Source: alohastatedaily.com

A new immersive cultural performance that is a partnership between Hawaiian Council and Ko Olina Resort will debut on Friday, Feb. 27, in West Oʻahu. Kūhiō Lewis, president and CEO of Hawaiian Council, shares how the idea for the production started with a lunch meeting.

Kaula Lūʻau, a new theatrical lūʻau celebrating one woman’s family lineage, opens this Friday, Feb. 27, at Ocean’s Edge at Ko Olina Resort in West Oʻahu. It is produced by Hawaiian Council and led by a Native Hawaiian creative team that includes Kipe Ebana, Moses Goods, Tiana Nonosina and Kayla Faʻamaligi. The performances will take place in a space next to Ulua Lagoon 4 and Ko Olina Marina, less than two miles from the recently closed Paradise Cove Lūʻau.

“Everything about it from its design to who's producing it, who wrote the story, to the organization that's behind it — it's all Native Hawaiian led,” Kūhiō Lewis, president and CEO of Hawaiian Council, told Aloha State Daily. “It's rare that Native Hawaiians get to — from start to finish — create and produce something like this. We’re excited to tell our own story.”

Hawaiian Council, formerly known as Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, is a Kapolei-based nonprofit that focuses its programs on business incubation, housing, policy, tourism and workforce development to support Native Hawaiians. Through a partnership with Ko Olina Resort — which includes Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa; Four Seasons Resort Oʻahu at Ko Olina; Beach Villas at Ko Olina; Ko Olina Golf Club; Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club; and Ko Olina Marina — Hawaiian Council will have use of the land for the lūʻau, the marina that supports the lūʻau, and a parking area for 18 months free of rent, Lewis said. Proceeds from operations during that time will support the council’s work.

The space will see the activation of two stage productions in 2026: Kaula Lūʻau, starting this week, and the musical “Hawaiian Goddess: The Epic Tale of Hiʻiaka,” which is set to debut in December. The musical is a partnership between Hawaiian Council and WitzEnd Productions, founded by Broadway producer Michael Jackowitz. “Hawaiian Goddess: The Epic Tale of Hiʻiaka” stars Amy Hānaialiʻi Gilliom as Pele and had its world premiere at the Native Hawaiian Convention in October of 2025.

“In addition to the lūʻau, there is a partnership with [Native Hawaiian-owned] Hawaiʻi Nautical, which is a boat operator out of Ko Olina, so people can go on a sunset cruise and then come back for the lūʻau,” Lewis said.

Kaula Lūʻau provides jobs to a number of employees of Paradise Cove Lūʻau, which operated in Ko Olina for more than four decades before it closed on Dec. 31. The new lūʻau has 27 cast members, 16 of which came from the Paradise Cove Lūʻau, Lewis said. About a dozen additional former employees of Paradise Cove Lūʻau will be joining Kaula Lūʻau as hosts, bussers and lei greeters, he added.

The costumes for Kaula Lūʻau were designed by Native Hawaiian designers: Manaola Yap, of the brand Manaola, and Kiniokahokuloa Zamora, of Kini Zamora. Kaula Lūʻau shares the story of Mahina, a young Native Hawaiian woman as she seeks to understand herself through stories passed down by her grandmother.

“The other thing is this is not your typical lūʻau,” Lewis added. “This is a theatrical lū‘au where there's a storyline of Mahina and her grandmother. Grandma shares Mahina's genealogy ... so as she's telling Mahina, your ancestors came from Tahiti, they came from Samoa — that's when the different acts come out. But of course, it's grounded in the Hawaiian culture where she lives today.”

There is singing. And a projector that makes some stars appear. “When grandma tells her about the stars, the stars appear,” Lewis said. “And when Mahina points to the stars, it flickers.” The idea for Kaula Lūʻau came up over lunch. Honolulu-based developer Jeff Stone is CEO and president of The Resort Group, which acquired Ko Olina Resort as the company’s flagship development on Oʻahu in 1997.

Stone invited Lewis to discuss opportunities at the resort. “He sees my name in the paper and reads about us so he invited me to lunch,” Lewis said. “He was telling me about how he wanted his resort to be more culture-based, more connected to Hawaiʻi, especially the West Side, where majority of Hawaiians live.” Stone proposed some shacks along the lagoon where practitioners could lead weaving and other activities, but Lewis countered with a desire for Native Hawaiians to tell their own stories, he said.

“I looked at him, [and] said, ʻJeff, we don't need to go back to grass shacks.’” Lewis said. “I said, ʻI want to be the operator of a hotel. I want to be able to tell our own stories. I want land. That's what Hawaiians need. We don't need grass shacks.ʻ He was so enamored by my comment. He paused and he just was like: ʻWow.’ He goes: ‘Nobody's ever told me straight like that.’"

What followed was a partnership between Hawaiian Council and Ko Olina Resort. “What you're seeing is what came from that conversation,” Lewis said. “He has given us everything we've asked for to be able to produce, to be able to do all the things that I've been wanting to do for years. And so, this is the power when you can connect with people that have the ability to support.”

The economic impact of the new lūʻau includes more than $5 million in contracts with local vendors and contractors, including a nearly $3 million catering contract with the Native Hawaiian-owned restaurant, Moani. There will also be local vendors and artisans from Nā Mea Hawaiʻi selling their products as part of the on-site experience.

The launch of Kaula Lūʻau will create 166 jobs, according to Hawaiian Council. When the musical opens in December, that number will increase to 342 jobs.

“There's so much power in us telling our stories,” Lewis said. “When you think about it, for generations, others have told our story, and so for us to take that back and for us to be able to be part of that storytelling, as well as the economics that support storytelling, is very powerful, for me. I also think it's educational. People come to Hawaiʻi because they want to feel special. They want to be a part of this culture that they fell in love with at some point in time. And I want to give it to them.”

Hawaiian Council has provided the cultural support for the lūʻau with its director of entertainment, cultural practicioners, senior advisor and more contributing to the production. The in-kind support from the council for this production “probably exceeds half a million dollars,” Lewis said. Ko Olina Resort’s in-kind contributions are close to $10 million, he added. That includes use of the land, the resources to start up, marketing support, and collaboration with hotels in the Ko Olina Resort area.

Learn More on Kaula Lūʻau and ticket discounts

Kaula Lu‘au
Ocean’s Edge in Ko Olina
Reservation Contact +1 (808) 897-2906

Visit: luaukaula.com