The Ulua Theatre at Pu Mu | www.ulua.org

A HUI HOU SHOW THIS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25

2008-10-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Jason Scott Lee's Journey Toward a Simpler Lifestyle Showcased in HIFF Screening of "Living Pono"

2008-09-29T23:11:00.001-07:00

"Living Pono with Jason Scott Lee," an hour-long documentary-in-progress featuring the homegrown film actor's journey back to the land, is set to screen at the 2008 Louis Vuitton Hawai'i International Film Festival Sunday October 12 at 1PM at the Regal Dole Cannery Theater.

"Everybody was thinking that if you live so far away from Hollywood, you'll ruin your career," Lee admits in the opening scenes of the film. "I said, 'Career is nothing without the happiness and the joy inside.' Even now, it's kind of hard to explain."

In consultation with PBS Hawai'i, the documentary explores Lee's turn away from stardom's fame & glamour toward a simpler, off-grid lifestyle on Hawai'i's Big Island. "Jason isn't just talking about going green, he really is doing it!" said San Francisco-based producer Rick Bacigalupi. "At a time when we're all thinking more about how we can live more responsibly on the planet in the future, Jason is finding answers in ancient traditional indigenous cultural practices centered on respect for the land."

The native Hawaiian concept of mälama 'äina is a central theme throughout the film, destined for national public television distribution. "Jason's journey, it turns out, doesn't just take place in Hawai'i, it's deeply rooted in Hawaiian culture," said Living Pono associate producer Roland Joseph Torres. When completed, the documentary will introduce Hawaiian culture and issues to many in its wide audience for the first time.

Clips from the film are viewable online at www.LivingPono.com, where tax-deductible donations can be made to support the project through fiscal sponsor the International Documentary Association. Corporate underwriting opportunities are also available.

To purchase tickets for the October 12 screening at the Regal Dole Cannery Theater visit www.HIFF.org. Jason Scott Lee and the producers will participate in a Q&A session after the movie. Living Pono will also be shown in early November at the E Malama Aina Festival in Hilo. More info: www.malamaainahawaii.org

Oct. 4 Debut of Layne Luna Doc "Kiyoshi 'Bob' Kubo Love for Family, Love of Nature"

2008-09-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

Please join us at the University of Hawai'i Hilo Theater on Saturday, October 4 for the debut of a Hilo-made documentary by local artist and filmmaker Layne Luna titled "Kiyoshi 'Bob' Kubo Love for Family, Love of Nature."

This hour long film features scenes that are a throw back to the past plantation days of the Hamakua Coast. It also depicts an appreciation for the simplistic lifestyle and the love for the family system.

Also featured that evening is a short by Keith "Bradda Skibbs" Nehls titled "Aloha Aina," which is a story of the work and changes made on the Honolii, Hakalau and Pohoiki surfing beaches through one man's dream and the efforts of a small group of people.

There will be live performances before the films by Na Hoku Hanohano Award winning recording artist John Keawe and Brittni Paiva.

Advanced tickets are $10 and $15 at the door. This event will benefit 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Basic Image, which is responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the Honolii, Hakalau and Pohoiki beaches.

Ticket outlets are S. Tokunaga Store, Basically Books, Wiwoole in the Prince Kuhio Plaza, Blue Kalo in Hakalau, HCEOC Rainbow Falls Connection Gift Store, or by contacting the Luna Studio at lunal003@hawaii.rr.com.

SHIZUNO NASU PRESENTS ESSENCE OF BEAUTY JULY 18-19

2008-07-07T01:25:00.000-07:00

Dancer and choreographer Shizuno Nasu, will present Essence of Beauty at Ulua Theatre in Volcano on Friday and Saturday, July 18 & 19, at 7:30 p.m.

Essence of Beauty is a collaborative work between Ms. Nasu, dancer Karen Masaki, photographers Ken and Mary Goodrich, and sound designer Jo Caron. This multi-media work is a synergistic blending of visuals, sound and movement. It will create new forms of expression in performance, giving the viewer a visual and aural experience of the elemental nature of beauty.

