From Honolulu Arts Beat:
Manoa Valley Theater (MVT) brings this charming adaption of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Ugly Duckling” into the 21st Century with cell phones and prime-time TV News. Add a socially-relevant layer that dramatizes the important contemporary issues of bullying and tolerance for diversity and we have a hit. HONK! has received, among many accolades, the 2000 Lawrence Olivier Award for “Best New Musical”.
HONK! is a reprise offering following MVT's original staging in 2002.
This dynamic, melodic and inventive production is artfully directed by award-winning Guest Director Karen Meyer. The characters in this daffy duckyard are animated by a perky, quirky score led by another award-winning and Guest Musical Director, Kala’i Stern and is sung by a cast of impressive vocal talents.
Choreographer Katherine L. Jones has won three Po’okela awards. HONK! Is full of exciting dance with a cast including young children and teens whose characters are rich with animal gestures, fish & fowl, feline and frog.
Solo and ensemble dance numbers are inventive, energetic and tremendously entertaining. Costumes by Dusty Behner dazzle the eye and heart with the bright and sunny palette of a happy fantasy. Sets are also full of imagination in modest circumstances with rotating vignettes and good use of props.
MVT gives us a lively production full of puns, jokes, and lots of clever “fowl” word play (“I admire you for your pluck!”... “We're off on a wild goose chase!”).
HONK! musically reminds us that being “...Different Isn’t Bad”, that life would be boring if we were all the same. It brings us to the present as Ugly’s siblings bully him, make fun of him and reject him for being different. Gerald Mandac’s engaging performance as Ugly shows a wide range of emotions as he struggles to find his true self and place in the world.
Suzanne Green’s beautiful voice and strong performance as mamma duck Ida provides Ugly with unconditional love and contains the endearing messages to “hold your head up high” and “keep paddling” because someone out there will love you ... “warts and all”.
A wide range of expressive skills are displayed vividly by Gabriel Wright as Cat. He is both friend and foe to Ugly as he contemplates the delicious prospect of having Ugly … for lunch! As a first time performer at MVT, Wright plays the role with good voice and energetic body language.
Come join the talented cast of HONK as they all try, like the rest of us, just to get along.
