Kilauea Drama &Entertainment Network presents a different take on a timeless classic, combining the music of Gilbert and Sullivan and the Charles Dickens tale “A Christmas Carol.” The result is “A Gilbert &Sullivan Christmas Carol,” with four performances this weekend only.
Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Kilauea Military Camp Theater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
KDEN’s production is the Hawaii premiere for “A Gilbert &Sullivan Christmas Carol.” The hybrid musical features all the characters one usually meets in “A Christmas Carol” with songs taken from various Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.
The brainchild of Gayden Wren, who rewrote the original William S. Gilbert lyrics, debuted off-Broadway in 2001.
Familiar G&S tunes such as “Three Little Maids From School” from “The Mikado” becomes “Three Little Ghosts for Scrooge.” The original lyrics “three little maids who, all unwary, come from a ladies seminary” are cleverly changed to “three little ghosts who, dark and scary, come from a local cemetery.” The ghost of Jacob Marley gets a tongue-twisting show-stopping number, “I Am the Very Model of a Mystic Supernatural,” sung to “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” from “The Pirates of Penzance.”
And the finale,“Hooray for Mr. Scrooge,” is sung to “HMS Pinafore’s” “He is an Englishman.”
Starring as Scrooge is Joel Kelley, who has appeared in KDEN’s “The Music Man,” “Kilauea 1916” and “Finian’s Rainbow.” Stephen Bond portrays Marley and Bob Cratchit. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet-to-Come are played by Erin Smith, Kathy Frankovic and Carolyn Lee, respectively. Arlene Araki is Tiny Tim.
Others in the ensemble portraying multiple roles are Dahlia, Kyla and Rayanna Fabiani, Karl and Mars Halemano, Dick Hershberger, Craig Kawamoto, Ariana Kelley, Jessica Owen Lawrence and Mike Meyer. Ray Ryan is the narrator.
Suzi Bond is the director and Walter Greenwood is the music director. Pedro Ka‘awaloa is the company’s rehearsal accompanist. Kathy Frankovic and Hal Glatzer are co-producers.
Tickets are $20 general, $15 seniors and students and $12 for children 11 and younger, available at Kilauea General Store, Keaau Natural Foods, Basically Books and The Most Irresistible Shop in downtown Hilo, and at the door.
For information or reservations, call 982-7344 or email kden73@aol.com.