Born in Osaka, Japan, Shizuno Nasu has won international acclaim for her unique approach of dance attuned to the rhythms of Mother Nature. In her quest for her own stylistic voice, Shizuno studied old Japanese mythological dances in a multi-year pilgrimage that took her to every prefecture in Japan. She currently lives on the island of Hawai'i, where she continues to generate new Spiral Visions and teach dance.

Karen Masaki recently moved to Volcano after years of dancing and teaching in New York, Philadelphia and Honolulu. Her most important mentor was Daniel Nagrin, who inspired her love of dance improvisation. She is fascinated by dance as a physical manifestation of an inner state of being, with movement driven by character and persona.

Ken Goodrich's passion for photography was ignited many years ago when he began documenting the vanishing culture of the Otomi Indians of Tlacotlapilco Mexico. For much of his photographic career, he has focused on visual design for multi-image events. In 2007, Ken and his wife, Mary, founded Hawai'i Photo Retreat to provide photographic workshops and tours on the Big Island.

Mary Goodrich has been a photographer for many years and her work is well known in Hawai'i and on the mainland. She utilizes multi-image projection for her color work; the orchestration of slowly dissolving images engages the senses in a way that is liquid and dreamlike. Her subjects include nature and landscapes as well as the figure and portraiture. She is a member of the Volcano Village Artist Hui and the Hilo Photography Club.

From a young age, Jo Caron spent long hours creating unique sound mixes carefully designed to evoke a certain mood. She DJs for Ecstatic Dance, a spiritual journey through dance, at Kalani Resort in Puna and for her own Lava Dance Parties at Cooper Center in Volcano. She is part of a percussion ensemble, Mori No Mai, which is an integral part of Ms. Nasu's site-specific performances. She designed the soundtrack for Ms. Nasu's recent Voice of Nature performance in Hilo.

Tickets for the concert, $15 in advance and $18 at the door, are available at Volcano Garden Arts, Volcano Store, and CD Wizard in Hilo.

Ulua Theatre is located at 19-4325 Haunani Road in Volcano Village.

Meisner Workshop Filled. Tickets Still Available for "Vincent."

2008-03-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your enthusiastic responses regarding the upcoming
Meisner Workshop at Ulua Theatre! The workshop has filled to capacity
within just a few days, and we cannot take any more applicants for
this. We hope to be able to make other acting workshops available in
the future.

For those of you who weren't able to get into the workshop, or haven't
had a chance to see "Vincent" when it played at the Aloha Theatre,
there are still tickets available for the show April 3, 4, 5. As
always though, the Ulua Theatre is a small venue so to guarantee that
you can get in, do plan to purchase your tickets in advance at either
CD Wizard or the Volcano Store.

Mahalo nui for your support of the Ulua Theatre and the arts in Hawai'i.

Meisner Acting Workshop to be offered at Ulua Theatre

2008-03-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

Jim Jarrett, star of the international touring one-man show "Vincent," will offer a two-day Master Actor's class in the Meisner technique. The workshop is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. on April 5 and 6 at the Ulua Theatre. This is a rare opportunity and space is limited so interested students should contact the Ulua Theatre right away to reserve their spot in the class.

Sanford Meisner was one of the earliest actors of the Group Theatre, along with Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, and Harold Clurman, among others. This theatre company brought Stanislavski's "Method Acting" technique into practice and prominence in America.

In 1933 Meisner became disenchanted with pure "Method" acting and felt that an American approach was needed to help American actors achieve the goal of "living truthfully under imaginary circumstances." He began to develop this approach at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where he remained for over two decades, until leaving to work for Twentieth Century Fox in Hollywood.

Meisner later returned to the Neighborhood Playhouse, serving as head of the Drama Department until 1990, while also co-founding schools in the West Indies and in North Hollywood. The Sanford Meisner Center is a school and theatre still operating today in North Hollywood.

Famed playwright Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman, The Crucible etc.) has described Meisner as "the most principled teacher of acting" in this country. "[When] I am reading actors I can pretty well tell which ones have studied with Meisner. It is because they are honest and simple and don't lay on complications that aren't necessary."

Meisner has taught such esteemed actors as Gregory Peck, Grace Kelly, Diane Keaton, James Woods, Susan Sarandon, Sydney Pollack, and many many others. Jim Jarrett began studying with Meisner in 1987, becoming one of only a handful of people in the world personally trained by Meisner to teach the Meisner Technique.

