Professor Jackie Pualani Johnson will appear as Hawaii’s last queen in the one-woman show, “Lili‘uokalani at Washington Place” at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16 at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.
Professor Jackie Pualani Johnson will appear as Hawaii’s last queen in the one-woman show, “Lili‘uokalani at Washington Place” at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 16 at the University of Hawaii at Hilo Performing Arts Center.
Admission to the living history presentation is free and sponsored by the Humanities Division of UH-Hilo. The show centers on the personal life of the queen as she reminisces about the inherent challenges of mothering her three cherished hanai children.
Opening the evening program will be Na Leo Mele o Kamehameha, the Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii alumni choir, under the direction of Herbert Mahelona, music teacher at the Keaau campus. The choir will share songs written by Lili‘uokalani, who was an avid composer and writer of poetic Hawaiian lyrics.
Johnson wrote the script for “Lili‘uokalani at Washington Place” for a series of performances envisioned by the Rev. Moki Hino of Hilo’s Holy Apostles Episcopal Church. The series began with a one-woman show about Queen Emma, written by Johnson and performed by UH-Hilo performing arts graduate Denyse Woo-Ockerman.
The ‘Iolani Guild of Oahu suggested the theme for the second show, focusing on Lili‘uokalani — the woman and mother behind the political figure so often explored in Hawaiian history.
The Humanities Division at UH-Hilo is comprised of the Art, Communication, English, Language Arts and Philosophy departments.