Taimane Gardner is turning Hawaiʻi Theatre into a portal between worlds this month, staging a full theatrical performance of her new album Liʻulā alongside aerial acrobats, a Hawaiian poet laureate, and a Halloween-tinged opening set. The downtown Honolulu show, set for October 22 at 7 p.m., doubles as both a seasonal celebration and an album release party for the ʻukulele virtuoso's first new record in four years.
According to KHON2, Liʻulā means “twilight” in Hawaiian and explores the mystical side of the islands, drawing on spirits, legends, and stories said to come alive after dark. The performance, titled “Liʻulā – Cross into the Mirage,” will feature live music, contemporary and Polynesian dance, aerial acrobatics, elaborate costumes, and spoken word performances, the station reports. Per Aloha State Daily, the seven-song, 26-minute album was released on August 21, 2026, and will be performed in full during the second half of the show, following an opening set of Halloween medleys and a minor-key reinterpretation of “Waimānalo Blues.”
Aerial Dancers and a Poet Laureate Join the Stage
The production will include live aerial acrobatics from Kakaʻako-based dance school Samadhi Hawaiʻi and spoken-word storytelling from Kealoha, Hawaiʻi's first poet laureate, the same outlet notes. The pairing threads Hawaiian moʻolelo, or storytelling tradition, through a show that blends aerial dance with multi-genre music.
One track on the album, titled “Aloha ʻOe / Until We Meet Again,” is inspired by “Aloha ʻOe.”
A Princess Kaʻiulani Tribute and Grammy Consideration
Taimane is set to perform at an event celebrating Princess Kaʻiulani on October 16 at Outrigger Waikīkī Paradise Hotel, per the KHON2 report. The hotel sits on the site of Princess Kaʻiulani's former Waikīkī estate, ʻĀinahau.
Two of Taimane's musical releases are currently under consideration for Grammy nominations in the Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album and Best Instrumental Composition categories, KHON2 reports. She's also planning an upcoming tour with fellow Hawaiʻi musician Kalani Peʻa, a multi-Grammy winner; according to TAIMANE Official, the February 2027 tour will hit West Coast stops including Santa Barbara, Irvine, Arroyo Grande, Davis, and San Francisco in California, as well as Chandler, Arizona.
From Waikīkī Discovery to National Stages
Taimane started ballet before she had an ʻukulele at age 5. She was discovered at 13 by legendary entertainer Don Ho, who featured her as a teenager in his Waikīkī Beachcomber variety show, and was later mentored by ʻukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro, according to her official site. She took her stage name from the Samoan word for “diamond.”
HAWAIʻI Magazine listed “Water” from Elemental among the 2019 Nā Hōkū Hanohano nominees. In March 2020, she became the first musician from Hawaiʻi to perform an NPR Tiny Desk Concert; the performance included a dancer and represented her culture, according to Hawaii Public Radio.
A Historic Stage Facing Modern Pressures
Built in 1922 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 1,726-seat Hawaiʻi Theatre is known as the “Paradise of the Pacific” and stands as the oldest remaining venue in Hawaiʻi originally designed for live theater, according to Images of Old Hawaii. Concerned citizens banded together in the 1980s to preserve and restore the theater.
Hosting a production as ambitious as Liʻulā underscores the theater's continuing role as a centerpiece of Honolulu's arts scene.
