World premiere of 'Queens of the Night' coming to Late Night series

Cookie Fortune, Kassandra Durham and Eclair de la Malasada du Chocolat

UHM’s Late Night series continues its Fall season, with the world premiere of “Queens of the Night," co-written by Alex Rogals and Louise Hung, and directed by Rogals.  The play will be performed at 11 p.m. on Saturday, November 16, and Friday and Saturday, November 22 and 23, with a special  8 p.m. performance on Sunday, November 17, at Kennedy Theatre’s Earle Ernst Lab space.  Due to some violent and sexual content, the show is recommended for mature audiences.

The play tells the story of Christine and Lea Papin, sisters working as live-in maids in the LeMans household of Monsieur and Madame Lancelin.  For too long they have worked in silence for their oppressive bosses; but the sisters hatch a plan to make the Lancelins pay for the way they’ve been treated. Based on the true story of France’s most notorious double murder, “Queens of the Night” revels in misbehavior and mayhem.

The production welcomes two new entertainers to the Honolulu stage: Ms. Cookie Fortune and Ms. Eclaire de la Malasada du Chocolat (both of whom were seen as their alter-egos Harold Wong and Michael Donato in Kennedy Theatre’s recent production of “Big Love”).  They join Ms. Kassandra Durham, a veteran performer who had most recently worked (under the pseudonym Serina Dunham) as artistic director for Bento Rakugo, a Japanese comedy performance troupe that has toured throughout the islands of Hawai‘i and the mainland United States.  They make for quite a trio onstage. “These are three powerhouse performers,” says director Rogals, “and what they lack in subtlety they make up for with a daring sense of entitlement.”

Rogals is a PhD student at UH Mānoa; one focus of his study is amateur kyōgen performance, which is just one of the styles that influence the play.  Before coming to Hawai‘i, Rogals worked as a director in New York and Los Angeles; he most recently co-created and directed the piece, “A Madhouse Exorcism,” at UHM, in conjunction with a group of students studying grand guignol theatre. Co-creator Hung is an L.A. transplant with an MFA in directing from UCLA.  She is a contributing editor for xoJane, and works locally and nationally as a writer, director and performer.  She guarantees an evening of stylized performance and over-the-top fantasy.  “At first,” she says, “we tried to capture the truth of what really happened.  But the truth was boring.”

“Queens of the Night” is very much in keeping with the artistic mission of the UHM Late Night series: to present theater not otherwise available to Honolulu audiences, by producing challenging works from some of today’s most dynamic playwrights — including world premieres of work written by members of the University community.  The series is managed by students, and is deliberately kept low-budget and “low-tech” in order to place the emphasis on students’ acting and directing skills.

Audiences are encouraged to arrive 15 minutes before the show, to catch the vocal stylings of Ms. Kitty London.  London, who played Lydia in Kennedy’s “Big Love” (appearing under the name Karissa Murrell Myers) and appeared as Laurie Williams in Kennedy’s production of “Oklahoma!”, will be applying her unique vocal talents to “standards” by “classic” composers such as Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

Tickets for “Queens of the Night” are available at the Kennedy Theatre box office on performance nights, one hour before the show.  Prices are $10 for general admission; $8 for seniors / military / UH faculty and staff / UHAA members / students; and $5 for students with validated Fall 2013 UHM photo IDs.  Ticket prices include all service fees.

For further information, please visit the department’s website at hawaii.edu/kennedy, or call the theater at (808) 956-7655.  For disability access, please call the theater.

EVENT:

“Queens of the Night”

PRESENTED BY:

UHM Department of Theatre and Dance

WHEN:

Nov. 16, 22, and 23 at 11 p.m.

Nov. 17 at 8 p.m.

WHERE:

Earle Ernst Lab Theatre

at UHM’s Kennedy Theatre

1770 East-West Road, Honolulu

TICKET PRICES:

$10 general admission

$8 seniors / military / UH faculty and staff / UHAA members / students

$5 UHM students with validated Fall 2013 UHM photo IDs

PURCHASE INFO:

Tickets are available at the Kennedy Theatre box office on performance nights, one hour before the show.

For more information, visit: http://hawaii.edu/kennedy/2013/queens/