The Diamond Head Theatre is a cultural institution in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Calling itself the ''Broadway of the Pacific'', it is located on the slopes of Diamond Head in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Opened in 1915, it is Hawaii's oldest performing arts center.

History

On April 28, 1915, a new theatrical group called The Footlights was born when Will Lewers, Mrs. Walter F. Dillingham, Helen Alexander, Margaret Center and Gerrit Wilder appeared in ''The Amazons'' by Pinero. The performance took place at the Honolulu Opera House, where the main Post Office on Merchant Street now stands. The legacy of those theatre lovers grew into the third-oldest, continuously operating theatre in the entire United States. In 1934, The Footlights reorganized and took on a new name: Honolulu Community Theatre. In the original mission statement, still honored today, the theatre committed itself to community service through the art of theatre, involving the people of Hawaii as audience members, stage crew and performers. During World War II, Honolulu Community Theatre productions entertained thousands of troops at over 300 performances throughout the Pacific (a tradition they continued with the Pacific tour of ''Ain't Misbehavin during the 1990 season). Then, in 1952, Honolulu Community Theatre took up residence in the Fort Ruger Theatre, the Army Post's then movie house. Major refurbishments to make that structure a fully modern venue for stage productions included the addition of scene and costume shops, installation of lighting and sound systems, handicapped-accessible restrooms, a first-ever lobby for patrons and an upstairs addition for expanded office space, spotlights, and sound and lighting boards. In 1990, Honolulu Community Theatre was renamed Diamond Head Theatre. Each season Diamond Head Theatre offers six mainstage theatrical productions, including five major musicals. They provide theatre workshops to train residents of Hawaii in the theatrical arts. Acting, voice and dance classes for children, teens, and adults are offered throughout the year. Diamond Head Theatre's Shooting Stars, a youth performing arts troupe, provides exposure and training to area youth.

Past Seasons

2007-2008 Season

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'' is a musical with a book by Texas author Larry L. King and Peter Masterson and music and lyrics by Carol Hall. It is based on a story by King that was inspired by the real-life Chicken Ranch in La Grange ...

September 21, 2007 – October 7, 2007

Meet Me in St. Louis ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' is a 1944 American Christmas film, Christmas musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Divided into a series of seasonal vignettes, starting with Summer 1903, it relates the story of a year in the life of the Smith famil ...

November 30, 2007 – December 16, 2007

Barefoot in the Park ''Barefoot in the Park'' is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. It was made into a film in 1967, which starred Redford and Jane Fonda. Productions ''Barefoot ...

February 1, 2008 – February 17, 2008

Flower Drum Song ''Flower Drum Song'' was the eighth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1957 novel, ''The Flower Drum Song'', by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. It premiered on Broadway in 1958 and was then performed in the ...

March 21, 2008 – April 6, 2008 The Producers
May 16, 2008 – June 1, 2008 The Wizard of Oz
July 11, 2008 – July 27, 2008

2008 - 2009 Season

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

A Hawaii Community Theatre Premiere
September 26, 2008 – October 12, 2008

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

December 5, 2008 – December 31, 2008

Souvenir A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

A Hawaii Premiere
January 30, 2009 – February 15, 2009

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

March 20, 2009 – April 5, 2009 Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
A Hawaii Premiere
May 15, 2009 – May 31, 2009

The Wedding Singer ''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tells the ...

A Hawaii Premiere
July 10, 2009 – July 26, 2009

2009-2010 Season

The Drowsy Chaperone ''The Drowsy Chaperone'' is a Canadian musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, and a book by Bob Martin (comedian), Bob Martin and Don McKellar. The story concerns a middle-aged, asocial musical theater f ...

A Hawaii Premiere
September 25 – October 11, 2009

Irving Berlin's White Christmas ''Irving Berlin's White Christmas'' was an LP album of songs by Rosemary Clooney from the movie ''White Christmas (film), White Christmas,'' released by Columbia Records in 1954 in music, 1954 (CL 6338). The album was also released as a set of fo ...

A Hawaii Premiere
December 4 – 20, 2009 The Joy Luck Club
January 29 – February 14, 2010

SHOUT! The Mod Musical ''SHOUT! The Mod Musical'' is an Off-Broadway musical by Phillip George and David Lowenstein featuring songs from the swinging sixties. The musical features five female singers who are called, Orange, Blue, Green, Yellow and Red. The Storyline ...

A Hawaii Premiere
March 19 – April 4, 2010

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

May 14 – 30, 2010

The Sound Of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

July 9 – 25, 2010

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official site
Theatres in Hawaii Buildings and structures in Honolulu Culture of Honolulu Tourist attractions in Honolulu Theatres completed in 1915 1915 establishments in Hawaii