The Kahilu Theatre, with an annual $1 million operating budget and a flourishing performing arts season, is one of Waimea's cultural gems. Though it was founded in 1981 by the late Richard Smart, then owner of Parker Ranch, it's a theater quite set apart from the community's cowboy tradition.
The line-up for the current season includes well-known Island entertainers and international vocal and dance groups. Check the entire schedule at http://www.kahilutheatre.org/season/index.asp.
Smart, who left Hawaii to pursue a career in singing, acting and dancing. performed on Broadway for 30 years before he returned to Waimea. It was his love of the business that prompted him to build a performing arts theater in a small, out-of-the-way community on the Big Island.
Today, the nearly 500-seat theater thrives with near sell-out performances and financial stability. Kahilu Theatre is located at 67-1186 Lindsey Road, behind the Parker Ranch Center in Waimea.
