Schools FAQ

Scheduling Information

The initial schedule for the 2020-2021 season of shows will be built based on the reservation requests submitted by the April 17 deadline. This allows me to take into account the requests (e.g. days of the week, 1st/2nd performances, days not available) of hundreds of groups at once.

Reservation requests are still accepted after the April 17 deadline and throughout the school year; those groups will be scheduled around the groups that are already in place.

The week of April 22, I will build the schedule for Stories of Oceania (“Oceania”), so that I can mail out confirmations as soon as possible. This will allow groups to confirm (or re-schedule, or cancel) Oceania  before the summer break, and have that performance in place when school opens in the fall. This confirmation will be your first and final confirmation for Stories of Oceania.

Once Oceania is scheduled, I will schedule the remaining six shows of the season. For groups that request any shows besides Oceania, I will mail out a Season Confirmation listing all performances requested for the season. Your Season Confirmation is your initial confirmation for all shows other than Stories of Oceania. For these shows, you will also receive a Final Confirmation about seven weeks before the first scheduled performance of that show.

The biggest thing to help make the process easier for me is to express your scheduling requests before the April 18 deadline. Scheduling requests might be along the lines of:

    • Prefer the 2nd show time
    • Prefer Mon/Tue/Thu
    • Not available on Wednesdays
    • Not available week of Dec. 9-13
    • Do not schedule before August 26

Other conflicts may include (some may not be on the school calendar yet, but may be added later):

    • Variance from the standard DOE calendar, especially Fall, Spring, and Summer breaks (private schools, some charter schools, and schools on track system)
    • Waiver days or PD days
    • Testing dates
    • May Day performance and rehearsals

Once the initial schedule is built, some dates will be sold out, or only have enough space to fit small groups. Thus, notifying me of your requests after I have built that schedule can cause problems. It can be difficult – or even impossible – to find an alternate performance date/time once the initial schedule is built. And the larger your group, the harder it is to find space to fit you into.

By far the most common request is for early performances (9:00 on Wednesdays, 9:30 on other days of the week). It is so common that for some plays, the inventory of seats isn’t enough to accommodate all such requests. For some groups, requesting an early show is a necessity because buses are not able to leave HTY in time after an 11:00 show to drop off a school that is far away. For other groups, early show requests are a preference, as it allows the group to (for example) return to school in time for lunch. Please help HTY to serve as many schools and students as possible by honestly indicating whether such a request is a preference or a necessity. I will try to accommodate all requests, but would like to give priority to those who absolutely need to attend an early performance.

If you are able and willing – or even prefer – to attend a later show time (10:30 on Wednesdays, 11:00 other days) please let me know. It would help me to fill those performances.

In particular, the Wednesday 10:30 performances are the hardest for me to fill, as buses are often unable to leave HTY (when the show would end) at 11:30 to drop off a school, then get to their after-school pick-up locations on time. In my experience, schools in areas served by Roberts, especially in Windward and Central O‘ahu, are most able to book buses for Wednesday 10:30 shows.

Others that could possibly fill Wednesday 10:30 performances are those that do not need to charter buses: schools with their own buses/vans, groups that are close enough to walk to HTY, and homeschool groups and other small groups that intend to come in private vehicles.

Please let me know if you are able and willing to schedule Wednesday 10:30 shows, as that would helpful to HTY and to me in building the schedule.

Unlike some other venues you may visit (e.g. ‘Iolani Palace, the Zoo), we have to account for a finite number of seats. Besides the number of students, it is important to have an estimated adult count (teachers, aides, chaperones), as they will take up seats as well. Your estimated attendance allows us to know how many seats you need, as well as how many seats remain for other groups to book. Generally, it is better for you to estimate high rather than low, as sometimes, I may not be able to add seats for your group if a performance is full.

A few seats here and there don’t make too big a difference, so don’t feel the need to tell me if you need one or two more seats. However, if you’re looking at a bigger variance from your estimate, please let us know. This is especially important if you are looking to ADD seats. However, it is still useful to know if your group will be smaller than expected, as that may open up enough seats to schedule another group.

Homeschool groups with at least ten students are welcome to attend school performances. If you are a homeschool family, you may join a larger group, or organize a new group.

Payment must be made as a group. Individual payments are not accepted at school performances.

For more information about homeschool bookings, please contact School Reservations (839-9885 Ext. 701, or schools@htyweb.org)

All groups who request a performance will receive a confirmation with either a date and time listed, or a notation that you are on a wait list. If you have NOT received a confirmation, it is possible that your Reservation Form was not received. Please contact School Reservations (839-9885 Ext. 720, or schools@htyweb.org) to follow-up.

