On November 15, 2024, the NHIS cafeteria became a magical stage for HONK!, a fun and heartwarming take on the classic Ugly Duckling story presented by the Nānākuli High and Intermediate School Performing Arts Center. Directed by Chloe Kitsu, the play hooked everyone from start to finish. The cast brought their characters to life with so much energy and emotion that it felt like we were right there on the farm with them. 

The play is about a swan egg that ends up in a duck’s nest by mistake. When the swan hatches, everyone picks on him because they think he’s ugly—they don’t know he’s actually a swan and just hasn’t grown into his feathers yet. Feeling like he doesn’t belong, the baby swan gets lost, and his mom goes on a mission to find him. Along the way, the swan meets geese and other swans who help him figure out that he’s not ugly at all—he’s just different. After a scary snowstorm, his mom finds him and thinks he’s gone, but it turns out he’s okay. In the end, he discovers where he belongs and even meets another swan, Penny, and they live happily back on the farm.

The opening to the show was very good. Everyone seemed very in sync with each other. My favorite part of the opening scene was the moment when the cat was introduced in the frozen scene, and everyone was very still and looked paused or frozen.

The actors playing the Cat and Tom Cat stood out the most—they completely embodied their characters and acted like actual cats. Their movements, expressions, and personalities nailed it, making them super fun to watch!

The actors have amazing voices; all of them harmonize with each other perfectly and put a lot of emotion and personality into their voices. The actor in the mother duck especially put a lot of emotion into her voice, which was very beautiful.

The lightning effects were very nice, especially the colored lights; they made the stage look more interesting. I especially enjoyed it when the lights shone brightly on one character, making them the main focus of the moment. It just made everything way more interesting and eye-catching.

However, towards the end of the show, I did notice a light mess up during Ugly getting his pretty swan feathers, it seemed the light mistakingly shone on a corner like it was supposed to shine on a character but no actor was there. Even with this little mess up, it didn’t take away anything from the show; the actors were very on task and didn’t pay any attention to it.

Near the end, when we last saw the cat, I especially enjoyed the amount of emotion and insanity the actor put into that moment before the cat ran off; it was excellent acting. The overall ending was excellent, the actors were wonderful!

Overall, the entire play was amazing! Everyone did an excellent job, and I’m glad I saw it! The lighting, the actors, the singing, it was all put together and worked out perfectly. I enjoyed this play very much, and I thank the actors for putting all their effort into this performance for hours. It amazed me how everyone was ultimately on task and made no mistakes in their acting. Besides one little lighting mistake, this play was absolutely amazing.