In celebration of the holiday season, the historic Palace Theater will present “Home for the HiloDays,” a free livestream Christmas concert/fundraiser at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17.
The concert will air live at hilopalace.com. A recording of the show will be available after on the website through Jan. 1.
“Only a Scrooge would not want to join in on this incredible lineup of vocalists, musicians and clowns in this hour-long ode to the magic of Christmas,” said Phillips Payson, executive director of the Palace. “Tune in for the holly-est, jolliest cast in town, who will make the season bright in a warm and magical musical journey delivered to your streaming device as if dropped off by Santa himself!”
Home for the HiloDays, which was conceived by Charles Bankhead Haines and Larry Reitzer, will feature favorite Palace Theater stars singing their treasured songs from the season. The show, which will serve as a fundraiser for the Palace, is sort of a flashback to the old-fashioned, televised holiday specials of yesteryear, mixing music, comedy and special guests.
The show stars Bankhead Haines, who will also serve as a host alongside co-host Kyra Gomes. Joining the festivities will be Marlise Ahuna, Meili Aspen Caputo, Kaiulu Tiogangco and Sam Deitch. This year’s special guest stars are Mark Yamanaka and his son, Jorden Kealoha-Yamanaka, singing together. It will also feature Hilo’s favorite clowns/jugglers Lumpy and Blooper (Alexander Knapp and Cristina Holt of the Bing Bang Circus).
This family-friendly show is being co-directed by Reitzer and Payson and musically directed by Asha Azama, and will feature a live band.
Just as warming to the season as hot cocoa, Christmas cookies and cozy blankets by a crackling fire, the concert will feature a bevy of holiday classics and beautiful festive fan favorites of the season. The one-hour set will include such favorites as: “Silent Night,” “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” “O’ Holy Night,” “Christmas, Baby Please Come Home,” “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” “Merry Christmas Darling,” as well as an original song by Mark Yamanaka.
The show has been rehearsed and will be filmed under the strictest of COVID-19 protocols.
Since closing the doors in March, the theater has gone through an extensive renovation project that included an entire restoration of the facade, marquee and neon work that brought the front of the Palace back to its original splendor. In addition to the facade, the Palace staff has been busy doing everything from refurbishing and painting the bathrooms to updating the entire sprinkler system. The theater also, finally, began work to install air conditioning.
A free concert featuring Hilo’s favorite performers seemed like the perfect Christmas present for the Hilo Community.
Tune in Thursday — and have yourself a merry little Christmas now!