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Kennedy Theater
"No One Will Marry A Princess With A Tree Growing
Out Of Her Head" has enough substance for adults, too.

Kennedy musical
treat for all

No One Will Marry a Princess with a Tree Growing Out of Her Head: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday; Kennedy Theatre. Tickets $10; $8 for seniors, military and UH faculty and staff; $6 students and children; $3 UHM students with validated ID. Call 956-7655

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By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Wartsnitch "The Wicked and Nasty" (Joe Abraham) has doomed The Princess (Tara Melia Hunt) to spend eternity as a tree and only good wizard Gimlet (Moses Goods) can save her.

It takes help from the four winds, but Gimlet comes through and The Princess is saved as the UH-Manoa Department of Theatre and Dance opens the Kennedy Theatre Mainstage 2000-01 season with a charming musical for children.

Unlike most of the kiddie movies out each year, "No One Will Marry A Princess With A Tree Growing Out Of Her Head" has enough substance for adults to enjoy it as well.

Filling out the imaginative staging, there are several solid performances. Goods, one of the stand-outs in Kennedy Theatre's recent production of "The Summer Festival: A Mirror Of Osaka," gives another Po'okela Award-worthy performance as the resourceful wizard. Abraham distinguishes himself in a major supporting role as the evil Wartsnitch.

The winds are caricatures that seemed to appeal to keiki. The East Wind (Noelle Poole) is an obnoxious and abrasive geisha. Kids generally seem to enjoy rude characters. Poole was a big hit last Saturday.

The West Wind (Kelly Williams) is a ditsy cowgirl. The North Wind (Kelli Melson) and her spear-carrying attendants are spandex-clad Valkyries.

The South Wind (Stephanie Sanchez) is a southern belle who appears on stage riding a razor scooter. Sanchez, a Po'okela winner for her work in "The Princess And The Iso Peanut" has been a sparkplug in several recent UH-Manoa productions. She reaffirms her status as one of the most versatile young actresses in local theatre with her comic work here. Sanchez' big musical number, "Relax-i-fy," is the most entertaining song in the show. The kids loved her, too.

Each of the winds gives Gimlet and The Princess a gift and a riddle that must be solved if the two are to thwart Wartsnitch's plan. Kids -- and probably adults too -- will enjoy trying to solve the puzzle before Gimlet and The Princess do.

Director Tamara Hunt, mother of show lead Tara Hunt, does a great job in pacing the action to hold the attention of pre-teens. Those present Saturday seemed engaged in the story.

Credit Sandra Finney for the lush costumes, Kimo Moore (scenic designer) and Joseph D. Dodd (scenic design supervisor) for the tilted multilevel set, and Reinhardt Krekow (musical director), Gregg Lizenbery (choreography) and Stephen Crowell (lighting design) for some of the other components that make this show an excellent choice for anyone entertaining keiki this weekend.

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