A proud grandmother of 6, Terri was brought to Hawaiʻi by her military family in 1973, and is still married to the same sailor she met at The Point After in 1974. After a long career in real estate sales, she returned to school at age 50 and earned her MFA in theatre in 2010. She founded PlayBuilders of Hawai'i Theater Company early in 2011, and has served as their producing executive director since. She has spearheaded community-based plays written in collaboration with residential communities of Wahiawa, Waipahu, and Chinatown, as well as special interest groups such as Honolulu’s homeless, LGBTQ+, former foster youth, and domestic abuse survivors.
Director/ Producer of Film
Jeff Orig
Jeff Orig is a writer, director, producer based in Honolulu . In addition to this film, he is in post-production on his second feature that he wrote and directed and a documentary for the Smithsonian. One of his Youtube channels has over 55,000 subscribers. His mission is to help give Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders a bigger voice in media.
Playwright
Marion Lyman-Mersereau
Born and raised in Honolulu of missionary and Hawaiian descent, Marion’s first play, Eddie Wen’ Go, was adapted from her children’s book of the same title. It was first given a staged reading by Playbuilders, at their Playfestival. It was produced by Eden-Lee Murray and directed by Mark Branner in 2014 at Hawaii Theater. Will Ha’o, one of Open Your Hearts Wide directors, and Michael Donato, playing Kimo, both had roles in that play.
Co-Director/ Co-Screenwriter
Mark Branner
Born in Los Angeles but raised primarily in Taiwan, Mark returned to the U.S. to attend college, whereupon he quickly dropped a scholarship from UCLA to work as a clown with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Mark eventually received an MFA from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He teaches courses in theatre for young audiences, puppetry, mask, and physical comedy. Previously Mark served as the director and producer of Theatre Arts at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California. He has toured nationally with various groups, including Diavolo, and performed extensively in Asia, most notably in chuanju (Sichuan Opera), a regional Chinese theatre form. He and his family operate CiRCO Redempto, a community outreach program designed to benefit children from the Nosu Yi minority nationality of central China.
Co-Director Ali'i Characters
Vicky Holt Takamine
Vicky Holt Takamine is a kumu hula (master teacher of Hawaiian dance). Vicky ʻūniki (graduated through the rituals of hula) as a kumu hula from hula master Maiki Aiu Lake in 1975 and established her own hālau, Pua Ali’i ‘Ilima, (school of Hawaiian dance) in 1977. She earned her BA & MA in dance ethnology from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. In addition to teaching at her own school, Vicky taught at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa and Leeward Community College for more than 35 years. In 2001, Vicky established a non-profit organization, PA’I Foundation, to serve the needs of her Hawaiian community and those who make Hawai’i their home. She has received numerous awards including the 2016 Doris Duke US Artist Fellow.
Co-Director/Co-Screenwriter
Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak
Elizabeth first visited Hawai‘i in 1959 as a child, and moved here in 1971 to attend graduate school and then to teach in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where she translated and directed a number of jingju productions based on the teaching of guest artist-instructors from China. She retired from UHM in 2018, after serving as Director of the Asian Theatre Program for 33 years. Elizabeth has long been committed to theatre that aims to help facilitate positive change, especially theatre involving community groups in the unpacking of social issues and inequities. For instance, before her career at UHM became too time consuming, she was a frequent director and actor with Kumu Kahua Theatre, team-taught a long-term “drama workshop” at OCCC, and worked on several devised projects.
Aliʻi Costumer
Kawika Lum-Nelmida
Kawika Lum-Nelmida, is a hulu (feather) artist from Pūpūkea, Oʻahu. Kawika has been an active artist participant in MAMo: Maoli Arts Movement since 2012, and in 2013, was awarded a Master’s Apprenticeship through the Hawaiʻi State Foundation in the Culture and the Arts with his hulu master, Paulette Kahalepuna (2014 MAMo Awardee, and 2014 ʻŌʻō Awards Recepient). Under this apprenticeship with Paulette, Kawika studied Hawaiian feather work in the forms of lei (adornment), kahili (feather standard), ahuʻula (cape), and mahiʻole (helmets). Kawika recently ventured into clothing design and is now an artist in the annual MAMo Wearable Art Show. Kawika Lum-Nelmida is also a United States Artist Fellow for 2021.
Costumer
Maile Speetjens
Maile Speetjens serves as Professor of Costume Design/ Technology at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Her work in costumes has spanned from Boston to Hawaii and in between. Recent work includes Aloha Attire (Kumu Kahua,) Remotely Kyōgen (UH Mānoa,) and 'Au'a 'Ia: Holding On (UH Mānoa Hana Keaka.)
