Excellence in local theater was honored Monday as the Hawaii State Theatre Council announced the winners of the 2015 Po’okela Awards at its annual Stars Night Out dinner and show at the Ko’olau Golf Club in Kaneohe.
Diamond Head Theatre captured the most honors of any company, with 26 awards across 14 of the 23 categories. The University of Hawaii-Manoa theater program had a total of 19 awards in 12 categories, with its Hawaiian-language production "La’ieikawai" earning 10 of them — the most awards this year for any musical or play.
Kumu Kahua was third overall with 16 awards in 10 categories.
The Po’okela judging rules allow for two to six honorees per category.
Tom Holowach’s production of "Hairspray" at Paliku Theatre received nine awards. They included awards for overall musical, leading male in a musical (Johnny Reed), leading female in a musical (Pomai Lopez) and featured male in a musical (Leonard Villanueva).
DHT’s spring production of "42nd Street" was honored in eight categories including leading female in a musical for Lainey Rigg.
Two mainstays of island theater, Joyce Maltby and the late Ronald E. Bright, who died July 7, received awards for their work as directors of musicals – Bright for "Hairspray" and Maltby for "Fiddler on the Roof" at Hawaii Pacific University. Maltby’s 23-year tenure as head of the HPU theater program ended in April.
The Hawaii Shakespeare Festival, Leeward Community College, PlayBuilders and The Actors Group also received awards for excellence. Honolulu Theatre for Youth does not participate in the Po’okela Awards program.
Here is a partial list of 2015 Po’okela winners. For a complete list and photos from the awards ceremony, visit honolulupulse.com.
LEADING MALE IN A PLAY
» Timothy Callais, "The Taming of the Shrew" (UHM)
» Jason Quinn, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" (TAG)
» Jason Kanda, "Joker" (UHM)
» Brian Gibson, "Defiance" (TAG)
» Curtis Duncan, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" (TAG)
LEADING FEMALE IN A PLAY
» Kyle Scholl, "The Taming of the Shrew" (UHM)
» Stephanie Keiko Kong, "the underneath" (KKT)
» Rebecca McCarthy, "Defiance" (TAG)
» Lillian M. Jones, "Ruined" (UHM)
» Karissa J. Murrell Myers, "Blythe Spirit" (UHM)
» Amy K. Sullivan, "Becky’s New Car" (MVT)
FEATURED MALE IN A PLAY
» Russell Motter, "To Kill a Mockingbird" (DHT)
» Shiro Kawai, "The Waipahu Project" (PLB)
» Randall Galuis Jr., "My Name Is Gary Cooper" (KKT)
» Adam LeFebvre, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest" (MVT)
» Ethan Wacker, "To Kill a Mockingbird" (DHT)
» Dennis Proulx, "Superior Donuts" (TAG)
FEATURED FEMALE IN A PLAY
» Therese Olival, "To Kill a Mockingbird" (DHT)
» Bronwen Souza, "My Name Is Gary Cooper" (KKT)
» Sharon R. Garcia Doyle, "Blithe Spirit" (UMH)
» Kati Kuroda, "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" (TAG)
» Sharon R. Garcia Doyle, "The Taming of the Shrew" (UHM)
LEADING MALE IN A MUSICAL
» Eli K.M. Foster, "Fiddler on the Roof" (HPU)
» Thomas Olson, "White Christmas" (DHT)
» Johnny Reed, "Hairspray" (PKU)
LEADING FEMALE IN A MUSICAL
» Pomai Lopez, "Hairspray" (PKU)
» Nicole Marie Sullivan, "White Christmas" (DHT)
» Dusty Behner, "The Addams Family" (MVT)
» Erin Fasone, "South Pacific" (DHT)
» Lainey Rigg, "42nd Street" (DHT)
FEATURED MALE IN A MUSICAL
» Garrett Hols, "Shrek the Musical" (DHT)
» Ari Dalbert, "42nd Street" (DHT)
» Fredrico Biven, "42nd Street" (DHT)
» Leonard Villanueva, "Hairspray" (PKU)
FEATURED FEMALE IN A MUSICAL
» Katja Berthold, "Once Upon One Noddah Time" (MVT)
» Erin McFadden, "42nd Street" (DHT)
» Victoria Brown-Wilson, "Fiddler on the Roof" (HPU)
» Lisa Konove, "White Christmas" (DHT)
» Aiko Schick, "42nd Street" (DHT)
DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
» Reb Beau Allen, "Echoes of Dat Red Guitar" (KKT)
» Harry Wong III, "Ka’iulani" (KKT)
» Taurie Kinoshita, "the underneath" (KKT)
» Betty Burdick, "Titus Andronicus" (LCC)
» Peggy Anne Siegmund, "Defiance" (TAG)
» Tony Pisculli, "Lear-Shrew-Much Ado" (KKT)
DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL
» Tammy Haili’opua Baker, "La’ieikawai" (UHM)
» John Rampage, "42nd Street" (DHT)
» Ronald E. Bright, "Hairspray" (PKU)
» Joyce Maltby, "Fiddler on the Roof" (HPU)
» John Rampage and Loretta Ables Sayre, "South Pacific" (DHT)
OVERALL PLAY
» "Echoes of Dat Red Guitar" (KKT)
» "Ka’iulani" (KKT)
» "Blithe Spirit" (UHM)
» "Superior Donuts" (TAG)
» "Defiance" (TAG)
» "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" (TAG)
OVERALL MUSICAL
» "Hairspray" (PKU)
» "La’ieikawai" (UHM)
» "Closer than Ever" (MVT)
» "Fiddler on the Roof" (HPU)
» "South Pacific" (DHT)
DHT = Diamond Head Theatre; HPU = Hawaii Pacific University; HSF = Hawaii Shakespeare Festival; LCC = Leeward Community College; KKT = Kumu Kahua Theatre; MVT = Manoa Valley Theatre; PKU = Paliku Theatre; PLB = PlayBuilders; TAG = The Actors Group; UHM = University of Hawaii-Manoa
