JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Alvin Chan, center, gave a crowd-pleasing performance as "the baby of the family" in Honolulu Theatre for Youth's "The Magical Bird: A Fabulous Filipino Folk Tale" at Tenney Theatre on Thursday. Chan plays a Filipino prince named Bing Bing who must go into the jungle and find the magical Ibong Adarna bird after his older brothers, Bing Bong and Ding Dong, fail to return. M. Kala'i Stern is King Fernando; he also provides the music. Kristian Lei animates the large blue bird puppet and provides the bird's beautiful voice. Chan's carabao steed was designed by David Minkoff to have the look of a Filipino jitney taxi. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Cast members Kevin G. Agtarap, left, and D. Omar Williams enjoyed the opening night party for the Actors Group production of "Romance" on April 12. Agtarap is memorable as an attorney hard pressed to defend his arrogantly ethnocentric client. Williams provides most of the titular "romance" in the show with his portrayal of the prosecutor's flamboyant boyfriend. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
TAG cast member Stu Hirayama was congratulated by assistant director Loren K.D. Farmer. Hirayama makes an impressive debut at TAG playing a judge struggling to hear a case despite having overdosed on allergy meds. CLICK FOR LARGE

JOHN BERGER / JBERGER@STARBULLETIN.COM
"Romance" director David C. Farmer, left, chatted with Leila Abuzalaf and cast member Maseeh Ganjali. Ganjali, a versatile actor, plays the defendant, a Jewish chiropractor with a plan for lasting peace in the Middle East. He portrayed an Iraqi civilian in "The Last Outpost," a racist American solider in "To US with Aloha and Mabuhay" and an assortment of characters in several other challenging productions. What's next? CLICK FOR LARGE