Copyright staradvertiser
Aspiring novelists and playwrights are often advised to “write what you know.” UH-Manoa Master of Fine Arts candidate Alison Bruce-Maldonado takes it to heart with “Dolls: A Toy Story,” the musical she’s created as her thesis project for a double degree in playwriting and directing. The story takes place in an American toy store in the 1940s. Lena is Black and dreams of a career in fashion design. Timothy is white and plans to become an engineer. When Lena and Timothy fall in love they face a grim and uncertain future. Interracial marriage is illegal in more than half of the 48 states, racial segregation is enforced in the nation’s capitol and throughout the “Jim Crow” south, and mixed race couples face hostility in many other parts to the country as well. The story hits very close to home. “Except for the talking dolls, everything in it is true,” Maldonado said. “Names have been changed, dates have been changed to protect the innocent, but everything you see is based on real events. The main character, Lena, is based on my mother. My mom joined the Navy when she was 17, she met a white sailor, they worked at Alcatraz, and they fell in love. He asked her to marry him, but interracial marriage was still illegal (in the South), and he lived down South. He was like, ‘Marry me and come home,’ and she was like, ‘No.’ They were together for almost a year, and she turned him down the whole time.” Another “art imitates life” element is Maldonado’s daughter, Campbell High School graduate Emily-Kim Maldonado, starring as Lena. Maldonado and her daughter worked together the first time in 2004 when famed theater director Ron Bright cast Maldonado as Alice is his production of “Big River,” a musical treatment of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and needed someone to play Alice’s daughter. “She was only two, but they had a hard time casting Black people,” Maldonado said. “Mr. Bright was, like, ‘We can cast your daughter to play her.’ She stole the show every night.” Born in Los Angeles and raised in Detroit, Maldonado grew up listening to music, singing in church and in her school choir, and performing in school plays. She was a good dancer but had no interest in taking on singing or speaking roles. Following somewhat in her mother’s footsteps she joined the Marines after high school and in due time was stationed at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay. “By the time I finished (my tour of duty in Hawaii), I was 10 years in, and I just really loved it here. It was a good place to raise kids,” Maldonado said. “So I actually left the Marines and joined the Hawaii Air National Guard so I could stay here.” When Maldonado retired from military service she had a combined total of more than 30 years in the service. It was in Hawaii that she stepped forward as a stage and showroom entertainer. In addition to “Big River,” Maldonado had prominent roles in community theater productions of “Ragtime,” “Sister Act,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Beehive” and “Smokey Joe’s Cafe.” She sang backup vocals in concerts with Yvonne Elliman, and performed in Waikiki as a member of the High Notes group created by Pete “Dr. Doo-Wop” Hernandez as part of the Love Notes Revue that eventually launched Hernandez’ son, Bruno Mars. “I remember the night Bruno announced he was packing it up and moving to California. It was New Year’s Day, and we were all at the Banana Patch Lounge in Waikiki.” In addition to her commitments to military service and entertainment, Maldonado made time to continue her education. “I was going to school off and on since joining the military. One class here, one class there. It took me 20 years to get an associates (degree) because I was moving around so much. And then I was at Leeward and just about to graduate when we moved right up the street from Honolulu Community College. I thought I would just transfer to Honolulu Community College, but when I learned I’d literally almost have to start all over again, I didn’t want to drive all of the way to Leeward, so I was like, ‘Forget it. I’ll just do it.’ When I graduated with the double BA from UH in fall 2022 I had no plans of going for the MFA. Then I decided to try it. I originally came in for just one MFA and found out I could do a dual MFA. So I’m doing a dual MFA in playwriting and directing.” The story came to her while she was working on a project for a costume design class. “I was making a doll, and using my own personal tights, which were brown, to fashion brown skin onto her. And I just started thinking, ‘If this doll could talk, what would they be saying to each other?’ I literally wrote the first scene in my head while I was sewing, and then as soon as I had a chance, I sat down at my laptop, and I typed out the first scene. So literally, the first scene of the show is that scene that I played in my head while I was making this doll.” The next step for Maldonado is to do the songs from the show as a concert. “I’ve realized through my playwriting that I love the 1940s — the music, the clothing, everything. This is the second play I wrote that takes place in the 1940s. The first one I wrote was called ‘The 1940s Radio Show.’ There’s another show called ‘The 1940s Radio Hour,’ but this one is ‘The 1940s Radio Show.’ I really love this music.” She will also be doing more community theater. “I volunteer with a nonprofit Hawaii military community theater. I’m the artistic director, and we’ve been doing shows for almost five years now. We did ‘Lion King Jr.,’ at Paliku (Theatre) in March, and we sold almost all our tickets. Our next show in March at Paliku is going to be ‘Mary Poppins Jr.’ As a matter of fact, my music director (for this show) is a music director for that program too.” ‘Dolls: A Toy Story’ When: 7:30 p.m. today through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Where: Kennedy Theatre Earle Ernst Lab Theatre, University of Hawaii Manoa. Tickets: $18 with discounts available for military, seniors, UH faculty/staff, non-UHM student/youth, and UHM students with current valid UHM ID. Info: hawaiiathletics.evenue.net/events/KTE02
