Students at Nanakuli Performing Arts Center tapped to take their show to Scotland

WAIANAE—A group of local students from Oahu’s west side are making a name on the world map of performing arts. The Nanakuli Performing Arts Center (NPAC), under the direction of Robin Kitsu, was recently selected to travel to the prestigious Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland next summer. 

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival and takes place for three weeks in August each year in Scotland’s capital city.

Kitsu, a teacher at Nanakuli High School for 20 years and NPAC coordinator for 19, said he decided last year to send in a application to be a part of the international festival after being nominated by Leeward Community College “just to see what would happen.” He had nearly given up hope after the invitation announcement date of April came and went before the Nanakuli troop got an unexpected phone call the first week of May.

“After receiving the phone call that we had been invited, we kind of had a written press release and I read it to the kids and they all went crazy when they heard we got accepted,” Kitsu said.

NPAC was selected to be a part of the Fringe’s American High School Theatre Festival in 2011. The Nanakuli program was one of only 100 selected from more than 2,000 nominated schools.

The dream of performing at the world festival quickly became a reality as the high price of travel quickly sank in. With an estimated cost of $6,000 per student, Kitsu along with the help of many other big supporters, are moving quick to raise as much funds as they can in advance.

“There are some people that know nothing about us but what they have heard from [other people] and they automatically want to help out,” said Kitsu. “We are currently in the process of meeting with our boosters, coordinating with the principal to seek help.”

Based out of Nanakuli High School, the program has taken on students ranging from grade 4 to 12 from schools throughout the island including Kapolei Middle School and Island Pacific Academy. Kitsu credits the Nanakuli students for being welcoming to the wide range of students who come a far way to take part in the NPAC program.

And together, the students at NPAC have not been shy about taking on some of the world’s biggest productions.

“A lot of kids have background in Hawaiian culture, many of them practice these cultures at home,” Kitsu said. “That is why I try use NPAC as a source for them to experience things on a larger scale, targeting more world renown performances. Nanakuli already has an excellent Hawaiian program, so I didn’t want to take away from that, and I don’t want to cause conflict with Hawaiian history in our performances, if we get something wrong.”

The students recently ended their production of Rent in April, and celebrated with a banquet. And they’re already gearing up for a performance at Waianae’s Sunset on the Beach on June 12. After a short month break, NPAC will be back to kick off the upcoming season with the start of the new school year.

With their sights also set on preparing for the Edinburgh festival in August 2011, there is a lot of planning and strategy going into figuring out how to make it possible for every student to make the journey. Kitsu is setting up a timeline of how much fundraising is needed each month, putting together a DVD and info packet for contacts, and looking at different businesses for sponsorship. Just days after hearing they had been invited to the Fringe Festival, NPAC was already receiving calls from people wanting to help.

“We’ve just been so touched by the response from the public,” Kitsu said. “It’s amazing, for us to be on the Leeward coast, we just do our own thing on this side of the island, and to be recognized, it’s really an honor.”

For more information on NPAC and fundraising for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe trip, visit http://nhispac.com/NPAC/Nanakuli_High_%26_Inter_Performing_Arts_Center_Home.html.