Aloha Theatre
Aloha Theatre
Refurbish it, please
Last year, my husband and I wanted to see shows on Broadway. The average orchestra seat was $300.
My physician just returned from a trip to Sydney. While there, she attended the opera; the average ticket being about $300 U.S.
I’ve just finished appearing in our local theater company’s production of “Oklahoma” and the average price per ticket is $15 to $20.
What is my point?
People want and deserve culture and for folks like me that has always meant the performing arts, especially theater. We have a company, Aloha Performing Arts Company, that puts on great quality performances and makes the seat price affordable enough for almost anyone to be able to attend the shows.
I really think that we need to appreciate these hard-working folks who do these shows on a volunteer basis. How to show our appreciation?
Well, restore the venue, the Aloha Theatre. Truth be known, it is a shambles.
There are no screens on the walls of the dressing rooms, so every flying or creeping animal shares the nights with the cast. The wooden floors in the wings are caving in and the cast members have a hard time not falling into the audience during dance numbers. The walls are rotted and there have been reports of vermin on the premises.
I ask the benefactors of APAC to organize and contribute toward Aloha Theatre renovation. Please, philanthropists, fix the place and the shows will go on. We must keep the theater alive.
Francine Alexander
Kailua-Kona
Highway project
Lots of comment time
Seldom do I agree with our governor but on the issue of Native Hawaiians and our Queen Kaahumanu Highway expansion, I have to somewhat agree with him.
This project has been in the works for years and everyone who had any interest in the project, the path it would take and what might or might not be in that path had plenty of time to research it and should have made their voices heard years ago instead of waiting until the project was about to get under way — again.
If the Native Hawaiian organizations were not happy with the results of the previous environmental assessment in 1996, why didn’t they step up? It’s been 15 years, plenty of time to make their concerns known and solutions completed or at least on the table.
Frank Dickinson
Kailua-Kona