well as The Untitled TMT Project and Aloha Attire (KKT) He received Po‘okela Awards for Lead Actor in Da Beer Can Hat and Oriental Faddah and Son. Brandon has also assistant directed Rolling the R’s (KOA), Hedda Gabler (HSF), and Wild Birds (KKT). Currently, Brandon is the Emerging Island Educator for the Hawai‘i Conservatory of Performing Arts and a Lecturer of Theatre at both Windward and Leeward Community College.

Alysia-Leila Kepa‘a was most recently seen in Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers at KKT. Credits include iHula (PTW),  Oriental Faddah and Son (PTW), Demigods Anonymous (PTW), and The Taming of the Shrew (HSF). Alysia studied abroad at the East 15 Acting School at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom.

Cori Matsuoka was last seen in Dance Dance Dance (UH Kennedy Theatre). Her credits include Hawaiʻi Nō Ka ʻOi: A Sakamoto Celebration (UH Kennedy Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (HSF), Both Your Houses (HSF) and Lucky Come Hawai‘i (KKT). Cori holds a BA in Anthropology from UH Mānoa.

Darryl Soriano graduated from Moanalua High School. Her credits include Chinee, Japanee, All Mix Up (UHM), TheWatcher of Waipuna (KKT), and 38 Minutes (KKT).

Dawn Gohara is returning to the KKT stage where she previously played Nadine in Folks You Meet in Longs in 2003 and 2011. Her credits at KKT include Twelf Nite O Whateva, Da Kine Space, Kāmau and Kāmau Aʻe.

Jason Kanda graduated from Whitman College with a BA in Theatre. His recent stage credits include Darling Sonya (OAS/Oahu Fringe), Things I Donʻt Tell You (Peiling Kao Dances), An Oak Tree (KOA), Hedda Gabler (HSF), and Boy (TAG). Jason received a Poʻokela Award for his role in Joker (KKT/UHM). As a director, his credits include #haoleboyfriend (KKT), Pack of Lies (AMG), and Much Ado About Nothing (HSF). Jason is the creator and host of the popular KKT series The Work.

Jonathan Reyn graduated from Radford High School and he holds an Associates Degree from Leeward Community College. KKT credits include #haoleboyfriend and Lovey Lee. Other credits include Much Ado About Nothing (HSF), Rolling the Rʻs (KOA), and Folks You Meet in Longs (LCC).

Juvy Lucina has an Associates Degree from Windward Community College. Her theatre credits include a Po‘okela Award for leading female in She Kills Monsters (LCC). Other acting credits are Demigods Anonymous (PTW), Other Desert Cities (TAG), other: a microstory (KKT),

As You Like It (HSF), and Men on Boats (KOA). Juvy participated in two films, Made of Honor and The Dilemma. She was an Irene Ryan Candidate in 2017 and 2018.

Leleaʻe “Buffy” Kahalepuna-Wong hails from Kaimukī and was last seen in iHula (PTW). Recent stage credits include Blue (KKT), The Conversion of Kaʻahumanu (KKT), #haoleboyfriend (KKT), Untitled TMT Project (KKT), Lovey Lee (KKT), Fa‘alavelave “The Interruption” (KKT), ‘Au‘a ‘Ia: Holding On (UHM) and Ua Pau (It is Finished, Over, Destroyed) (KKT) and The Watcher of Waipuna (KKT). She has won multiple Po‘okela Awards for her performances over the years.

Thoren Lagaʻali Black graduated from Wai‘anae High School and attended Leeward Community College. His acting credits include Faʻalavelave “The Interruption” (KKT), Pakalolo Sweet (KKT), She Kills Monsters (LCC), Dark and Stormy Knight (LCC) and Richard III (LCC).

Kris10 Misaki is a graduate of Pearl City High School and studied theatre at Leeward Community College. Her recent credits include Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers, Aloha Fry-Day, and Aloha Attire (KKT), Twelfth Night and As You Like It (HSF), The Secret in the Wings and Folks You Meet in Longs (LCC), and The Epic Voyage of Kāne‘āpua (PTW). She received a Po‘okela Award for Featured Female in a Play for Folks You Meet in Longs.

