STAGE REVIEWS / OPEN FESTIVAL : ‘Tita’ Has Humor, Not Enough Depth
The Hula Kahiko performed by Miki Kim, according to hula choreographer Doug Kokuokalani Wong in the program, warns Hawaiian “children to hold fast to their islands.” Kim’s message in her “talk story,” “A Tita Abroad” at Theatre 6470, seems to be a sad one. The children are not holding very fast. They denigrate howli (Mainland) ways but gravitate toward them as to a magnet.
Leo, the yuppiesque Angeleno heroine yearning to return to her roots, has family members record their thoughts and send them to her. Among others, there’s her crotchety Tutu (grandmother), who watches “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum P.I.” on cable; her brother Ikaika, a homosexual who wants a freer life; her cousin Emma, who lives a misplaced existence in suburban North Carolina.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Sept. 19, 1990 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday September 19, 1990 Home Edition Calendar Part F Page 9 Column 6 Entertainment Desk 1 inches; 35 words Type of Material: Correction
Misspellings-- Hula choreographer Doug Hokuokalani Wong’s name was misspelled in a review of “A Tita Abroad” in Thursday’s Calendar. So was the term haole , which means “foreigner.” The character of Emma lives in Honolulu, not North Carolina.
Kim tells their stories--and plays their parts--with a great deal of humor, but her hourlong performance doesn’t give her subject the depth it might have. Despite the smile with which she approaches it, the message is an old one: The white man’s conquest brought more than disease and shame of the naked body. It brought his all-consuming culture.
At 6470 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood; Thursdays through Saturdays & Mondays, 8 p.m.; ends Oct. 8. $10; (213) 466-1767.
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