Press

Erik Haines

Hana Hou | November 2023

Erik HainesA chat with Erik Haines, Director of Education Programs — 

As our Education programs are fully underway, I wanted to chat with Erik Haines, Director of Education Programs to chat about his 30-year career with HOT, some memorable moments, and his hopes for the future.

 

 

How did you first get involved with HOT? What led to your role as Director of Education Programs? 

I’ve actually been singing for HOT since 1986! It all started when Beebe Freitas, the Artistic Director at the time, asked if I’d be interested in a small role in The Tales of Hoffmann. It was just a small part, but it turned out to be the beginning of my relationship with HOT. Over the next few years, I sang in their chorus and took on other small parts—Beebe was a mentor to me and coached me extensively and in exchange did some work around the house. I’m not sure if that’s the fairest of trades, but that was how partnership evolved.  

Fast forward to 1991, HOT launched the Opera for Everyone program and around that time, we had received an education grant that was used to support an extra performance of the opera Candide that was specifically for students. They had the brilliant idea to include the student interns in the production and I was hired to not only coordinate the participating students, but to also write the education materials for the teachers to use in their curriculum. I did that job for another year, and then HOT officially hired me to become their full-time Education Coordinator—and I’ve been here ever since!  

You have such a long history with HOT – what was your favorite experience as a performer with us?  

About 12 years ago, we were on tour with Opera Express performing Turandot, and there was a moment in which the prince is thrown onto the ground. I was the prince. So, I’m lying on the cafeteria ground where we had staged our opera, on top of leftover food and candy wrap litter, pretending to be hurt, and all of a sudden, hear little kids seated in the front row asking me if I’m okay. It was adorable. 

Another favorite experience of mine was on the mainstage, where I was the Mandarin in Turandot. It’s such a cool experience because the atmosphere is electric and buzzing with anticipation, and I get to stride to downstage center, dancers to my left and right and sing the opening of the show.

HOT’s education programs are in full swing, with Residencies in progress at seven schools and Opera Express touring across the island of Oahu – with tours to Kauai and Maui slated for the spring. Tell us a bit about both programs, and what makes them unique. 

The program started off small, but demand eventually grew to where the neighboring islands were asking us to perform at their schools. We love this program for a couple of reasons; it introduces the youth to opera and performance art and allows teachers to use aspects of opera and the literature associated with it in the classroom. On the performer side, it provides the opportunity for singers to perform 20-30 performances of a show. There aren’t a lot of opportunities in Hawai‘i to do that. It’s not an easy gig as the singers also set up and breakdown sets. We have seen many singers grow as performers through this program. We appreciate their generosity and talent and are grateful that they chose to share it with us and the community. 

Another program we offer is the HOT Opera Residency where we kind of turn a population of students into an opera company. The HOT Opera Residency has changed quite a bit since its inception! It started in 1995 at Palolo Elementary as an experiment in partnership with the DOEʻs Artists in the Schools program. We modeled this program after that of another opera company that worked with students for just a week to put on a performance and we wanted to try it but in a modified format where we worked with students over a semester. We used their model of doing 1 act of an opera – Carmen for the first project. After that project we started doing entire operas but reduced to about 45 minutes or so. 

Students might find themselves building the sets, designing costumes, performing lead roles, and everyone sings in the choruses, but they’re also writing the lyrics to the operas they’re performing! We’ve let them also inform the content, topic, and themes. Actually, 4 of our 6 current projects are rooted in Hawaiian mo’olelo. We’re working on one now at Kahala Elementary featuring a story about the oʻopu and kāhuli snail.  

What are you excited to see in HOT’s future?

I’m most excited about the future and potential of this building. I’d love to see this become a center for arts, in which there could be teaching, classes, and activities for students of all ages. I’m also excited to see the potential for this area of Honolulu to develop into an Arts District, with HOT being one a cornerstone.

Any last words or notes? 

I’d love to say that I’m just really grateful for a lot of staff members who have helped our education program become what it is today. Henry Akina, who was the Artistic Director for a long time, Gary Andersen, a technical director, Beebe Freitas, Mary-James Louis from the production department. And the crew, who always put on a good show for our students’ backstage tours—Gordon Svec, our current Director of Production, and every one of our staff members in the Education department, who have worked tirelessly to making things happen– often going above and beyond the call, like Eric Shanck, Blythe Kelsey, Kawaiola Murray, and Leslie Goldman. And letʻs not forget the many singers and teaching artists who share their talent with the community and bring opera to thousands of kids annually. 

Check out Erik in this clip!


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Hana Hou | October 2023 

 

Aloha mai kākou:

It’s hard to believe we’re already into October, yet here we are! It’s even harder to believe that, after months and months of planning HOT’s 2023-2024 season – a season “on the road” – we’re about to open our first production, An American Dream by composer Jack Perla and Jessica Murphy Moo. 

