Theater group captures local humor of Rap Reiplinger.

Drawing loads of laughter from the crowd, the Mahalo Airlines sketch featured sassy stewardesses detailing safety instructions for a flight to Hawaii.

By Jennifer Smith

Laughter filled the Friendly Isle last week Thursday, as the Honolulu Theater for Youth (HTY) brought to life the unforgettable local humor of Rap’s Hawaii. Reviving an old classic, HTY actors have been traveling all over the islands performing Emmy award winning sketches from the late comic genius Rap Reiplinger.

With a hulihuli chicken here, and a tofu maki sushi there, HTY actors Pomai Lopez, Kimo Kaona and Charlie Timtim had audience members laughing up a storm with their opening chant.

Whether they were younger audience members just being introduced to Rap’s work, or members of an older generation remembering old classics, everyone present enjoyed the diversity and loud personalities of the pidgin speaking characters.

“Today is not tomorrow, or yesterday, or the day after. It’s Now! And Now is what Today is all about!,” Rap’s character Willie Maunawili said, in an inspiring election speech.

A hilarious spoof on a soap opera based around pidgin dialogue, the Young Kanakas took five minutes of drama and wrapped it up with a moving group kiss.

Willie Maunawili was among the sketches that received roars of laughter. Other hits included the Young Kanakas, Mahalo Airlines and the soda taste-test volunteer who doesn’t quite want to follow directions, proclaiming his favorite is the “soda cracka!”

Rap fans continue to use his famous pidgin phrases such as, “Russell, you get pen?,” and “How come I come, I stay you go?.”

His ability to blend cultural diversity with local humor in a way that most Hawaiians can either identify with or recognize as someone they know has kept Rap’s comedy alive for over 20 years after his untimely death in 1984.

HTY’s performance of Rap’s Hawaii is the “first time since his passing that his pieces have been performed live,” HTY Stage Manager Peggy Sullivan said.

Lopez, Kaona and Timtim performed 45 minutes of perfectly timed hilarious skits.

Following the performance Timtim provided a brief history of Rap Reiplinger’s work and his celebration of local culture in Hawaii.

“In the late 60s and early 70s it was considered shameful to be local,” Timtim said. However, in the late 70s and early 80s there was a renaissance with names, language and local culture gaining prominence in Hawaii.

“Rap wrote a lot of his stuff during this time,” Timtim said. “He took differences and exaggerated them, celebrated them.”

After this brief history audience members were asked how they felt about the skits, and most importantly, if anyone was offended by any of the material. No one from the Molokai Middle School or Molokai Public Library audiences said they were uncomfortable.

Audience members agreed with Timtim when he said that laughing about one’s differences can often help a person to gain confidence. Student audience members also said it could help people to gain friendships and have less wrinkles.

Molokai Middle School Counselor Margaret Kelleher was excited to see the way the students responded to the performance. “I thought they were fabulous. They loved it,” Kelleher said.

Kelleher contacted HTY about visiting Molokai Middle School last year after reading about the touring performance. “I wanted them to see live theater. So they could have that opportunity, since Honolulu is so far away,” Kelleher said. She said this is the first time HTY has visited the island in nearly a decade.

“This is a fantastic production. It is getting such a great response everywhere we go because it is about local culture,” Sullivan said.

Rap Reiplinger was once an HTY, actor and the local actors currently performing his work were excited to have the opportunity to perform Lee Cataluna’s adaptation of the legendary comedian’s work.

HTY actor Pomai Lopez said a lot of the people involved with the production grew up with Rap’s and “we are excited to bring it to the younger generation, to celebrate local culture.”

The performance of Rap’s Hawaii at the middle school was sponsored by Principal Gary Zukerman and the PTSO. Friends of the Library sponsored the performance at Molokai Public Library.

HTY will offer four extended performances of Rap’s Hawaii on March 7-8 and 14-15 at the Tenney Theatre on Oahu. Visit Htyweb.org for more information.

To chat with the cast and stage manager of Rap’s Hawaii visit HTY’s blog on the Honolulu Advertiser’s website at: http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com/rapshawaii.php

James Kawika Piimauna "Rap" Reiplinger was born on July 16, 1950. His witty humor captured the diversity and spirit of Hawaii. His death was a great loss to the comedic community. His timeless work such as Poi Dog, Do I Dare Disturb the Universe and Crab Dreams, and of course Rap’s Hawaii continue to entertain audiences to this day.

Charlie Timtim played an upbeat telephone operator.