Theater group KDEN celebrates 20 years

On June 10, Kilauea Drama & Entertainment Network, or KDEN, took a break from rehearsing their annual summer musical to celebrate their 20th birthday.

A party of loyal supporters, board members past and present and some of the cast members met to eat, drink and play board games.

KDEN is a nonprofit community theater organization that performs at Kilauea Military Camp’s Kilauea Theater in Volcano.

“It is pretty miraculous that any nonprofit can exist for 20 years, let alone a community theater company” Board President Karl Halemano said in a press release. “We look forward to 20 more. We could not have made it this far without the overwhelming support of the community, especially during the past two years”

“A group of us wanted to remount the production of ‘Man of LaMancha’ so that we could take it on the road to Hilo and Kona,” Executive Director Suzi Bond said in the release. “While at a fair in Keaau I ran into Karen Blue, Peter Charlot, Bill Chikasuye and Tom McAlexander. I mentioned what we were thinking about doing and told them we needed a board to form a company. They all agreed to be part of this. With funding from philanthropists Anna Blackwell and Nancy Bannick, KDEN was born.”

Since its inception, KDEN has produced a summer musical every year and additional programs during the winter months. They have done 27 musicals, eight nonmusicals and a number of evenings of radio plays. They currently are in production for Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado” which will play July 22 to Aug. 7 at KMC’s Kilauea Theater. The performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 and Sundays at 2:30.

For more information on any of KDEN’s programs, please call (808) 982-7344 or email kden73@aol.com.