An American DreamTo say that this is a powerful opera is truly an understatement. I attended what we call the “final room run” – the last rehearsal before moving into the performance venue – on Friday afternoon and was brought to tears multiple times. 

OK, I admit that I’m an easy cry. I can start watching “It’s a Wonderful Life,” my favorite holiday movie, five minutes before the end and I instantly become a blubbery mess.  

But An American Dream is truly an amazing piece of theatre. Even though it clocks in at just over one hour, the emotional journey is real – moments of joy and laughter, of tenderness and affection, and of heart-rending pathos. The beautiful score and libretto are brought to life by an absolute knock-out cast led by Chinese-born soprano Helen Zhibing Huang, in her HOT debut, and Honolulu-based mezzo-soprano Sarah Lambert Connelly.  

And we are blessed to have the production lovingly led by director Richard Gammon and conductor Lance Inouye, who together are creating what I believe to be a stand-out production of this opera – a piece that was commissioned by Seattle Opera with subsequent performances at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Virginia Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, and several others. 

If you don’t have your tickets, please do consider attending – you will not regret it! And if you’re already attending, consider coming twice. It’s one of those pieces that will reveal new details with each encounter. With five performances through October, you’ll have plenty of time to catch it at least once.

You also won’t want to miss our special concert in Studio101 on Wednesday, October 18 at 6:00pm. The program, curated by HOT’s Artistic Director Jamie Offenbach, features the entire cast of An American Dream along with soprano Leslie Goldman and mezzo-soprano Blythe Kelsey, all of whom are donating their services. Tickets are $50 and proceeds will go support relief efforts on Maui. 

It’s easy to take the arts for granted, but institutions like Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre, Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, Manoa Valley Theater, and more would not be here without the dedication and support of individuals like you. I believe the arts are what make a community. I’m grateful that you do too! 

Mahalo nui loa for all you do.  

With much aloha, 

Andrew 


Hana Hou | September 2023 

 

Aloha mai kākou:

With the summer officially over, things are heating up at HOT!  

Our education team back at it with HOT’s extensive in-school programs, including Residencies programs and Opera Express touring shows, sessions have started with our Mae Z. Orvis Opera Studio and Orvis Young Voices, and we’re finalizing plans for our Opera for Everyone student dress rehearsal series – which will be different for our 2023/2024 Season due to our moving out of the Blaisdell Concert Hall for renovations. Watch your emails and our website for more information or send an email to education@hawaiiopera.org. 

The set for our first production of the season, An American Dream, is being built right now in our shop in Waipahu. The simple but effective design (see artistic rendering) is by Michelle Bisbee, who created the beautiful Hawaiian setting for our Elixir of Love last February and is creating the looks for Pagliacci and La Bohème this season.

Michelle, Associate Professor of Scenic Design at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, received her MFA in Scenic Design from the University of Arizona and her BFA in Technical Theatre from Kent State University. Prior to joining UH, Michelle worked as faculty, designer, and artisan at Trinity University, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Kent State University and for theatres across the U.S. She is also a truly delightful person – someone we are proud to have as part of the HOT ʻohana!  

September also sees the launch of our second full season of Studio101, curated once again by HOT’s Artistic Director Jamie Offenbach, with two free events. For our HOT 23-24 Season Preview (Wednesday, September 20), Jamie and I will guide you through the mainstage and Studio101 seasons, including some musical samples. Then on Friday, September 22, we present HOT Young Artist bass Robert Ellsworth Feng and HOT Orvis Opera Studio Artist soprano Emily Vidler in a recital of arias and duets with “a little something in between”. Click here to reserve your seats. 

There’s still time to be a HOT hero and subscribe to our 23-24 Season! Two- and three-opera subscriptions are available now and offer you the best seats in the house. Call our box office now at 808.596.7858 to learn more. You won’t regret joining us on the complete journey! 

Mahalo for all you do to ensure that opera has a home here in Hawaiʻi. We can’t do it without you! 
 
A hui hou! 

Andrew  

 

Question Corner: Do you have an “aha!” moment with opera? That performance where something clicked and you thought, “NOW I understand what all the fuss is about”?   

For me, it was a performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore I attended with my father at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1987. Shirley Verrett sang the role of Azucena, and her rendition of the famous aria “Stride la vampa” absolutely sent chills down my spine. I’m chagrined to say I don’t remember much else about that production, but I will never forget her performance. I didn’t see Trovatore again live until many years later, at the San Francisco Opera. Dolora Zajick was Azucena for that production, and the chills came back stronger than ever…  

Scroll down to the Comments field to let us know about your “aha” moment! 


