Joseph Kekuku & the Voice of the Steel Guitar

This performance will be ASL interpreted It’s the late 1800s and a time of big inventions – trains, steamboats, cameras, even electricity. In Hawaii, an eleven year-old Native boy happens to strike the strings of his guitar with a bolt from a railroad track and unlocks a brand new sound. Hawaiian music – and the music of America – will never be the same. Based on a true story, this new play traces the invention of the steel guitar from the Taro Fields of Hawaii to the vaudeville halls of America; influencing blues, country, and rock n’ roll music for generations to come. With a thrilling live, slide guitar soundtrack, this production celebrates innovation, engineering, and the global exchange of ideas and sound. It tells the real-life story of Joseph Kekuku as well as Hawaii’s annexation and the movement of young people from the island to the continent and back home again. Rich in history, the play also looks forward and encourages children of today to celebrate their voice, culture, and sense of curiosity. In memory of Florence & Harry Larson, Donielle Kahikina & Stanley Larson