Lion King Cast Members Dazzle Students, LAPA

On February 24th, three cast members from “The Lion King” musical—Andrew Gorell (Zazu), Selena Moshell (ensemble), and Thembelihle Cele (ensemble)—flew to Lanai to work with 4th and 5th grade students from LHES and the Lanai Academy of Performing Arts (LAPA). 

Since they only have one day off per week (they do eight shows), the cast members arrived on the first flight over from Honolulu at 7 AM to make the most of their visit to Lanai. Kepa Maly, Senior Vice President of Culture and Historic Preservation for Pulama Lanai, gave them a special tour of the island that included stops at Lanai Hale and Keahiakawelo.  A huge thanks to Kepa for donating his time and expertise—our guests were fascinated by his stories and the culture and history of Lanai and would like to return again someday.  Following their tour, the cast members were treated to a delicious complimentary lunch at The Terrace restaurant at the Lodge at Koele.  Thank you to Alice Bouman and the Four Seasons Lanai for this generous gesture. 

After lunch, fourth and fifth grade students at LHES spent an hour with the Lion King actors.  Each cast member shared his or her background, what inspires them, and answered questions from the kids.  They explained to students exactly what it’s like to be in “The Lion King” and brought a large color program to show the costumes. Thembelihle Cele, originally from South Africa, taught students words from her native language.  All eyes were glued to her when she then performed a short story from “The Lion King” (told by Rafiki in the play).

After school, the cast members worked with LAPA from 2:15-4:00.  Thembelihle Cele sang “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in Zulu, teaching the group two different parts.  Next, dancer Selena Moshell taught LAPA real Lion King choreography.  Selena and Thembe then surprised the kids by asking THEM to put the singing and dancing together. After practicing just a couple of times, the LAPA students were able to do the whole routine on their own!   Next, it was Andrew Gorell’s turn, and he led a series of fun acting warm-ups that had the whole room cracking up.   Since he plays “Zazu” in “The Lion King,” (which requires him to hold a puppet for most of the show), he brought his own homemade puppet — Honu the turtle — and shared his expertise with the kids on how to bring it to life.  Each LAPA member got a chance to try, while the rest of the group pretended to be a plant or animal under the sea.

 

To see video clips from the rehearsal, please check out LAPA's Youtube page:

For the last part of rehearsal, the Lion King actors worked with LAPA on “Bystander Blues,” a short play that LAPA will be performing at the Lanai Youth Summit on March 8th in the Lanai County Gym.  Andrew Gorell gave expert direction to the LAPA students, and Selena Moshell and Thembelihle Cele helped tighten up the choreography (which students came up with) to the song “Bystander Blues” (an original song by Matt Glickstein that will be performed after the play).  When it was time to say goodbye, the LAPA kids gave the Lion King cast members a big group hug and didn’t want to let go!

A big mahalo to Gail and Jason Allen for donating the plane fare for two round trip tickets on Island Air, and also to Pulama Lanai for donating Thembelihle Cele’s plane ticket.   LAPA is extremely grateful to Andrew, Selena, and Thembe for lending us their time and talent and giving everyone involved an experience they will never forget. All three Lion King cast members loved Lanai, and we hope that they return again someday!

LAPA Loves the Lion King!

On January 19, twenty-two students and ten adult chaperones from the Lanaʻi Academy of Performing Arts (LAPA) traveled to Oʻahu to see “The Lion King” musical.    It was a full day packed with action: members arrived at the Lanai Airport at 6:15 A.M., and didn’t return until 7:45 P.M. that night. 

After landing in Honolulu, LAPA was bussed to the Honolulu Zoo, and got a special tour of the African Savanna from expert guide Chaz Lee.  Everyone had a tasty lunch at the Kapahulu Market (zoo snack bar), and got in a quick trip to the Keiki petting zoo before leaving.  To prepare the students and generate some excitement, on the night before the trip, LAPA held a movie night sleepover in Sandy Patterson’s classroom where the movie “The Lion King” was shown.  It worked—by the time we pulled up to the Blaisdell Concert Hall, the kids couldn’t wait to get off the bus!

We arrived early enough to buy refreshments and check out the souvenirs. Students were told by their chaperones that there would be a surprise immediately after the show concluded, so they would have to buy their souvenirs early.  Lines were long, and over 2,000 people crowded the theatre—not something we’re used to seeing on Lanai! Luckily, students were in groups of only 4-5, with at least one adult, so everyone stayed together and got to their seats on time. 