Masterclass-HOT Education

Hana Hou | August 2023

 

Aloha kākou: 

Welcome to the first edition of Hana Hou with Andrew, a new blog that I’ll be curating each month to take you behind the scenes all things HOT.  

It’s hard to believe it’s already August, with summer vacations coming to a close, back-to-school sales in their final days, and teachers making last-minute touches to lesson plans and classrooms to welcome keiki for another school year. 

Similarly, the team at your Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre is hard at work finalizing plans for the upcoming season of performances and education programs. I firmly believe that opera is the most rewarding artform there is, but it is also the most complex. And thinking about it, that is probably part of the reason opera is so rewarding: it requires many individuals to come together in a shared vision to create a magical experience. That is true for every aspect of what we do, from mainstage performances to in-school residencies to donor events like Opera Ball. Opera takes a village. A very large village.  

These last few weeks have seen a flurry of activity throughout the company: 

  • Production meetings with directors and designers to make sure our mainstage season is the best it can be and demonstrating our commitment to supporting and engaging creators who reflect the diversity of Hawaiʻi 
  • Internal meetings and outreach to create the best experience possible for you, our valued patrons, in the three new venues we’ll be utilizing while the Blaisdell Concert Hall is closed for renovations – including working with new seating maps for each venue, parking, pre-show lectures, and more
  • Putting the finishing touches on the fall season of Studio101, our performing space at Hawaiʻi Opera Plaza, curated by Artistic Director Jamie Offenbach – which begins with a Season Preview event on Wednesday, September 20
  • Working with friends on Maui and the Big Island to finalize plans for the tour of An American Dream in October – our first mainstage production to travel since 2017 
  • Planning for our many educational activities: 
    • Opera Express – a keiki friendly HOT-original adaptation of Puccini’s Turandot called The Curse of Lou-Ling that will tour around Oahu and to neighbor islands 
    • Residencies – immersive work at seven schools on Oahu that culminate with a performance of an original opera that the keiki wrote with a teaching artist and members of our staff; and 
    • Orvis Opera Studio and Orvis Young Voices programs – a season of masterclasses, workshops, and performances with high school and adult singers 
  • Building the volunteer committee for Opera Ball 2024 
  • Getting our new Director of Marketing & Communications, Megan Leung, up to speed on all things HOT 
  • Welcoming three new members to HOT’s Board of Directors: Robert K. Daley, Noreen Mullikan, and Veronica Wong 

We have a lot of exciting programs planned for you and our community. Did you know we have a calendar of events on our website? It’s a great page to bookmark and review on a regular basis to keep up to date with everything that’s going on at HOT! 

Mahalo nui loa for being a part of the Hawaiʻi Opera Theatre ʻohana. We wouldn’t be here without your support! 

Much aloha, 

Andrew 

 

Question Corner: HOT’s opening opera, An American Dream, began as a personal story-telling project asking the question: “If you had to leave your home today and couldn’t return, what would you take with you, and why is that object – that connection to your past – so important?” 

What would your answer be? Let us know below!


 

Gianni Schicchi

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

The final offering for the mainstage season is Puccini’s only comic opera, Gianni Schicchi. This hilarious one-act farce is filled with ridiculous plans, hijinks, and trickery. It is the perfect opera for first-timers, and even though it’s brief, it’s delightfully entertaining. This one-act romp stars a world-class cast including local favorites Blythe Kelsey, Leslie Goldman, and Robert Feng, baritone Joshua Jeremiah in the title role with soprano Toni Marie Palmertree and tenor Brian Vu, led by conductor Mark Morash and director Gregory Keller. 

The Elixir of Love

Don’t miss Donizetti’s charming comedy, The Elixir of Love, sung in a witty English translation. This heartwarming comedy hits the stage just in time for Valentine’s Day when a worker falls in love with a beautiful farm owner. HOT’s production is perfectly set in present-day Hawai‘i in a quaint town outside a sugar cane farm.

The Elixir of Love
Friday, February 17 | 7:30 pm
Sunday, February 19 | 4:00 pm

All performances at the Blaisdell Concert Hall
Sung in English with English supertitles
Approximately 2 hours 20 minutes with 1 intermission

Blythe: One Name, One Night… back by popular demand!

Saturday, February 25, 2023 6:00 PM

A HOT local favorite, Blythe Kelsey, is featured in an intimate performance singing powerhouse tunes of great female artists known by one name. Think Adele, Whitney, Ella, & Dolly. With the one and only Alpin Hong. Enjoy light pupus and mingle with Blythe herself after the show.  Doors open at 5:30 PM. Cocktail Attire.
21+ | $100 and Cocktails included