Costumer
Carlynn Wolfe
Carlynn Wolfe has costumed dozens of Honolulu productions in the past decade, earning six HSTC Po`okela awards for design. She was resident designer at both TAG-The Actorsʻ Group and Manoa Valley Theatre in addition to costuming for the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival, Kumu Kahua Theatre, local musuems, schools, and independent film.
Graphic Artist
Linda Rucci
Hawaiian Artifacts
Kai Markell
Native Hawaiian attorney Kai Markell is a man who truly loves his job. As Ka Pou Kakoʻo (Manager) of Kiaʻi Kanawai (Compliance Enforcement) for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kai helps to protect and preserve the traditional cultural landscape and practices.
Music Director
Ina Young
Ina Young was born in Rostock, Germany and studied church music in Greifswald. She came to Hawaii in 2006 and is currently the Music Director at St. Christopher's Church in Kailua.
Movement Designer
Becky McGarvey
Becky McGarvey is a Honolulu-based dancer, choreographer, singer, actor, and producer. Formerly danced with IONA Contemporary Dance Theatre, and Divino Ritmo. She has choreographed for the Hawaii Shakespeare Festival, Playbuilders of Hawaii Theatre Company, StageLeft Summer Theatre Program, and has produced and choreographed work for the Oahu Fringe Festival. She has also devised and choreographed work for Taimane Gardner. She is the creator of The Love Cafe, a cabaret style theatre show at the ARTS at Marks Garage, which is co-produced and directed by local musician Ruth Shiroma Foster www.facebook.com/thelovecafehi
Assistant Director
Deanna Espinas
Deanna Espinas is a retired librarian from the State of Hawaii, Department of Public Safety. She is assisting the OYHW Director of Historical Characters, Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak. Deanna is on the board of PlayBuilders of Hawaii and is involved in projects celebrating stories of our communities here in Hawaii. These are memories which must be passed on to future generations.
Assistant Director/ Accent
Sharon Garcia Doyle
Sharon is a local theater artist having served both on and offstage in many capacities including production, design, and performance. She has designed costumes at MVT, Honolulu Theater for Youth and Kumu Kahua Theater. She has performed in HTY, Kennedy Theater, Kumu Kahua Theater, Hawaii Shakespeare Festival and most recently in Bursting Bubbles a Playbuilders of Hawaii Domestic Violence Awareness Project. Sharon has trained with renown Jingju Master Lu Genzhang and Professor Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczac and studied voice and Shakespeare with David Smukler and Gary Logan at the Canada National Voice Intensive. She served as Assistant Director in MVT’s Tony n Tina’s Wedding, and has served on several productions as voice, accent, and acting coach. She holds an MFA in Theater from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and is currently teaching acting at Hawaii Pacific University.
Original Creative Team- Development and Reading
An important part of PlayBuildersʻ methodology is always to obtain permission from any community we work with before going forward with the final production. Last year, OYHW was workshopped at donated office space from Hawaii Life Real Estate Company, under the direction of Mark Branner and Will Haʻo from early January through the end of March with Marion and 11 experienced actors.
The first draft of "Open Your Hearts Wide" by Marion Lyman-Mersereau was presented as an online audio recording during April 2020 on the PlayBuilders' Patreon website in partnership with Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives. Ninety missionary descendants listened, and 25 of them filled out a Google survey form, making suggestions and sharing their thoughts and opinions. The actors who participated in the workshop performed multiple characters in the reading. The cast and the creative team for the audio reading were as follows:
Actors
lala Kamalani Buzzell
Michael "Donut" Donato
Jason Ellinwood
Claire Fallon
Cecilia Fordham
Tyler Haugen
David Heulitt
Elizabeth Lentz-Hill
Moanililia Miller
Albert Ueligitone
Will Haʻo
Music
Vocals by Nikki Dee
Piano by Pavlina Nakalenova
Guitar by Cycle Wasman
Production Team
Director: Mark Branner
Co-director: William Haʻo
Sound: Fletcher Young
Stagemanger: Traci "Cici" Orya
Program and Poster: Linda Rucci
Producer: Terri Madden
PlayBuildersʻ community partners for this project were Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, (missionhouses.org) and the PAʻI Foundation (paifoundation.org). "Open Your Hearts Wide" by Marion Lyman-Mersereau was made possible in part through generous grants from the Cooke Foundation Limited, The Atherton Foundation, and the National Endowment for the ARTS. To find out more about how the National Endowment for the ARTs grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
Mahalo nui loa to Kumu Kahua Theatre, and The University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa for their kokua. We are currently working to make "Open Your Hearts Wide Available" to Hawaii schools though special programing. For more information check under past projects at the top of the page.