“The Lion King” is the world’s number one musical for a reason—it is spectacular!  The opening song, “The Circle of Life,” features the entire cast: They enter as different animals in beautiful, creative costumes from all around the audience, processing down the aisles, singing back and forth on the balcony, and joining together on stage, creating rich harmonies that actually make you believe you are in Africa.  Several parent chaperones were moved to tears (myself included, even though I’ve seen the show before), and it’s definitely a chicken-skin moment!   The live show expands on the movie and is about an hour longer, adding new scenes and new songs, but when the drum booms after the final number, you are sad to see it end.  The sold-out crowd gave the actors a well-deserved standing ovation. The touring cast was excellent: standout performances included Andrew Gorell as Zazu and Jelani Remy as Simba.  Jordan A. Hall as young Simba and Nya Cymone Carter as young Nala were great in their roles as well. 

LAPA members met outside the theater right after the show, where their surprise was waiting: Four different cast members from the show to meet us and give the kids a backstage tour!  Andrew Gorell (Zazu), L. Steven (Mufasa), Selena Moshell (ensemble), and Thembelihle Cele (ensemble) made what was already a special day into an unforgettable experience.  The kids got to see all of the costumes, stand on the stage and see how the some of the technical elements work, and even got to try on some of the masks the actors wear.

With Timon backstage!

With L. Steven (Mufasa) on the Lion King stage!

  Following the tour, the LAPA kids put on a special performance of a song from the show, “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”, for our guides and other members of the cast and crew, and blew their distinguished audience away.   I had spoken earlier to Andrew Gorell (Zazu) and Selena Moshell (ensemble) about possibly spending a day on Lanai and doing a workshop with us, and the performance of “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” only heightened their enthusiasm to visit us.  On the flight back to Lanai, Sandy Patterson (our co-founder) was raving about our experience to Island Treasures co-owner, Gail Allen.  In an extremely generous gesture, Gail and her husband, Jason, offered to sponsor both cast members’ plane tickets!  The details haven’t been arranged yet, but on an upcoming Monday (their day off) between now and March 9, Andrew and Selena will be flying to Lanai to work with LAPA!

performing "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" for the cast members

What a performance it was!

LAPA with Andrew Gorell (Zazu) and Selena Moshell (ensemble)

Beretta (our Zazu) with Andrew Gorell (the real Zazu)

L. Steven (Mufasa) visiting us during our pizza dinner after the show

A huge mahalo to Island Air for giving LAPA a 50% discount on airfares for twenty people, and a big thank you to the Lanai community and parents for supporting all of our fundraising efforts!   

 

Thanks Island Air!

“The Lion King” is at the Blaisdell Concert Hall until March 9—it’s not too late to get tickets, and it’s worth every dollar spent to get there! 

LAPA outside Blaisdell Concert Hall after watching "The Lion King"

LAPA is currently fundraising for costumes and production costs for their next show, “101 Dalmatians Kids.”  If you would like to make a donation, please make all checks out to “LAPA” and send to P.O. Box 631124.  Please call Matt Glickstein at 808-221-8926 for more information.

To see more pictures of our trip, please check out this slideshow video:

Celebrated Jazz Singer Brenna Whitaker Performs with LAPA

If you didn’t see Hollywood jazz singer Brenna Whitaker and her Little Big Band at one of the Four Seasons Resorts Lanaʻi, you missed a once in a lifetime experience.  She is a world-class singer with a heart as big as her voice.

Brenna’s passion is working with young people through her music. She searched the internet for talented musical kids to perform with her during the holidays on Lanai and she found us—the Lānaʻi Academy of Performing Arts.  LAPA is a volunteer community theater organization formed earlier this year by teachers Sandy Patterson and Matt Glickstein for the benefit of the children of Lanai. Brenna invited us to perform in her Christmas Eve and Christmas Day shows at the Lodge at Koele. 

I asked her why she reached out to us.  “I’m so blessed about what’s happening to me, that the least I could do is give a little of what I’ve learned to the universe. Google is a magical thing in that you really can find people—all you have to do is search and be a little creative…It happened with you and me, and it’s basically my Christmas present from the universe—being able to see those kids love singing, and being in a group where they’re happy.”

Credited with being a key influencer in the resurgence of the jazz scene in Los Angeles, Brenna recently signed with the label Verve Records. She is now working on her debut album with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including David Foster, Walter Afanasieff, Greg Wells, Tony Berg, and Jay Landers. Among her fans in L.A. are Stevie Wonder, Justin Bieber, Michael Buble, and Larry Ellison.

Brenna is passionate about working with at-risk kids and young adults in need of hope through music/arts education programs.  She regularly contributes to a long list of non-profits and performing-arts-based-charities in Los Angeles.  “I’ve always had a connection with children. Living in a place like LA or Hollywood, you have to find ways to balance it out. I like working with kids who need some hope.  It’s second nature now—I couldn’t think of not doing it.  My goal is to make my album, and everywhere in the world I go on tour, I’d like to stop in local schools with my whole band, and go through the process of what it is to be a musician—explain every instrument and how they got into it.”

