The Enchanted Forest Hōkūlani’s First Original Musical Shines

Hōkūlani’s Children Theater of Molokai actors. Photo by Léo Azambuja

By Léo Azambuja

The forest was dying and the magic was fading. Prince Aldric, Seraphina, Rigoletta and the Jester sought help from a witch who had been banned to the swamp years ago. She revealed a powerful curse by a villainous queen imposter, causing the king to forget his love and the princess to believe the real queen died bringing her into this world. 

“You think you know me, little girl, but you don’t. You think you know your kingdom, but you don’t. You think you know your own story, but you don’t,” the witch told Seraphina. 

The Enchanted Forest, an original musical production of the Hōkūlani Children’s Theatre of Molokai, had a nearly full house on all three performances at Home Pumehana April 23-25. 

The entire cast after their last performance. Photos by Léo Azambuja

Acting Director Sydney Harper wrote the musical, but the idea of it was first envisioned by CTOM’s Teen Drama Club in 2023 inspired by the movie Rigoletto, a 1993 musical fantasy.

“This was just as much of an adventure and a thrill for me as it was for all these little guys and big guys,” Harper said after the last show, pointing to the musical’s cast onstage. “Writing this show with some of these girls that are up here, that winter in our Teen Drama Club, has been one of the highlights of my career as an acting coach and as a drama teacher.”

CTOM was established in 2023, and in only three years they have already produced several plays. But this was their first original musical. To the nonprofit organization’s founder and director, Vicki Boswell, this was the theatre’s most creative production to date, with all the “fabulous costumes” created by the teens and their families. 

Boswell also said the musical was her “most precious” production because one of her former students, Wailana Purdy-Avelino, worked as the play’s acting director.

“It’s very rewarding to see our students move up,” Boswell said. “It’s everything to me.”

And what happened to the curse?

Spoil alert: The villainous queen’s plans to claim the kingdom failed. The group’s determination led to the curse’s defeat, saving the forest and restoring the memory of Seraphina, the princess, and everyone else.

Boswell said the message of the play is that “we have the power to right the wrongs.”

CTOM is already looking forward to its next play, which will be at the same location in the first week of December.

“It’s going to be a fun Christmas play,” Boswell said.

The nonprofit’s mission is to enrich the lives of children, inspire them to create a better community with skills learned in performing arts, develop artistic expression through training and education, and become community builders. As a small nonprofit, they aim to “expose island youth to new opportunities and potential career choices.”

Visit www.hokulanictom.org for more information on their upcoming programs and to donate.