Wil Kahele (Assistant Director) has worn many hats at KKT including actor, director, office manager, and playwright.  His acting credits include works at DHT, MVT, ACT, and TAG as well as work in films, commercials, and voiceovers. Two of his plays, Living Room and Blue, have been produced at KKT.

Wayne Paʻakaula (Stage Manager) has worked as a Stage Manager on many productions at Kumu Kahua Theatre over the past 20 years. He’s also been involved as an actor playing the role of Uncle in Lee Cataluna’s Uncle’s Regularly Scheduled Garage Party Is Cancelled Tonight!”He’s very happy to be a part of live theatre once again.

Brian Lee Sackett (Set and Lighting Design) has been involved in Hawai‘i theatre for 20-plus years. He has worked in every facet of theatre, other than playwriting, which he is quick to admit is beyond his skill set.

Stu Hirayama (Sound Design) has several designs to his credit for KKT including Whatever Happened To John Boy Kihano?, Hostage Wife, The Songmaker’s Chair, and Tea. As an actor, Stu has worked for many theatres, including in Lucky Come Hawai‘i (KKT), God of Carnage (MVT), and The Zoo Story (TAG).

Iris Kim (Costume Designer) Iris started sewing when she was 5 years old and began designing and constructing costumes when her oldest child got involved in theater 12 years ago. She has worked on productions at Manoa Valley Theatre, Diamond Head Theatre, Hawaii Shakespeare Festival, Kumu Kahua Theatre, Windward Community College and was the Assistant Costume Shop Manager at Kennedy Theatre at UH Manoa. She is currently the costume designer at Honolulu Theatre for Youth.

Sara Ward (Properties Design) has designed props for almost every theatre on Oʻahu. Her favorite shows she’s worked on include Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Jamarama), Fiddler on the Roof (HPU), Seussical (DHT), The King and I (ACT), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (MVT), The Rocky Horror Show (MVT),  Aloha Las Vegas (KKT), and Wild Meat and The Bully Burgers (KKT) . Sara has received four Po‘okela awards for her prop work, and in  2019 she received the  Hawaiʻi State Theatre Council Pierre Bowman Award. Sara is a member of the full-time professional staff at Kumu Kahua Theatre as the Office Manager.

THEATRE ABBREVIATIONS

Army Community Theatre: ACT
The ARTS at Marks Garage: AMG
All the World's a Stage: ATWAS
Central Theatre Arts Academy: CTAA
Diamond Head Theatre: DHT
EVOLVE Theatre Company: ETC
Hawaiian Mission Houses: HMH
Hawai‘i Opera Theatre: HOT
Hawai‘i Pacific University: HPU
Hawai‘i Shakespeare Festival: HSF
Honolulu Theatre for Youth: HTY
Iona Contemporary Dance Theatre: IONA
Kaimukī High School: KHS
Kumu Kahua Theatre: KKT
KOA Theater: KOA
Kīpuka Theatre: KT
Leeward Theatre: LCC
Mid-Pacific Institute: MPI
Mānoa Valley Theatre: MVT
‘Ohana Arts: OA
Open Home Performance Network: OHPN
‘Ōhi‘a Productions: OP
On the Spot: OTS
Performing Arts Center of Kapolei: PACK
PlayBuilders of Hawai‘i: PBH
Palikū Theatre: PTW
The Actors’ Group: TAG
University of Hawai‘i Mānoa: UHM
Windward Community College (Palikū): WCC

KUMU KAHUA THEATRE
2022-2023

Managing Director: Donna Blanchard
Artistic Director: Harry Wong III
Office Manager: Sara Ward
Box Office Associates: Alyson Wong, Kathy Dombrigues & Victoria Amara

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President: Marcus Oshiro
Vice President: Dann Seki
Treasurer: Adam Huttler
Recording Secretary: Denise-Aiko Chinen
Mark Kalahele
Jason Kanda
Karen Kaulana
Brook Lee
Annie Macapagal
Tony Pisculli
John H. Y. Wat
Victoria Wei