As a bonus, LAPA also had a special rehearsal with Brenna and her band.  LAPA members, Danish Mohzani and Celina Romero, impressed them by singing and playing the piano.  Brenna sang “Jingle Bells Cha Cha” with her band for all the kids and parents who attended.   After the rehearsal, the students got to hang out with Brenna and the band, followed by potluck on the outside patio (with food generously provided by LAPA parents).

On Christmas Eve, LAPA was accompanied by Brenna’s Little Big Band on four songs:  “Silent Night,” “When Christmas Comes to Town,” “The True Meaning of Christmas (an original song by Matt Glickstein and Jason Spraggins),” and “Jingle Bell Rock.” A very special guest in the audience, Mr. Larry Ellison, led a standing ovation after the final number.  The audience was then invited to sing Christmas carols along with LAPA by candlelight on the back patio.

http://youtu.be/g-A9Z-LZujo: Click here for a video of "Jingle Bell Rock" with Brenna's band

On Christmas Day, LAPA added several more songs to the program, performing in front of a large crowd of hotel guests, friends, family, and community members.  A big mahalo to Brenna Whitaker, her Little Big Band, the Four Seasons Resorts Lanaʻi, Alice Bouman, Mohzani Mokhtar, Sandy Patterson, Anthony Pacheco (videography), Glendaile Llamelo and Zena Kageno (choreography), and all the families of LAPA.

We hope that Brenna will be back in the future (she says she’d love to) and that we can be lucky enough to work with her again. She agrees, “It’s good for their learning experience.  You have so many talented kids in your group.  Kids are sponges—they soak it in and just do it.  One day, they can do what I’m doing and what you’re doing!”

For more information on Brenna, please visit her website, brennawhitaker.com. To see video of the performance and a special music video, please visit LAPA’s website,
lanaiacademy.org, or songsforabetterworld.com.

Island Below the Star

On May 25, 26, 28, 29, and 30 the Lānaʻi Academy of Performing Arts performed a brand new, original musical in the Lānaʻi Playhouse.  Island Below the Star is based on the James Rumsford fictional story of the same name, and the script was adapted by Sandy Patterson.  The music and lyrics were written by graduating senior Grant Choo and myself, with an additional song by 2nd grader, Danish Mohzani (I'll get to that story later).

Sandy Patterson's initial idea to turn Island Below the Star into a live show got me excited and brought back some great memories.  Back when I was a senior in college, I collaborated to write a musical called Freshmen Follies, and was even able to have it performed by the musical theater club on campus.  It was an unbelievable experience and the most fun I've ever had.  My favorite genre to write as a composer has always been musical theater--there's just something magical about a live show.  I love the way you can connect with the audience and tell the story through the songs. 

I couldn't wait to start writing the music, but as a songwriter, lyrics aren't my strong point.  Then I met Grant Choo, a senior from the Class of 2013, who spent some time in Sandy Patterson's classroom every week as part of a work study program.    I discovered that not only was he an extremely talented musician who sings and plays guitar and ukulele, but that he could also write great songs.    I asked Grant if he would like to collaborate on writing songs for the show, and we began meeting after school several times a week to work on the music.  I've written with many other songwriters, and I have to say that Grant is one of the best I've ever worked with.  He has so many original ideas, and is extremely friendly and flexible when it comes to writing and rewriting--which is not always the case!

After a month or so, we had finished five songs, and Sandy had a good outline of the script done.  It was time to hold auditions--many talented kids tried out, and it was difficult narrowing it down to a cast size of 22 actors and actresses.   Rehearsals began after spring break, and at first, we kept it simple, doing acting games and teaching the kids the basics of theater.   We wanted to get to know the strengths of each performer before we cast the parts.  

During this time,  Sandy completely rewrote the script to be much more conversational, kid friendly, and funny.  She kept the original ideas and story in tact, but created characters that were tailored specifically for the kids we had cast in the show.  Once we assigned the actors their roles,  I got to see Sandy's fresh take on the story and characters,  and I was inspired to write a few more songs specifically for each lead part.  

One of our lead actors, 2nd grader Danish Mohzani, is an amazingly talented performer and musician.  He is one of my piano students, and every lesson he does something that blows me away.    Danish is a huge Bob Marley fan, and we asked him to play his part as if he was Bob Marley himself.  Reggae music is Danish's favorite,  so I asked him if he would like to try writing his own song.   A week later, he blew me away again when he played me the song he wrote, called Go North. 

