THE STORY
Prince, 20 (future Kamehameha the Great), after an isolated upbringing starts to enjoy life and lust
Male, 20 a cocky mischief-maker, he and Kam become aikanes (buddies with benefits)
Non-binary / trans woman, who the gods select to narrate the story
Prince, 20 (future Kamehameha the Great), after an isolated upbringing starts to enjoy life and lust
Rule Of Fire: A New Musical In Old Hawaii is a cocky queer concoction of history, myth and fantasy that tells the story of Kamehameha the Great, who is a young prince when his remote island makes its first contact with the outside world. There are two primary storylines: the hero’s aikane relationship with Wiki (male friendship including sex, common in the culture then) and his fateful encounter with the aging Captain Cook.
This innovative musical has the potential to attract a large LGBT plus mainstream audience on both stage and screen, with major international appeal. Among its singular features, it is the first musical with a gay or bi historic hero and aikane friendship; the first to portray Captain Cook’s legendary life and death; and the first to celebrate Hawaii’s iconic music, dance, design and allure. The show has an inventive narrative style, distinctive tropical-swing score, spectacular theatrical thrills, and is very scalable with a cast of 13-25 and a large or small island-style band.
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THE MUSIC
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SYNOPSIS
RULE OF FIRE: A New Musical In Old Hawaii
(a cocky queer concoction of history, myth and fantasy)
A Hawaiian prince raised in isolation starts to enjoy life and lust when a cataclysm occurs - the outside world lands on his remote island for the first time…cultures collide and heroes clash, as the stage erupts in song, dance and spectacle! The islanders start the show singing the praises of their tropical utopia in “As Good As It Gets”. A young man observes the action from a bamboo box until he leaves his perch and appears in town. Wiki, a mischievous youth, and his feisty twin sister Lili, notice the stranger in noble attire, and Wiki taunts him despite Lili’s warning. He is Kamehameha (Kam), a prince raised in solitude due to a prophesy that a great chief would be born the night of Pele’s Fireball (Halley’s Comet), which makes him a threat to royal rivals. He describes his fate in “Victim of a Myth”. When the three of them discover they all turned 20 that day they celebrate with a reprise of the opening number. Pele, goddess of fire, interrupts the song with a volcanic blast, and enlists Ku and Lono, gods of war and fertility, demanding an accurate account of conditions - they appoint non-binary Aunty Mahu as narrator. The reality check exposes frequent natural disasters, constant warfare, and a rigid social order. King Kal and Koa, his high priest or kahuna, gloat about the kapu system that controls the commoners in “Cohorts in Cahoots” - many things are forbidden and the penalty is usually a death sentence. To avoid their fate the condemned person must reach Pu’uhonua, the place of asylum.
Wiki and Lili inform Kam about the true state of affairs in “Perilous Paradise”. They become fast friends and enjoy surfing, kite flying and other sports, as the twins vie for Kam’s affection. Wiki extols the joys of sex in “Loads Of Love”, but since he and Kam do not want to sire children yet, the boys indulge in male sexplay, common in their culture at the time. Wiki and Lili help Kam evade pursuers they think threaten his life - at one point the boys dress as girls to deceive them. Kam confronts his uncle, the King, who assures him that the guards are meant for his protection, but Kam remains wary in “Who Can I Trust?”. Lili longs for a romantic relationship with Kam and expresses her frustration in “Wahine Blues”. Wiki promises to be Kam’s steadfast friend and they pledge a bond in “My Aikane” or Buddies with Benefits. The cataclysm occurs during the “Makahiki” Harvest Festival for Lono, despite the long drought. When Koa entreats the god to send relief, two ships appear in the bay, with Captain Cook (same actor who plays Lono) at the helm of HMS Resolution, plus HMS Discovery. The natives are stunned as these are the first visitors in 1000 years. Kam grapples with the shock in “Cataclysm”, realizing his entire worldview must change. “As Far As Man Can Go” recounts the Polynesians’ original trip to Hawaii and Captain Cook’s adventures, among the world’s greatest voyages. Koa declares that Cook is the god Lono in the flesh and the sailors are greeted as honored guests. Act One ends as Cook and Kam get acquainted and the company celebrates a jubilant cultural exchange with “Aloha, Hula, Luau”.
Act Two begins the next morning with a new version of “As Good As It Gets”. The King appoints Kam as liaison to the visitors and he spends a day and night onboard the ships with Wiki. Kam learns about world events and history from the ship’s library, as he bonds with The Captain in “Two Of A Mind”, and is tempted when Cook invites him to join the voyage. Captain Cook and his Wife express the challenges of remaining faithful during his long sea voyages in “Fidelity”. Kam has a nightmare and recognizes the potential threat the foreigners pose. In “Rule of Fire” he vows that his life’s mission is to unite the islands’ warring tribes and rule as the King of a unified Hawaii - he invokes Ku to enable this quest.
