{"id":1620,"date":"2026-10-09T00:58:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T04:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/living.halekulani.com\/?p=1620"},"modified":"2026-10-09T01:04:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T05:04:27","slug":"an-olelo-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/living.halekulani.com\/ja\/an-olelo-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"\u30cf\u30ef\u30a4\u8a9e\u30aa\u30da\u30e9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s a postcard-sunny April morning in Waik\u012bk\u012b, and San Francisco-based kumu hula Patrick Makuak\u0101ne is just three days into the month-long rehearsal process for Kamalehua: The Sheltering Tree<\/a><\/em>. Based on the true story of Timoteo Kamalehua Ha\u2018alilio, the Kingdom of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s first diplomat, the opera would make history on multiple fronts, as Hawai\u2018i Opera Theatre\u2019s first commissioned project in its 65-year history and as the world\u2019s first professional opera with a libretto composed primarily in \u2018\u014dlelo Hawai\u2018i. Kamalehua<\/em>, which would run for three nights in May 2026 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall, also casts Makuak\u0101ne, 65, in a new role, as the director and choreographer of an opera. Despite his storied career, he seems to be pinching himself a bit, daunted in part by the scale of the production: 12 principals, a 40-person chorus, full orchestra, and five dancers he\u2019s flying in from his h\u0101lau, N\u0101 Lei Hulu I Ka W\u0113kiu, in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause really, Patrick Makuak\u0101ne, you have no business directing an opera,\u201d he says, impersonating his inner critic. He\u2019s sitting in the living room of the Waik\u012bk\u012b apartment he\u2019s renting for the month, not far from the Kaimuk\u012b neighborhood where he grew up. \u201cI don\u2019t want to say I was doubting myself. But I was perplexed as to, well, how do I do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not the first time Makuak\u0101ne has leapt into uncharted territory. After dancing hula with Robert Cazimero\u2019s H\u0101lau N\u0101 Kamalei o L\u012bl\u012blehua as a teen, he moved to San Francisco in the mid-\u201980s to be with his boyfriend, and he quickly fell in love with the city\u2019s proudly unorthodox spirit. He funneled that energy into N\u0101 Lei Hulu I Ka W\u0113kiu, the halau he founded in 1985, developing a unique style of hula. By infusing the traditional art form with contemporary elements of theater, flamboyant costuming, non-Hawaiian music, and the activism he learned from groups like ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), Makuak\u0101ne\u2019s productions sought to illuminate oft-ignored strands of Hawaiian history with gravitas and flair. He called the style hula mua, or \u201chula that evolves,\u201d and in 2023 it earned Makuak\u0101ne the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as the \u201cgenius grant,\u201d making him the first Native Hawaiian practitioner to receive the award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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