The Royal Sounds of Music
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THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF HAWAII’S PUBLIC TELEVISION STATION | JUNE 2012 | VOLUME 30, NUMBER 6 The Royal Sounds of Music page 4 Getting to Know the Palace THE PBS HAWAII MONTHLY MAGAZINE Editor Roberta Wong Murray LESLIE WILCOX President and CEO Design/Photo Editor Bryan Bosworth • King David Kalakaua slept in a queen-sized bed. Contributing Writers Lynn Haff John Kovacich • The King’s bedroom doubled as his office, with staff reporting for work there. Kaylee Noborikawa Robert Pennybacker • The King, a world traveler, took a page from Napoleon and crowned himself. Liberty Peralta Jill Matsumoto (He picked up elegant his-and-hers crowns at a discount in Europe.) Communications Assistant Abby Tateishi • At formal dinners, the King did not sit at the head of the table. Instead, his larger royal dining chair was placed on a long side of the table, where he could interact PBS Hawaii with more people. 2350 Dole Street Honolulu, HI 96822 (808) 973-1000 hese are some of the nuggets our staff and college-student trainees picked Toll Free: (800) 238-4847 up during a visit to Iolani Palace. We all went to the palace to learn Website PBSHawaii.org its history and understand its protocol, as part of preparations for the Weekly Newsletter unprecedented taping of a PBS Hawaii television musical special there. Send request to: Our Na Mele program, as you’ll see elsewhere in this magazine, celebrates the music [email protected] T composed by four alii siblings, including King Kalakaua. Comments/Suggestions [email protected] Follow us: Docent Maggie Keener ushered us into rooms where King Kalakaua and his succes- sor, Queen Liliuokalani, lived and worked and gathered with friends and family and dignitaries. Aunty Maggie, a strikingly attractive kupuna, dearly loves the palace and is fiercely protective of it. She made sure we all wore booties over our footwear to prevent scuffing the rich wooden floors and she scolded anybody who ventured off About Us PBS advances learning and the main path of the tour. And she brought history alive, conjuring up the daily life of discovery through storytelling Hawaiian rulers. that profoundly touches people’s lives.We bring the world to Hawaii and Hawaii to the world. The royals looked out from age-darkened portraits in the grand entry hall. The hall Major support of the station centerpiece is a beautiful koa staircase, said to be the largest koa structure in the comes from the people and businesses of Hawaii. world. In the dining room, Aunty Maggie asked us: “What was their favorite dessert?” We On the Cover Music composed by were stumped. “Chantilly cake?” “Red velvet cake?” “Kulolo?” came the hesitant Hawaii’s monarchy comes responses. to life in the premiere of Na Mele: Na Lani Eha from Iolani Palace No, she said – it was strawberries and ice cream. Presented by Hawaiian Airlines, featuring rare performances inside the We looked at each other. Back in those days, where’d they get the ice from which to historic Iolani Palace. make ice cream? See page 4. PBS Hawaii Management Our guide fully expected the surprise on our faces. President and CEO Leslie Wilcox Senior Vice President/CFO “They would order a huge chunk of ice from Alaska and bring it here on a ship, Karen Yamamoto wrapped in burlap,” she explained. And then, the royals’ retainers worked furiously VP Creative Services to make treats with the ice before it melted. Robert Pennybacker VP Programming and Communications There was a hush as we entered the bedroom where Queen Liliuokalani was impris- Roberta Wong Murray oned, convicted of having knowledge of a royalist plot, after U.S. interests ended VP Advancement the Hawaiian monarchy. I recalled that in the Queen’s book, she described the bed- Lisa Levine room as airy. It was. We also felt the weight of a painful past and the sadness that still PBS Hawaii Board of Directors resides there. Chair Robert Alm Vice Chair I remember visiting the palace as a Jason Fujimoto kid on a school excursion. So did Secretary others in the group. We wondered Tim Johns Treasurer how many children today receive this Thomas Koide exposure to the historic site, with the Carolyn Berry budget cuts to education. Jimmy Borges Keiki-Pua Dancil, Ph.D. Our staff thoroughly enjoyed our Guy Fujimura tour of Iolani Palace and Gayle Harimoto we hope that if you haven’t done so Ken Hiraki Alan Hoffman Before the day of taping Na Mele, PBS Hawaii staff and pro- lately, you’ll visit and take a fascinat- duction students sat for a briefing outside Iolani Palace. The ing trip back in time. Joan Lee Husted rows of benches made the students feel like they were on a Kawika Kahiapo roller coaster and they did “the wave.” Photo: Cheryl Sakai Darren Kimura On behalf of the PBS Hawaii Board Ian Kitajima and staff, I’d like to thank Iolani Palace Executive Director Kippen de Alba