The Hawaiians grow weary as the visitors linger and are relieved when the ships leave with “Good Riddance”. Wiki announces that Kam’s ambitious goal requires a legendary reputation and rallies the crowd in “Miracle Man”. Lili and Mahu demand their rightful place in society with “Wahine Mahufesto“. When Lono learns that the Captain was mistaken for his godliness, he blasts Cook’s ships with a fierce storm. HMS Resolution loses a mast and the ships return for repairs, this time to a chilly reception. When Wiki steals a cutter, one of the ship’s small boats, Cook goes ballistic. Kam admonishes Wiki in "Consequences", which sparks a serious rift to their friendship. When Cook vows to get the cutter back, Kam, Mahu and the gods debate his reckless actions in a reprise of "As Far As Man Can Go".
Captain Cook leads an armed force ashore and invites the King to come on board for a feast, but Kam suspects a trap and urges him to stay. Hostilities escalate in “Cutter Catastrophe”. Cook fires his musket and Kam is wounded. Lili dresses in male attire, grabs a club and inflicts a serious blow to Captain Cook as he is about to shoot the King. Cook tries to retreat but he is swarmed and killed. The natives honor him with full funeral rites in “Farewell To A Chief”, and then the ships depart. Koa wants to honor the man who saved the King’s life until he discovers that it was Lili disguised as a boy, which is a capital kapu, and he condemns her to death. Wiki volunteers to take her punishment and demands a chance to reach asylum. There is a climactic chase featuring Wiki windsurfing to “Pu’uhonua”, pursued by the King’s warriors in canoes and hungry sharks. When Wiki falters, Kam mounts a giant kite, flies onto Wiki’s surfboard, and the two friends reach asylum with a reprise of “My Aikane”. The town applauds their feat, Lono delivers the first rain in months, flowers spring to life, a rainbow appears, and the cast celebrates with an anthem to family, friends and nature “Ohana Mana”. Mahu announces that Kam will fulfill his destiny, unite the islands, have many wives, children and lovers, while Wiki and he remain lifelong aikanes. When Mahu asks the gods to judge her tale, Lono is still upset about Captain Cook, Ku awaits Kamehameha’s impending rule of fire, and Pele responds with a dazzling volcano eruption…the ultimate Rule of Fire. The show ends with a rollicking sendoff in “A Hui Hou/Go Pono!”
CREATIVE TEAM
DAVID SECTER
BOOK AND LYRICS
RUBEN ESTEVEZ
MUSIC
David Secter is an award-winning writer/producer/director of film, theater and television. He lives in Kona on the big island of Hawaii, where he has completed the book and lyrics for Rule of Fire, A New Musical In Old Hawaii. Secter’s movie Winter Kept Us Warm was the first Canadian feature selected for the Cannes Film Festival and is included in the book series Queer Film Classics from McGill-Queens University Press. His movie The Offering was nominated as Canada’s Best Picture of the Year and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Additional film credits include the comedy Getting Together, released by Troma as Feelin’ Up; Take the Flame! a Gay Games documentary narrated by Greg Louganis; Pacific Passions about the Festival of Pacific Arts; BURN on the Burning Man festival; and CyberDorm, a campus comedy about early webcasts.
During ten years as CEO of EnterMedia, a Manhattan arts center in a historic 1100 seat playhouse, he produced and presented Obie-award winning plays and launched such long-running Broadway musical hits as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Secter wrote the book and lyrics and produced the celebrated Off-Broadway musical Get Thee to Canterbury and created Banjos and Bugles, a civil war docudramusical. A lifetime member of The Dramatists Guild, he is the subject of The Best of Secter and The Rest of Secter, an award-winning doc on YouTube.
At the early age of five, Ruben Estevez began playing the piano and writing poetry in his hometown of Houston, Texas. As he got older, his love for creative storytelling continued to evolve; and in 1995, Ruben decided to move to Nashville to pursue his passion for songwriting. He landed a publishing deal with Word Records, followed by a string of Contemporary Christian Music cuts. In the Country Music genre, Ruben won the Grand Prize in The Music City Songwriter competition with his song "Lie." In the summer of 2013, "Lie" was cut by Tracy Lawrence on his "Headlights, Taillights and Radios" album and became his third single in late February 2014.
In early 2019, after an inspirational trip to New York City, Ruben put pen to paper in a different form. He decided to write an entire musical based on his personal experiences growing up in the 70s and 80s in Texas, as a closeted gay man in an extremely homophobic culture. One year later, he completed this work, titled Marcos, writing not only the music and lyrics of all the songs, but also the fictional libretto itself. Shortly after Marcos was finished, he began working on another fictional project about a young woman looking for a fresh start in a new town, HAUNT. He recently completed creating the score for the original musical Plane Jane.
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