T-Shirt Theatre

Myla bonded in collaboration with ___ whose family fled P.I. when the Marcos REgime toppled. Kalihi is the entry port for successive waves of immigrants fleeing homeland disaster, repression and poverty.

Hey, let's get professional!

Company members are asked to collaborate across gender lines without dating pressure as they develop a work ethic free of sexual harassment.

Being coached by "big kids" from the neighborhood ignites "I-can-do-that" ambition.

Student coaches gain more than they give as they discover they have the ability to inspire others. That's leadership!

Virtually all shows are written by cast and company directors to illuminate life-choices facing our inner-city students. In ZADE, the lad who is pressing his lady to "prove her love horizontally" is asked in return to give something unrenewable--his front tooth!

Tho less than 4% of area kids are African-American, TST brought black history to life by securing the rights to dramatize and tip their hats to the wit and extraordinary life of poet Langston Hughes. One black pastor brought tickets and shepherded 100 parishioners to see the show after finding half of his young flock didn't know Langston material.

A pair of current freelance ADE artist-educators got their start in 1997's ZADE. At the bottom Nate Corpuz and at top Jonah Moananu who as an American Idol semi-finalist weathered Simon's venom.

At graduation, Shaun Kaanoi serenaded the campus and then was booked back to be a Farrington math teacher on current faculty. His initial credential was coaching in TST!

Playing a scripted scene requires a level of cooperation that tethers individual ego to the good of the whole. Call it "rehearsal for life", our mission

Intimidation is nothing less than "bullying" and as a student-written scene underscored--it's against the law.

Ok, every program has a black-sheep and here at 1. is professional villain Ova Saopeng. After fleeing Laos under communist gunfire, he arrived in Kalihi to face a new culture and language. Now filming Pirates of the Caribbean 2 + 3 in the Bahamas, Ova's 10-year quest for a SAG card has paid off. Persistence is the essential lesson for all members of TST's 11-month a year program.

Company auditions follow week-long residencies that equip virtually every HS freshmen with the ability to project and pronounce with poise and personality needed for life-long job performance success.