Localized Oz charms
but lands far over
the rainbowThe Wizard of Oz: Hawaiian Style
John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinPops Conductor Matt Catingub and the Honolulu Symphony do a fine job with the music, but "The Wizard Of Oz: Hawaiian Style" is a truncated parody of the beloved 1939 film version of L. Frank Baum's classic fantasy.
Fans of playwright Lisa Matsumoto's interchangeable "localized" rewrites of European-American fairy tales will find many familiar character types and comic bits recycled again.
Dorothy (Barbi Benton) is barely home from Oz when another tornado blows her to Hawaii. This time she takes the Lava Rock Road to Puka Shell City while dodging the Wicked Witch of the South (Cathy Foy-Mahi).
Benton plays Dorothy as the wholesome Kansas girl Judy Garland defined 60 years ago. Glenn Medeiros and Cecilio Rodriguez distinguish themselves as comic actors. Veteran actor Jimmy Borges is the smoothest of the pidgin-speaking performers. Stuart Chafetz skillfully juggles the roles of narrator and voice of Toto.
Emma Veary is the most impressive singer. Her delivery last night was exquisite, and she could be heard clearly even in the balcony.
But the Honolulu Boy Choir generally didn't project well upstairs, and Borges and Karen Keawehawai'i lost key bits of dialogue in the sound system. Keawehawai'i was a hit playing an abrasive caricature of herself.
The story stalls as Dorothy meets the Wizard (Rick Hamada) and throws water on the Wicked Witch. Hamada plugs his talk show, Didi Ah Yo comes out to help Dorothy go home, and Foy-Mahi returns in a slinky red gown to sing Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." The cast's rendition of "Over The Rainbow" wraps things up with more appropriate material.
