The late Jade Stice, an extraordinary singer-actress on the Broadway and Hawaii theatrical scene, is the inspiration of The Dragonfly Awards, a new scholarship program providing tuition assistance to students in a core summer program conducted by the I’m a Bright Kid Foundation.
Jade’s ‘ohana is sponsoring The Dragonfly Awards to honor her memory and legacy and to provide financial assistance to youths and families with an interest and commitment to participate in the program she loved so much … and perhaps inspire future Jade Stices.
Jade was one of the co-founders of IABK and served as the artistic director of the summer musical theater arts education program, staged every summer until her untimely death last June.
The dragonfly element is apropos, since Jade directed the very first full-length musical production for IABK, “On Dragonfly Wings,” in 2017.
The inspirational musical, written by the late Lisa Matsumoto, with music composed by Roslyn Catracchia, is a story of transformation and self-realization, goals that Jade and the summer program staff shared, to motivate every student, to instill skills in acting and dancing, and to discover the joy of participation in the theatrical experience.
The summer activity – education, culminating in a musical performance – had been Jade’s passion and trademark — and has fueled the IABK engine to promote and preserve the legacy of the late teacher-director, Ron Bright. The acclaimed mentor nurtured and inspired hundreds of students in his remarkable career,at Castle High School’s theater, now bearing his name, and he also was a luminary at Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College, where he directed some of his best-ever work.
Jade was Bright’s first student to land a role in a Broadway production, “Miss Saigon,” in 1991. Since then, numerous former Bright students – Bright Kids – have landed roles on the Broadway stage, in such mega-hits as “Wicked,” “Aladdin,” and “The Lion King.”
The Dragonfly Awards will cover tuition for the core afternoon program only.
Application deadline is April 25.
For specifics on the scholarships, visit https://imabrightkid.org/the-dragonfly-awards/
People can navigate there from the main page of the IABK website.
For the direct link to the application, go to https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5qHYrALyl8BakNwIaugjuzvdWeBw3EYTofbPUhVGZ28eMyA/viewform?usp=sharing
Sajak, Moore in summer thriller
Former Army buddies Pat Sajak and Joe Moore again will team up for a summertime show, “Prescription: Murder,” July 31 to Aug. 10, at the Hawaii Theatre.
Sajak, the incomparable host of the long-running TV game show, “Wheel of Fortune,” will play Dr. Roy Flemming, and Moore, the veteran news anchor at KHON, will portray Lieutenant Columbo, in the Original Columbo Mystery Thriller.
It’s a longtime summer ritual for the TV twosome, to hone a stage show for their Hawaii fans, with proceeds benefitting the Hawaii Theatre..
The play, by William Link and Richard Levinson,inspired the TV series “Columbo,” which starred Peter Falk.
Rob Duval wiil direct, with local actors Therese Olival, Amy K.S Sullivan, Bryce Moore and Aiko Chinen also participating.
Performances will be at 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with matinees at 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Tickets: $29.50 to $84.50, at www.hawaiitheatre.com or (808) 528=0506….
And that’s Show Biz…
