HONOLULU THEATRE FOR YOUTH AND KUMU KAHUA
Janice Terukina, left, BullDog and Moses Goods III bring Christmas tales to life.
Christmas skits entertain
but sometimes miss mark
For some people, "talking story" about Christmas means reflecting on the birth of Jesus Christ. For others, the "holiday" season is all about materialism. Will they get all the presents they want? Several monologues in "Christmas Talk Story 2003" are about more substantive topics than greedy anticipation, but none mention Jesus. Others have little to do with Christmas at all.
Honolulu Theatre for Youth and Kumu Kahua are presenting this year's edition of "Christmas Talk Story," a "best of" show that recycles 17 monologues from the past four years. HTY artistic director Mark Lutwak directs three versatile actors -- BullDog, Moses Goods III and Janice Terukina -- who have ties to both groups. Goods and Terukina are doing the show for the first time and provide fresh takes on the familiar stories. A Hawaiian quartet led by Albert "Maka" Makanani Jr., make the musical component more substantial.
"Christmas Talk Story 2003," presented by Honolulu Theatre for Youth and Kumu Kahua at Tenney Theatre. Performances continue at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and 3:30 p.m. Sundays, through Dec. 21. Tickets are $16 adults, $12 students, $8 children. Call: 839-9885.
The actors maintain a high level of animated enthusiasm. They connected quickly with the kids last Saturday and held their attention through most of the monologues. Some of the stories stray from the show's theme, but local kids will be entertained by almost all of them.
Kids can't be blamed for thinking of Christmas in materialistic terms and "CTS 2003" is front-loaded with comic monologues about toys and other gifts. BullDog stars in Gary Tachiyama's "Cedric, the Now and Future Pain" as a self-centered kid who goes berserk with he receives a toy that doesn't meet his expectations. Goods does a great job in Jason Kanda's "The Giving Spirit of Christmas," addressing the dilemma of being forced to buy an anonymous gift for an obnoxious classmate.
The nadir of the show is reached with an unnecessary musical number, "Santa We've Been Good," a written-to-order Christmas song contest item, that has the threesome playing spoiled brats fighting each other for Santa's attention while lying about their behavior.
Other monologues are more substantive. Goods was a big hit in "The Year We Ate Brains," playing a kid whose father cooks up unusual fare on Christmas Eve. Goods also distinguished himself in Tachiyama's "The New and Improved, Better Than Even and Ever Super Cedric," as a problem child who decides to give his mother a reformed version of himself who knows "how for act and no get in trouble."
BullDog reprises his 2002 performance in "Hanuchriskwanzoban," an earnest parable of multi-culturalism in which newly arrived kids from Hong Kong, Japan, Israel and New Jersey, teach a local boy that some people don't celebrate Christmas. BullDog shows his skill with darker material as a street kid who ponders the possibilities of robbing Santa's sleigh in Lee A. Tonouchi's "Nah Santa, No Werry." There's a neat twist in the story and BullDog doesn't overplay it.
Several monologues contain subtle ideas that many kids may miss. Tonouchi's "Christmas, I No Get It" gently shares the message that a simple gift that brings family members together can be better than an expensive toy that's quickly broken or forgotten.
Darrell H.Y. Lum's "Firecracker Uncle" is more about our local New Year's Eve traditions than Christmas, but ends with the child narrator discovering that popping a small 500 pack with Dad can be more meaningful than enjoying a neighbor's larger display.
New Year's also provides the context for "Mama's Bad Luck" in which a woman sells the family couch so that she can buy lobsters for Grandma's New Year's Eve party but loses the money before she reaches the store.
Terukina stars in two monologues that have only tenuous links to the seasonal theme. "Rubba Slippa" celebrates the year-round uses of that basic local footwear. "I Am Thankful For" turns out to be about friendship, ukus (head lice), and the bonding that can occur when a parent is combing ukus out of a child's hair. It's entertaining, but there were many other monologues available from the four previous shows that deal much more directly with kids' Christmas-time experiences.
Parents who make the time to take the kids to see the full-length public performance of "Christmas Talk Story 2003" should consider buying the new "Christmas Talk Story" book, an anthology of 25 stories culled from the four previous shows. The book includes a CD of the 17 monologues in this year's show, as performed in years past, plus eight others. Kids who enjoy the show will enjoy the book and CD as well.
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