Read the news enough, and you quickly find that there isn’t much difference between actors and politicians. Both make speeches, remember lines, perform before audiences and generally play roles that are often at odds with their own personalities. Usually, it’s the actors who decide to enter politics (Ronald Reagan, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, that guy who played Gopher on The Love Boat), but every once in a while, a politician decides to perform for something other than the legislative process.
Which is why I wasn’t too surprised to see that Maui’s own Mayor Alan Arakawa will appear–in a powdered wig, no less–as a special guest actor in the April 5 performance of The Worthmores, a new comedy put on by Maui Onstage.
Written by local author Tom Althouse (who in early 2013 filed a $300 million copyright infringement lawsuit against Warner Brothers over The Matrix series of movies, which is still pending and WB calls “frivolous”), the play tells the story of Mr. Rivers, an 18th century gentleman.
“He also married a scrub maid, who [sic] he deeply loves and now must pass off as high born,” states a Mar. 7 Maui Onstage press release. “Anne, his daughter, also wishes to marry one she truly loves. Bragabit loves her truly but lacks social skills. The villainous Colonel Vainlove, the more proper suitor, is only interested in Anne’s money. Young George, the adopted son of Mr. Rivers, is in love with Molly, who he thinks is a maid and Moppet is a well-bred lady in love with a stable boy.”
Get all that? Apparently, Arakawa’s role is similar to that of Sean Connery in Kevin Costner’s version of Robin Hood–a high-profile walk-on at the end.
“The problem is that he’s only going to be in the play for one night,” said Rod Antone, the county’s communications director. “He checked his schedule, and said he could only do it on that night.”
At one point, Antone told me that show organizers asked him if casting Arakawa in the play was a good idea–if people would actually come to the show and see it.
“Are you kidding?” Antone said he told them. “He’s wearing a powdered wig!”
The cast for The Worthmores is quite large: Steven Dascoulias, Kristi Scott, Brett Wulfson, Jeff Brackett, Hoku Pavao Jones, Ricky Pavao Jones, Kepa Cabanilla-Aricayos, Dale Button, David Negaard, Sharleen Lagatutta, John Messersmith, Joshua Franco, Joel Agnew, Jim Oxborrow, Justin House, Jonathan Severance, Mannasseh Robidoux, David Pisoni and Althouse himself. Shows will run April 4-13 at the Iao Theater in Wailuku. Ticket prices will run $18-22. For more information, call 808-242-6969 or visit mauionstage.com.
Photo courtesy Mauionstage
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