COURTESY OF DONALD RANNEY JR.
Women get to fight with swords, too, in Leeward Community College Theatre's production of "The Three Musketeers." Pictured from top are Jason Gerken, Reb Beau Allen and Kat McCormick.
While laser pistol-wielding, saucer-eyed heroes and skyscraper-size robotic space jets would have seemed a bit over the top for this weekend's production of "The Three Musketeers" at Leeward Community College Theatre, director Paul Cravath believes the action-packed play's allusions to anime, or Japanese animation, won't go unnoticed nor unappreciated by audiences. New life for old tale
By Shawn "Speedy" Lopes
slopes@starbulletin.com"It's a huge production with sword fighting and over 60 characters with dance and music," he explains. "We have a tradition at this school of taking the classics and putting them in a contemporary setting, so there are a lot of modern and Japanese elements in it, but they're telling a classic French story."
The idea of sprucing up one of the most famous adventure stories of all time through the sensational visuals of anime came from costume designer Sami Akuna, whose imagination is possibly matched only by that of Honolulu club icon Cocoa Chandelier, his flamboyant alter ego.
"He's designing the costumes for it, and it just works so great. You really don't have to have very expensive period costumes to pull this off. We're very happy with the way it's evolving ... it's going to look totally amazing."
Although admittedly unconventional, Cravath says the concept was embraced immediately by cast and crew. "We work very much in a collaborative way, so when it was suggested that this be the concept in style, the set designer, Don Ranney, instantly said, 'Oh, that's great!' And the lighting designer, Sarah Whitehead, instantly went, 'Oh, that's wonderful!' Everybody was so taken with the idea the minute they heard it that I knew we were on the right track."
While largely faithful to the original tale, this production of "The Three Musketeers" includes nine females handling weapons on stage.
"We aren't too concerned with gender in terms of stage sword fighting," expounds Cravath. "In anime you already have the tradition of the female warrior."
"They are treated as regular combatants," adds award-winning fight choreographer Tony Pisculli, who has worked closely with the cast to achieve realistic swordplay sequences. "They're not in any way the traditional, demure female. They're fighting in the same style, with the same ferocity as the men."
Actual steel swords are used in the production, adding an element of thrill to the show.
"Aside from the fact that they are not sharp, they are real in every way," Pisculli reveals. "In fact, they can be quite dangerous as is, which is why we're going through massive training right now with everyone, not only to get them to look good with weapons in their hands, but to be able to use them safely."
"At first it was kind of scary," admits cast member Sandra Kam, who plays one of the Cardinal Richilieu's guards. "Especially being a girl and holding a sword all night -- that was really demanding. But we've been practicing so much since mid-September that we've learned a lot (about sword fighting). I think we're ready."
Where: Leeward Community College Theatre "The Three Musketeers"
When: 8 p.m. today and tomorrow, 4 p.m. Sunday, 10 and 8 p.m. Thursday to Nov. 16
Tickets: $15; $12 students, seniors and military
Call: 455-0385
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