Tony Award-Winning Producers Bring Hiʻiaka to Stage in Hawaii
News related to:WitzEnd Productions · 1 min read
WHAT: The Epic Tale of Hiʻiaka: The Hawaiian Goddess, a new stage musical
WHEN: Previews begin Nov. 25, 2026. Opening night Dec. 5, 2026. Open-ended run, Wednesday through Saturday, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Hawaiʻi time
WHERE: Ocean’s Edge at Ko Olina, 92-100 Waipahe Place, Kapolei, Hawaiʻi 96707
WHO: The musical follows Hiʻiaka (hee-ee-AH-kah), the youngest sister of Pele, on a journey across the islands to bring the chief Lohiʻau home to Kīlauea. The story is told through live music, hula, oli (chant), puppetry, and projection, in English and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi. The production is a collaboration between WitzEnd Productions and the Hawaiian Council, with WitzEnd Productions producing the show.
The musical is based on the oral history of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele, as told by Hoʻoulumāhiehie and published in the Hawaiian-language newspaper Ka Naʻi Aupuni from 1905 to 1906, and translated into English by M. Puakea Nogelmeier. The book, music, and lyrics are by Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakāne, a 2023 MacArthur Fellow, and Roslyn Catracchia, who has written songs and scores for more than 40 musical productions in Hawaiʻi.
The production is directed by Scott Schwartz, whose credits include Golda’s Balcony and Jane Eyre on Broadway and The Prince of Egypt in the West End. The show features Amy Hānaialiʻi Gilliom as Pele and Jana Anguay Alcain as Hiʻiaka. Moses Goods, seen as Moku in the Apple TV series Chief of War, plays the Narrator, Kāne, and Panaʻewa, and Kaʻula Krug is Lohiʻau, leading a company of 23 performers and musicians.
The Epic Tale of Hiʻiaka: The Hawaiian Goddess is a new stage musical drawn from the moʻolelo of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele, produced by Hawaiian Council and WitzEnd Productions at Ocean’s Edge at Ko Olina on Oʻahu. The production offers a new kind of evening in Hawaiʻi: a full theatrical production rooted in Hawaiian storytelling, with show-only, dinner, and VIP options.