On Saturday, June 9, Kilauea Drama & Entertainment Network will celebrate its 10th birthday from 6-10 p.m. at the Hilo Burger Joint. A $10 donation to KDEN will get you a wrist band for discounts on food and beverages. There
On Saturday, June 9, Kilauea Drama & Entertainment Network will celebrate its 10th birthday from 6-10 p.m. at the Hilo Burger Joint. A $10 donation to KDEN will get you a wrist band for discounts on food and beverages. There will be enteratinment throughout the evening.
The evening will start off with “Pedjioke,” hosted by music director and board member Pedro Ka‘awaloa, who will be at the piano — and singing.
“As in karaoke, you can pick a song from one of our songbooks and sing,” explained Pedjioke whiz Suzi Bond, KDEN administrator.
After that, at about 8:30 p.m., Trudge will play. Throughout the evening there will be a raffle. Donations will also be accepted.
In 2002, a small group of theater enthusiasts met and formed a little theater company.
“KDEN’s mission is to provide and promote top quality community theater in East Hawaii, seeking to enrich and unite our community through participation in the performing arts,” said Bond.
Still going strong after a decade, the company this summer will present Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella.”
KDEN’s first show was a tour of “Man of LaMancha,” which played at the Aloha Theater in Kona and was the first musical produced at the Palace Theater in Hilo. To date, KDEN has produced four Gilbert and Sullivan operettas: “The Pirates of Penzance,” “The Mikado,” “HMS Pinafore” and “Patience.”
The group has also brought to local stages nine more musicals: “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” “Li’l Abner,” “Snoopy,” “Bye, Bye Birdie,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Peter Pan” and “The Fantasticks,” along with Agatha Christie murder mysteries “The Mousetrap” and “And Then There Were None,” and two comedy-dramas, “The Foreigner” and “The Octette Bridge Club.”
KDEN has a living history program in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and has been instrumental in developing a theater arts program at the Volcano School of Arts and Sciences Public Charter School’s middle school. KDEN also sponsors the Volcano Festival Chorus, a small community chorus in Volcano.
“Please join KDEN for an evening of fun, music, food and drink, and celebration,” said Bond. For more information, call 982-7344.
