Honolulu Theatre For Youth Will Perform the World Premiere of SUPER AUNTY

 Honolulu Theatre for Youth has announced the world premiere of a new musical titled, Super Aunty, written by Lee Cataluna with music by Sean-Joseph Choo. The show is part of a national initiative launched by Theatre for Young Audiences/ USA (TYA/USA) called the BIPOC Superhero Project. The project is helmed by acclaimed playwright and educator, José Casas, and is designed to give playwrights of color access to mainstream, professional TYA companies across the nation. Twenty playwrights of color were commissioned by 24 theaters to create works featuring BIPOC superheroes. The project culminates in 2024 with a year-long celebration of productions, co-productions, and a published anthology of all the plays. HTY’s Super Aunty will be the first in the series of these nation-wide productions.

Audiences will delight in the original music, local characters and humorous scenarios that take place as four friends in a Hawai‘i schoolyard explore what it takes to be a superhero. They come to realize that the women who raise them are the strongest, fastest, bravest people they know and that caring for others with aloha is a real super power. 

“This project is about partnerships and community building, and creating spaces for necessary dialogue meant to create action,” said José Casas, the project’s creator and leader. “We will give opportunities to directors of color, actors of color, dramaturgs of color, and stage managers of color. It is about encouraging TYA to reassess if they address issues of diversity, while inviting communities to be a part of the experience instead of tokenizing them. It is about reminding ourselves of why we do theatre in the first place.”

HTYʻs production includes an entirely BIPOC team from the writers and actors to the creative team and stage management. The cast features HTY resident ensemble members Lokomaikaʻi Lipscomb, Kāla Muller, Alyssia Kepaʻa, and Jarren Amian. The production is directed by Mattea Mazzella with music direction and sound design by Sean-Joseph Choo. Sets, costumes, props and projections are designed by Emily Wright with lighting designed by Sarah Danvers who will also stage manage the show. The show is sponsored by the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health, Maternal and Child Health Branch and the Cooke Foundation, Ltd.

Super Aunty will open to audiences on Friday, January 19th at 7:00pm at Tenney Theatre followed by performances on January 28th and February 4th at 2:00pm. Tickets may be purchased online at www.htyweb.org or by calling 808-839-9885 ext 720. HTY Members receive tickets for shows as part of their membership.

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