{"id":169589,"date":"2022-11-27T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2022-11-27T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=169589"},"modified":"2022-11-28T16:08:11","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T02:08:11","slug":"newly-renovated-leeward-theatre-shines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/11\/27\/newly-renovated-leeward-theatre-shines\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly renovated Leeward Theatre shines"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_37387\"  width=\"676\" height=\"676\"  data-origwidth=\"676\" data-origheight=\"676\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/y3EXq7cllM0?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Newly renovated Leeward Theatre shines\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>The performing arts hopes and dreams of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leeward.hawaii.edu\/\">Leeward Community College<\/a> students and the surrounding communities got a major boost in 2019, after the three-year renovation of the Pearl City campus\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leeward.hawaii.edu\/theatre\">Leeward Theatre<\/a>. Nearly $12 million in improvements included increased stage crew access, replacing the theater seats and modernizing the stage and lighting.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-seating-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-169609\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-seating-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-seating-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-seating.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A jubilant Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr> staged Lin Manuel Miranda\u2019s <em>In the Heights<\/em> in January 2019, and bookings began to pick up speed. It all came to a screeching halt when COVID-19 closed the campus in March 2020.<\/p>\n<p>Today, after a combined five years of dormancy, the only major arts presenter and arts education center serving the Leeward and Central <span aria-label=\"Oahu\">O&#699;ahu<\/span> communities is welcoming audiences back through the storied lobby featuring a 100-foot-long mural by Jean Charlot to comfy new seats and the glow of the <abbr>LED<\/abbr>-lit stage.<\/p>\n<h2>Makalapua launches new season<\/h2>\n<div style=\"float:right;clear:right;margin:0 0 0 15px;\"><figure id=\"attachment_169606\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-169606\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-hill-b.jpg\" alt=\" Betty Hill in Leeward C C Theatre\" width=\"250\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-169606\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-hill-b.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-hill-b-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-hill-b-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-169606\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Betty Hill<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<div style=\"float:right;clear:right;margin:0 0 0 15px;\"><figure id=\"attachment_169605\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-169605\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-garcia-m.jpg\" alt=\"Mokihana Garcia in Leeward Theatre\" width=\"250\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-169605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-garcia-m.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-garcia-m-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-garcia-m-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-169605\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mokihana Garcia<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<div style=\"float:right;clear:right;margin:0 0 0 15px;\"><figure id=\"attachment_169607\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-169607\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-nilson-l.jpg\" alt=\"Lalea Nilsen in Leeward C C Theatre\" width=\"250\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-169607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-nilson-l.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-nilson-l-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-nilson-l-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-169607\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lalea Nilsen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theliliuproject.com\/\">The <span aria-label=\"Liliu\">Lili&#699;u<\/span> Project\u2019s<\/a> <em>Makalapua<\/em> debuted in September and a full slate of renters have booked the new facility through the end of the 2022&#8211;23 season.<\/p>\n<p>The current crop of students couldn\u2019t be more excited.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think it\u2019s gorgeous,&rdquo; said <strong>Betty Hill<\/strong>, who volunteered as a stagehand for Makalapua. &ldquo;It\u2019s my first experience in a theater ever. It\u2019s never been available to me before so I love it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mokihana Garcia<\/strong> grew up in <span aria-label=\"Waianae\">Wai&#699;anae<\/span> and is hoping to perform in the new theater.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;A real stage like this is unknown, at least in my experience, so revolutionary,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lalea Nilsen<\/strong> had the opportunity to perform ballet in Leeward <abbr>CC<\/abbr>\u2019s Pau Hana, when the theater opened briefly in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It\u2019s beautiful,&rdquo; Nilsen said. &ldquo;I love the backdrop and how many people can fit in the audience.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>The shows go on<\/h2>\n<p>New Leeward Theatre Manager <strong>Elisa Olson<\/strong> has been in theaters all over the country&#8212;in 49 states to be exact. She has worked as a production stage manager for national tours and also served at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_169622\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-169622\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-olson-e-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Olson in Leeward C C Theatre\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-169622\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-olson-e-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-olson-e-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/leeward-theatre-olson-e.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-169622\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elisa Olson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;We have something very special here, which I am very excited about, and the ability to utilize that is fantastic,&rdquo; Olson said. &ldquo;As far as what we have to offer and our capability, we can do just about anything.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Her work now is both external and internal. Musical theatre, popularized by shows such as Glee, could be among Leeward\u2019s future offerings.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Honestly what I\u2019m the most excited about is the ability to really engage with the community and build a program that\u2019s here that represents Leeward,&rdquo; Olson said. &ldquo;We are planning on coming back for our 50th anniversary, which is next year, and offering a full slate of what we expect from Leeward Theatre and some new things along the way.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ahead at Leeward Theatre:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Ballet Theatre &#8211; Nutcracker (November 25&#8211;27, 2022)<\/li>\n<li><abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Bands (December 4, 2022)<\/li>\n<li><span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Symphony (December 13, 2022)<\/li>\n<li>Pas De Deux Hawaii (December 9&#8211;10, 2022)<\/li>\n<li><span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Symphony (February TBD, 2022)<\/li>\n<li>X1 Entertainment &#8211; Piper Rockelle\u2014Social media influencer (February 19, 2023)<\/li>\n<li>Starpower Talent Competition (March 4&#8211;5, 2023)<\/li>\n<li>Treasure Box &#8211; Goldmine Dance Comp (March 24, 2023)<\/li>\n<li><abbr>UH<\/abbr> Outreach College &#8211; Atamira Dance Company (April 14&#8211;15, 2023)<\/li>\n<li>EnerGy National Dance Competition (April 22&#8211;23, 2023)<\/li>\n<li><abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa Bands (April 30, 2023)<\/li>\n<li><span aria-label=\"Iolani\">&#699;Iolani<\/span> Schools (May 6, 2023)<\/li>\n<li>Ballet Hawaii (May 12&#8211;14, 2023)<\/li>\n<li>Island Pacific Academy (May 27, 2023)<\/li>\n<li>Spotlight Dance Cup (June 2&#8211;3, 2023)<\/li>\n<li>Rosalie Woodson Dance Academy (June 9&#8211;10, 2023)<\/li>\n<li>Pas De Deux Hawaii (June 16&#8211;18, 2023)<\/li>\n<li>Waipahu Community School for Adults (June 24, 2023)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8212;By Kelli Abe Trifonovitch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After COVID-19 closed it in 2020, the newly renovated Leeward Theatre is welcoming back audiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,12],"tags":[65,196,130,71,56],"class_list":["post-169589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-video","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-leeward-community-college-theatre","tag-theatre","tag-uh-community-colleges","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169589"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169597,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169589\/revisions\/169597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}