In addition to maintaining a successful career as an actor, Jarrett is the founder and director of San Francisco's Meisner Technique School of Acting. He is offering this three day intensive workshop as a gesture of aloha and support for the efforts of Jason Scott Lee's Ulua Theatre at Pu Mu. The cost for participation is only $40 per person for the full two days, with all proceeds going to the Ulua Theatre.

We are sending the word out to YOU, the friends & supporters of Ulua Theatre before announcing this to the public, so you have the first opportunity to reserve a spot in this workshop! To reserve your space, please send your check as soon as possible to:

Kilauea Productions P.O. Box 831 Volcano, HI 96785

Space is limited! Checks must be received by April 1st. Please provide a telephone number so we can call to confirm receipt and guarantee your spot in the class.

For more information about this event and about the Ulua Theatre, please visit: www.ulua.org or email: uluatheatre@earthlink.net

Apr. 3-5: Leonard Nimoy¹s smash-hit play 'Vincent' comes to the Ulua Theatre

2008-03-12T00:15:00.000-07:00

Jarrett Productions announced today their international touring success, Vincent, will come to Volcano, Hawai`i in early April for three performances as a fundraiser for the Ulua Theatre.

Vincent is a one-man show about the turbulent life of the famed artist, Vincent van Gogh. Written by Leonard Nimoy, the two-act play debuted at the Aloha Theatre in 1997. Over the next eleven years it has become one of the most successful touring productions in the world.

The play stars actor, teacher and former Big Island resident, Jim Jarrett, who moved from Hollywood to the Big Island in 1992 where he remained for the next four years, raising his young daughter and teaching acting.

In a recent interview, Jarrett attempts to explain why Vincent has become such a touring success: "Mr. Nimoy's play is compelling, humorous, inspiring and most of all, educational. Those who attend will never be able to look at Vincent or his work the same way again. Through this play we discover Vincent was much more than a madman artist - he was a man who, after years of wandering and searching his soul, discovered his dream, his God-given purpose for being on this planet and then spent the next ten years of his life trying to do justice to this gift. That's noble and rare. And, inspiring."

Vincent will run for three nights - from April 3rd through April 5th at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $20 per ticket. Jarrett is generously donating 100% of these proceeds to the Ulua Theatre. Tickets may be purchased in advance at CD Wizard and at the Volcano Store.

For more information e-mail uluatheatre@earthlink.net or visit the Ulua Theatre website: www.ulua .org

Bolo Performs on Feb. 22

2008-02-12T17:28:00.000-08:00

The Ulua Theatre has been quiet for the past year, but we have an event coming up for you very soon!

Bolo, who has performed at the Ulua Theatre previously with slack key artist Chris Yeaton, will be performing solo at the Ulua Theatre on February 22nd! The show begins at 7:00 p.m. and tickets are available for $20 at the door.

50% of the proceeds for this event will go to benefit the Ulua Theatre: buying new gravel to fill in the potholes in the driveway (we felt the recent rains!), upkeep of the theatre building, and hopefully we'll have some funds that can go toward the next production (many folks have been asking when the next play will be).

Bolo's concert poster is attached to this message. We hope to see you there!

"Living Pono" Documentary

2007-10-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

Documentary Filmmaker Rick Bacigalupi has been following the activities of Jason Scott Lee for over a year now, documenting Jason's work on his farm, as well as his work on various film projects which take him around the world. The film focuses on Jason's decision to leave the glamour of Hollywood behind in favor of a simpler life focused on nature. Bacipix Productions is seeking support from individuals and organizations who would like to help bring this film project to fruition. For more information about "Living Pono," go to www.LivingPono.com.

Introduction to Dance

2007-01-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Join projectLIMB at the Ulua Theatre on Jan 9 and 16 from 5-6:30 pm. ProjectLIMB is a dance-based co-op intent on communicating complex 21st century issues with creative cunning. The project is to explore our relationship with the earth and ourselves through performance, community outreach, and education programs. The goal is to assign new meanings to people, animals, plants, stones, water -- to the world as a whole.. How do we move beyond our false sense of detachment from the earth, which has created our current crises? ProjectLIMB combines artistry, education, and dialogue to create new paradigms for the future.

