Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi high school will present their annual Hōʻike this Thursday, March 9 and Friday, March 10 at 6 p.m. in the Koaiʻa Gymnasium.
The school will present a glam rock opera written and performed in Hawaiian entitled, PAIʻEA, honoring the school’s namesake and great grandfather of founder Ke Aliʻi Bernice Pauahi Bishop, Kamehameha I.
PAIʻEA is Kamehameha Hawaiʻi’s fifth original Hawaiian language opera. The music is composed by choir director, Herb Mahelona, with libretto written by speech teacher Eric Stack. The show is directed by theatre teacher ʻAlohi De Lima. Senior Kamau Beaudet steps in as Kamehameha. PAIʻEA is the first in a trilogy of operas that will honor Kamehameha I. It shares stories of Kamehameha’s early life, from his birth and Naeʻole’s escape to keep him safe to the lifting of the Naha stone and the Battle of Mokuʻōhai.
A workshop version of Act I of PAIʻEA was presented as last year’s Hōʻike, but there was no live audience, and the performance was limited to the cast who pre-recorded the songs for the production in lieu of live singing as a pandemic precaution. This year’s opera returns to the tradition of Hōʻike being an all-school production.
Tickets for Hōʻike are $5 for general admission, and $10 for an early entry VIP option . Tickets must be purchased in advance.Online ticket sales close tonight at midnight.
Funds raised from this week’s shows, will support sending 29 Hōʻike A Haʻi Performing Arts Club students to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland this summer.
For show information or to purchase tickets, visit bit.ly/paiea2023.
Photo credit: Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi