Page 14 - MidWeek - Sep 7, 2022

14 MIDWEEK SEPTEMBER 7, 2022
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As Hawai‘i Theatre Center gets ready to celebrate 100 years of showmanship with a performance and soiree Sept. 10, the Pride of the Pacific also looks forward to the next century of stage-worthy productions.
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Hawai‘i Theatre Cen- ter president and CEO Gregory Dunn knows firsthand how easy it is to get lost in the grandeur of the 100-year-old auditorium.
In the years since that per- formance, Dunn found him- self back at Hawai‘i Theatre again and again, but this time, as a spectator. He remembers attending numerous shows and participating in fundrais- ing efforts like the Sarah Mc- Lachlan benefit concert and community events, such as the notable favorite high-en- ergy Chinatown Chase. So,
when the opportunity came about to lead Hawai‘i The- atre at the highest level, well, there’s no business like show business. His background with the Better Business Bu- reau equipped him to lead the nonprofit through an earned income strategy to make the organization more self-suffi- cient.
(Above left and right) Hawai‘i Theatre has been entertaining guests for 100 years from its historic Chinatown building. PHOTOS COURTESY HAWAI‘I THEATRE
“I remember performing at one of the first Jim Nabors Christmas specials at the the- ater, standing on stage look- ing at this grand place,” he recalls.
growing — that is, until the pandemic hit. Questions swirled about how to flow with the shifting tides of stay-at-home streaming and the desire to fly the coop to faraway destinations once restrictions were lifted. The
riety of programming. In fact, it’s something the theater has always done and continues to do.
two of the film’s stars. Then, Augie T takes the stage Sept. 17 for a comedy showcase, followed by a children’s ed- ucation program partnership with Pacific Academy of the Performing Arts to debut The(Ab
FROM PAGE 15
Thanks to that shrewd fi-
Exciting shows coming up this month are a Napo- leon Dynamite film panel on Sept. 16, featuring not only a
nancial plan, Hawai‘i The- answer, according to Dunn, screening of the cult movie atre’s program budget kept was simple: offer a wider va- classic, but also a Q&A with
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