Chu and Jean Kiyabu his team for allowing us to bring people and cameras into the palace for the Na Patrick Kobayashi Mele taping. We operated, with all respect, under strict rules to cause no damage Jackson Nakasone to the building or its priceless treasures. Not only did our crew wear booties, our Cameron Nekota Shaunagh Robbins tripods wore booties, among many protective measures. Robert Pennybacker, PBS Marissa Sandblom Hawaii VP of Creative Services, oversaw the television production. Community David Watumull Partner Hawaiian Airlines generously provided production funding. PBS Hawaii, a member of the We invite you to enjoy this special edition of Na Mele from Iolani Palace, at 7:30 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), pm Monday, June 11. You’ll see and hear top Hawaii musical artists performing the is a community-supported, non- commercial public television station music of the four royal siblings known as Na Lani Eha, in the palace where some of broadcasting throughout the state the music was born. of Hawaii. PBS HAWAII magazine (ISSN: Singers, musicians and our television team were profoundly moved by the extraordi- 1946-0813) is published monthly nary setting and the songs. I believe PBS Hawaii viewers will be moved as well. by the Hawaii Public Television Foundation, dba PBS Hawaii. Periodicals postage PAID at Honolulu, Hawaii and at addi- tional entry mailing offices in Hilo, A hui hou (until next time), Kahului, Kailua-Kona, Kaunakakai, and Lihue. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PBS Hawaii, Advancement Department, 2350 Dole Street, Honolulu, HI 96822. Music from Hawaii’s monarchy era comes to life in Na Mele: Na Lani Eha from Iolani Palace Presented by The Hawaiian Airlines. This music special premieres June 11, Kamehameha Day, Royal as a live pledge program. Sounds of Music oyal siblings Working closely with the staff Through the songs composed King Kalakaua, at Iolani Palace, PBS Hawaii’s crew by the royal siblings, stories from Queen Liliuokalani, took painstaking care to ensure Hawaii’s monarchs also live on. Princess the production would not harm “[They’ve left] such a legacy of the palace and its artifacts. Like music that’s still performed all the Likelike all palace visitors, musicians and time on the islands,” said guitarist R and Prince crew wore booties over their shoes Jeff Peterson. Leleiohoku – collectively known to preserve the floors and kept Vocalist/ukulele player as Na Lani Eha (The Royal Four) food and drink outside. Before David Kamakahi likened the songs – composed the beloved music entering the palace, station props to journal entries about people featured in the special. “Music and equipment were fumigated or the royal four observed, met or has always been an integral part wiped down for insects and for- knew. “What was special about the of Hawaiian culture, and having eign debris. In consideration of the Hawaiian monarchy was that they the compositions of Na Lani Eha effects of harsh lighting on antique really wanted to stay connected performed inside Iolani Palace by fabric and paper, LED lights were to their people because they loved contemporary artists provides a used instead. And only gloved pal- them so much,” he said. continuum from the past to the ace staff were authorized to move For many of the musicians in present,” said palace executive artifacts and furniture. this latest production, the once-in- director Kippen de Alba Chu. “We are all about preservation,” a-lifetime opportunity to perform Taped musical performances said Heather Diamond, palace inside the palace was a tremendous inside Iolani Palace are rare. curator. “We’re trying to arrest any honor. Robert Cazimero said he Allowing PBS Hawaii to stage its of the degeneration that normally was humbled and awed as he looked production complemented the happens over time due to humidity, up at King Kalakaua’s portrait dur- palace’s mission to create a living insects, mold and all those things, ing his performance of “Kalakaua.” restoration of the royal residence of so that the palace will be around “I would hope that every the Hawaiian monarchy. for the next 300 years.” Hawaiian in the world would want 4 June 2012 | PBSHawaii.org Clockwise, from top left: Jeff Peterson, Robert Cazimero, Kuuipo Kumukahi and the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame Serenaders, Nina Kealiiwahamana, Marlene Sai. to someday be in the presence of Inside the beautifully restored Iolani Palace, these artists performed our king,” Robert Cazimero said. the music of the monarchs for PBS Hawaii’s high definition cameras: “To know that I had that oppor- • Marlene Sai • Kuuipo Kumukahi and the tunity, in a way, with his portrait • Robert Cazimero Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame right there in front of me, I’m kind • Jeff Peterson Serenaders of flying high right now.” • Dennis and David Kamakahi • Haunani Apoliona To Rev.