THE LAST PRINCESS: Auditions

Program type: 
Dates: 
Saturday, February 16, 2019 - 10:00am to Sunday, February 17, 2019 - 3:00pm
HILO COMMUNITY PLAYERS TO STAGE KAʻIULANI PLAY “THE LAST PRINCESS”
 
Auditions are announced for the Hilo Community Players’ production of The Last Princess, a full-length
drama about the life of Crown Princess Ka’iulani, written by Hilo playwright, Jackie Prell. Prell is
known to the Hilo community as the owner of Sweet Cane Café and studied English at the University of
Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
 
The play will be directed by retired UH Hilo drama professor, Jackie Pualani Johnson for a series of
weekend performances at the East Hawaiʻi Cultural Centerʻs Kahua ʻElua theatre from April 5th through
April 23. The last two performances will be held during the first two days of the Merry Monarch
Festival as a dramatic offering during Hiloʻs premiere hula competition.
 
Auditions will be held at EHCC on Saturday, February 16 at 10:00 a.m. and Sunday, February 17 at 3:00
p.m. Auditionees need only attend one set of auditions and they are asked to report at the start of the
audition session and remain for a two-hour time slot. During the auditions, there will be an opportunity
to read from the play and work with other potiential actors to explore situations in this re-telling of
Hawaiian history.
 
The pivotal lead role of Kaʻiulani requires an actress to portray the Princess from age 12 to age 21, when
she returned to Hawaiʻi from her studies in England and expected to assume the throne. Additional roles
will include members of the royal family, including King Kalākaua; Queen Liliʻuokalani; Princess
Likelike, the mother of Kaʻiulani; and Kaʻiulaniʻs father, Archibald Cleghorn, who was of Scottish
heritage.
 
A number of roles will be available that represent people close to the Princess: her governess, Miss
Gardinier; her friend Koa who also studied abroad; and her guardians, Mr. And Mrs. Davies. In keeping
with history, several roles will be cast to portray the men who overthrew the monarchy, specifically,
Mr. Lorrin Thurston and Mr. Sanford Dole. Smaller roles available include the United States’ President
Cleveland and his wife, and Ministers Stevens and Willis. An array of school girls, reporters, soldiers,
and government agents also will be cast.
 
Rehearsals will be scattered through evenings and weekends with actors in larger roles scheduled more
frequently through the week. Reading copies of the script are available before auditions by contacting
the director at 808.937.6600 or can be perused outside the office of the East Hawaiʻi Cultural Center
during operational times, Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
 
For further information, contact:
Director Jackie Pualani Johnson at: 808.937.6600 or [email protected]