The sessions are for any age and any skill level; just bring clothes you can move in and and an open mind. Admission is $10. Come dance with us and enjoy
a piece of New York City in Hawaii.

Ulua Theater, 19-4325 Haunani Road, Volcano Village. Visit www.projectlimb.net for more information.

Hoku Award Winners SUGahDADDY at Ulua June 23-24

2006-06-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

"SUGahDADDY," winners of the Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Rock Album of the Year in Hawai'i 2005, will perform at Ulua Theatre on June 23 and 24.

"Suffereignty" follows the examples set by Henry Kapono Kaaihue's 1993 masterpiece "KAPONO" and Peter Apo's 1990 compilation "Hawaiian Nation: A Call for Sovereignty" in demonstrating the power of music as a means of political education.
- John Berger, Honolulu Star-Bulletin

"Just a spoonful of SUGah will get you humming, if not thinking."
- Wayne Harada, The Honolulu Advertiser

"A cross between the Dave Matthews Band, Kalapana and Red Hot Chili Peppers"
- Stacy Trevenon, The Half Moon Bay Review

Jason Leading a Workshop

2006-06-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Past Workshops / Activities

2006-06-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

During the summer of 2005 the Ulua Theatre at Pu Mu developed a workshopped production of Lanford Wilson's searing drama, Burn This, directed by Jason Scott Lee and Justina Mattos. Workshop participants had the opportunity to sit-in on the rehearsal period, choosing an area to focus on in-depth over the summer.

Rehearsals were held on nights (7-10 p.m.) and weekends. Days (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.) were devoted to learning the techniques of natural farming on the 25 acre retreat property, production preparations (set-building etc.), and opportunities to see the beautiful island of Hawaii on fishing excursions and other day trips. One day each week was left open for participants to explore the island on their own. Late nights after rehearsals participants warmed themselves beside the theatre's fireplace while "talking story" with others.

Immersing themselves in the tranquility of a native Hawaiian forest, participants learned how integral nature is to the soul of an artist. Performing repetitive physical tasks daily, over an extended period of time, participants strengthened their bodies, minds and spirits as they came to a deeper understanding of the community-building essence of theatre and the strength they could draw from a profound connection to the natural environment.

The Story of Pu Mu

2006-06-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

It began as a wish… a wish to return to nature, to simplicity and freedom for the healing of my spirit. In earnest search of this I was drawn to the island of Hawaii (the Big Island) and encountered a region of primordial rainforest, a tapestry of flora and fauna residing in these islands long before the first man set foot.

Native Ohia trees, twenty-foot Hapu`u tree ferns, medicinal shrubs, native birdsong nearly extinct from these emerald islands. Original nature. True nature. The closest I felt I could be to nature's nature. Thriving at 4,000 feet above sea level on an active volcano with access to the warm pacific waters - this must be heaven!

I started a garden and ate what I grew. I fished the ocean with great reward… but still felt a void in my perspective. I became impassioned to make a pilgrimage to Japan to meet the venerable Masanobu Fukuoka, author of The One Straw Revolution (a visionary modern classic of a way of farming, and a way of life, to heal the land and the human spirit). This sensei of natural farming mentored me with the understanding that "We cannot isolate one aspect of life from another.

When we change the way we grow our food, we change our food, we change society, we change our values." With that realization I came to understand that all culture stems from agriculture; that art is a joyful celebration of the abundance that nature affords us. With this philosophy in mind, I built the Ulua Theatre as a bridge between arts and agriculture.

At Pu Mu, conservation, fishing, farming, and reforestation will be emphasized as well as the arts, to blend the aspects of conscious living, food as medicine, and the observation of nature in order to provide inspiration, education, and healing. This effort in building sensitivity, awareness, and diversity lays the foundation upon which talent will be enriched, future generations educated, and global concerns addressed. This I present to listeners as Pu Mu's clear vision to propagate a sacred gratitude and respect for nature.

Aloha,
Jason Scott Lee

For Further Information

2006-06-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

If you have any questions regarding the Pu Mu Artists' Residency Program or future productions, please email the Ulua Theatre at UluaTheatre@earthlink.net