Confirming/Cancelling a Performance

On your Season Confirmation, check off “Accept” to accept the date and time, “Re-sched” if you would like to re-schedule to a different date/time, or “Cancel” to cancel that performance altogether. Have your principal sign the bottom of the form, and return it to School Reservations (fax, mail, email).

On a show’s Final Confirmation Form, check off “Yes” under the “Accept?” heading. Have your principal sign the form and return it to School Reservations (fax, mail, email).

Your principal’s signature acknowledges acceptance of the Cancellation Policy (see below). Also, because forms not returned are assumed to be accepted, you are also accepting the Cancellation Policy.

You can think about HTY confirmations like Regrets Only RSVPs: if they are not returned, they are assumed to be accepted (that is, you will still attend, not cancel), but it would be nice for us to know that you intend to keep your reservation. You may also use your confirmation to make amendments to your reservation. In particular, it would be useful to know if you have changes to your estimated counts or contact person and/or email. You can also list special needs on your confirmation.

My main concern regarding confirmations is if groups need to cancel or re-schedule. This informs me that seats are now available to be offered to other groups who may be on a wait list or need to re-schedule. I will email all groups who request to cancel.

All cancellations need to be in writing, so there can be a record of your request to cancel. Please do NOT call me to, as there will not be a written record of your request.

You may cancel by faxing, mailing, or emailing your confirmation (with the “No” box under “Accept” checked), or by sending an email to schools@htyweb.org declaring your intention to cancel. You will be notified by email that your request was received and that your reservation has been canceled. If you do NOT get a notification within a few days, please make sure that your request to cancel was received.

Cancellations received after the cancellation deadline (printed on a show’s final confirmation) are subject to a late cancellation fee.

If you cancel after the final confirmation deadline, your school will be billed $25 per 75 seats reserved. If you cancel less than four weeks before the opening of the production, your school will be charged $6.00 for each reserved seat, as it is not possible to fill vacancies on short notice. Your principal’s signature on the confirmation form, or tacit acceptance of a reservation by not returning your confirmation, acknowledges acceptance of the cancellation policy.

Other Information

HTY performances run about an hour, except for those designed primarily for preschool and kindergarten audiences, which run about 35-40 minutes. This season, the Pre/K shows are Musubi Man and The Yoga Parade.

If you are unsure about the running time for a performance, you can also find it printed on the final confirmation and Attendance Form.

Admission for students is $6.00, or $4.50 for those who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Teachers and aides are free. Other adults (e.g. parent chaperones) are $6.00. Pricing is also printed on final confirmations and Attendance Forms.

All groups scheduled to attend a show are sent an Attendance Form in the weeks leading up to the opening of a show. Please fill out your Attendance Form on the day of the performance. This allows you to pay only for those attending, and not anyone who is absent. Based on those counts, calculate the amount due. Your school can issue a check or purchase order (PO) for that amount.

If you are unable to get a check or PO on the day of the performance, your Attendance Form will act as a PO for the purpose of generating an invoice to your school.

If you can not find your Attendance Form, there will be blank forms at the theatre. However, it is best to have your Attendance Form filled out before you arrive.

Try to schedule buses to arrive approximately 20-30 minutes before the start time of your scheduled performance. Besides allowing for time to get checked in and seated, the extra time also gives you a buffer in case traffic or other problems delay your arrival.

For seating purposes, we would especially like to know about anyone with mobility issues (e.g. wheelchairs, walkers, strollers), hearing and vision impairments, or those who are especially sensitive to lights and/or sound. Students on the autism spectrum are part of many groups (we usually seat them with their aides on the aisle or near the back), but it would be good to know about any who may be more challenging to handle.

Informing us about wheelchairs/walkers/strollers is especially important, as accessible seating is limited.

Touring Performances

Touring performances are largely the same as the performances at Tenney Theater. The main differences are because of the venue:

    • Sound is played off a portable system instead of our theater’s sound system
    • No theatrical lighting

Pricing for school touring performances is the same as for performances at Tenney Theater (see above), and you don’t have to pay for a bus!

Logistics for touring shows may vary, but generally speaking, HTY requests the following:

    • A 15’x15’ performance area
    • A place to change into costume (often a restroom)
    • Access to power (for sound system)
    • Use of one parking stall, as close as possible to the performance space
    • Students to be seated on the floor and on same level as the performers (not on chairs/cafeteria tables, performance not on raised stage)

If there are changes or additions to these needs, we will let you know.

Bus Grants

HTY has received funding from the State of Hawai‘i and the City & County of Honolulu to continue funding bus transportation for Title I schools.

Applications will be sent out in May, and funding will start being distributed in June.