Honolulu Theatre for Youth Launches 72nd Season with ANIME MOMOTARO

Honolulu Theatre for Youth has announced the opening of Anime Momotaro this Saturday, September 5th at 7:00pm. The show officially launches the company's 72nd season and is the first of eight offerings. 

The production is adapted from the Japanese folktale by Alvin Chan, Eric Johnson, and the HTY Ensemble. HTY first mounted the production in 2011, followed by a run at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, WA in 2013, and an HTY remount in 2016. Now, this HTY classic is back with a new cast and new original music, featuring shamisen performance and vocals by Anju Madoka.

The show blends inspiration from the visually rich world of anime and traditional Japanese theater forms, such as Kyogen and Kabuki, for an entertaining and fast-paced re-telling of the famous folktale. Audiences of all ages will enjoy the stylized storytelling, bright costumes, and props manipulated by black-clad koken, traditional stagehands. The HTY stage adaptation also offers a gentler ending with a resolution based on compassion and a message about bullying.

The production opens to the public on Saturday, September 5th at 7:00pm with additional public performances on Sundays, September 13, 20, and 27 at 2:00pm at HTY's Tenney Theatre on the grounds of The Cathedral of St. Andrew in downtown Honolulu. Free parking is available for patrons in the lot fronting the theatre.