'OHI'A PRODUCTIONS This season's Christmas production at Ala Moana CenterStage is based on Lisa Matsumoto's "The Christmas Gift of Aloha," illustrated by Michael Furuya.

Santa’s elf learns
from menehune

A surprising, albeit very welcome, message is contained in "The Christmas Gift of Aloha," this year's seasonal production at Ala Moana Center. Some shows in years past have hinted that there might be something more to Christmas than mall madness and conspicuous consumption, but playwright Lisa Matsumoto doesn't mince words in this colorful 30-minute production: Christmas is not about getting choke presents.

"The Christmas Gift of Aloha" Continues at 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays through Dec. 23, at Ala Moana Center's CenterStage. Admission is free.

What a concept, especially for a Christmas show presented by Hawaii's original super shopping mall!

Kris Fitzgerald and Bryan Y. Yamasaki star in a fast-moving musical adaptation of the newly published children's book of the same title, written by Matsumoto and illustrated by her longtime artistic partner (and cousin), Michael Furuya.

Although the subject is Christmas in Hawaii rather than pidgin fairy tales, the style and production values are instantly recognizable as the work of Matsumoto and her 'Ohi'a Productions ohana -- and, therefore, as a surefire hit for Ala Moana and certain to entertain local kids this Christmas season.

The show is Fitzgerald's first with 'Ohi'a Productions, but franchise veteran Yamasaki is working with several other proven members of the ohana -- Devon M.T. Nekoba, Dion Donahue (who plays Santa), Michael Pa'ekukui and Raina Matsui Fujitani among them.

'Ohi'a veterans David Kauahikaua and Roslyn Catracchia share credit for the serviceable soundtrack, which seems almost certain to be made available sooner or later on CD.

The story is simple enough that younger kids will have no problem following it. A naive Christmas elf named Merry (Fitzgerald) finds himself in Hawaii, meets a quick-witted menehune named Mele (Yamasaki) and discovers that menehunes spend the year making toys for Santa, too.

Insult humor has been a basic ingredient in Matsumoto's series of hit pidgin musical comedies, and Caucasian characters are usually the clueless targets of the sharp-tongued locals' jibes, but Merry fares better than most outsiders in Matsumoto's plays. True, he comically mispronounces every Hawaiian word he encounters, and it takes him two tries to acquire a taste for crack seed, but eventually the locals accept him and he becomes a member of the menehune ohana.

Merry learns that Hawaii is a pretty neat place to be for Christmas, even without snow, and he also comes to appreciate the natural beauty of the island and the colorful birds and fish that live here.

Tragedy strikes when Merry is allowed to be the engineer of the Candy Cane Train, which takes the toys and tasty local treats the menehunes have made down to the place where Santa will pick them up. Merry loses control of the train, and it crashes. The train and everything on it are destroyed.

How will Merry and Mele explain this to Santa? What follows is a lesson in sharing: Making other people happy is the best gift of all.

The show ends just in time for the audience to troop upstairs for "Santa's Spectacular Aloha Christmas Parade."

The free show is Ala Moana's best seasonal offering in years.