Lānaʻi Resorts, LLC was kind enough to lend us the use of the Lānaʻi Playhouse for our rehearsals and performances.  After the kids had the basics of the show down, we started rehearsing in the theater.  About this time, we had Dave Jackson join our team as co-director (with Sandy Patterson).    Dave minored in theater in college, and has been in several productions.  He brought with him structure, discipline, and a lot of expertise and experience.  The kids were a little intimidated at first because he's a big guy, but loosened up once they got to know him.   He brought the best out of everyone, and I can't imagine doing the show without him.

I must also mention our choreographer, Glendaile Llamelo.   Although she works at the A+ program after school until 5 o'clock, she made the time to come to many late rehearsals.  She's a formally trained dancer, and she gave our actors some great instruction and even allowed them the freedom to come up with some of their own choreography.  

In the end, we put on five great performances for the community in the Lānaʻi Playhouse.  I'm so proud of all of the kids that were involved in the show.  Each performance they got more confident, and by the last show, they were sad it was going to be over. They rehearsed every day after school for months and worked incredibly hard to make Island Below the Star into a success.   There is an amazing amount of talent on Lānaʻi, and I hope this first production by the Lānaʻi Academy of Performing Arts will inspire many others to try out for the next show that we do. 

The Lānaʻi Academy of Performing Arts is a new organization formed by Sandy Patterson and Matt Glickstein, with a goal of putting on many more productions for the community in the future.  If you would like to make a donation, please make checks payable to:

Lānaʻi Academy of Performing Arts

c/o Matt Glickstein

PO Box 631903

Lānaʻi City, HI 96763

All of the original music from Island Below the Star is available online at iTunes, CD Baby, and Amazon.  You may also contact Matt Glickstein at (808) 221-8926, or at mattglickstein@me.com to purchase a physical CD for the cost of $10.00.

We would also like to thank:

Lanai Resorts, LLC, Facility Use

Karen de Brum, Sound Equipment

Howard and Judy Glickstein, Program Printing

Grant Choo and Edward Giles, Lighting

Cody Patterson, Projections

Kerri Glickstein, Program and CD Formatting and Design

Emily Hera, Poster and Program Cover
Travis Turqueza, Poster Design

Gaylien Kahoʻohalahala, Set Construction

Darren Lopez, Spotlight

Jerod Savage, Set Design

Cameron Patterson, Set Design and Facility Repairs

William Patterson, Videography, Set Design, and Facility Repairs

Mahina Romero, Lighting Equipment

Farah Omar, Uilani Romero, 
Shelly Barfield, Zena Kageno, and Elizabeth Atok, extremely helpful parents

And a special thanks to Kimberly Miyazawa  Frank, who invited the Lānaʻi Academy of Performing Arts to perform at the Charity Walk on May 4th, and who also bought lei for each and every cast and crew member after their May 28th performance.

  

Dream What Could Be Done & DVD

On Tuesday, November 13, I attended the Statewide Homeless Awareness Conference in Honolulu.  It was all made possible by our first music video, Singing to the World.  A writer from The Huffington Post became aware of our songs and asked if we could write and perform a song about homelessness. The students and I were honored to take on this project.   It was because of the article published on The Huffington Post about Dream What Could Be Done, that Holly Holowach, the woman in charge of the entire conference on homelessness, invited me to speak and share our video. 

It was a huge honor to be able to share our message with so many others dedicated to the same cause--I could really feel the emotion in the room as people were watching the video.  I also shared some of what the students from the Lanaʻi Class of 2020 had to say on homelessness, and here are some of my favorite quotes:

"In the future I will stand up and talk to one city, two cities, three cities, or four cities.  I don't care how many cities I go to.  I only care about changing the world."  --Mika Badillo

"I think everyone should have a home and a family. People in other parts of the world are hungry and eat from garbage cans, and drink dirty, polluted water. These people deserve fresh water and good food. They deserve it from the second they were homeless and hungry. It's not their fault.” 
--Lauren Campbell

"What I know about some homeless people is that they talk to themselves sometimes, and that is because they don't have people to talk to."  --Kishia Sigrah

 I also had a table in the lobby where I sold CDs and DVDs, and I'm happy to report that I sold out of both--and was able to donate 25% of the proceeds back to Partners in Care, one of the organizations at the conference.

Which brings me to this announcement:  Our DVDs have finally been finished!   Included on the DVD are all ten music videos by the Lanaʻi Class of 2020 and several other bonus features.  Thanks to Travis Turqueza (parent from the Class of 2020) for the front cover design, and helping to creatively put the students artwork together for the back cover.

Because of the recent accomplishments of the Lanaʻi Class of 2020, we have also been featured in several Lanai Today issues.   Thanks to author Alberta De Jetley for the continuing support.  Featured below are the different articles (click on the image to enlarge if you would like to see the text at a larger size):