Celebrating Magnificence in our ‘Ohana: Doris Morisaki with Still & Moving Cast

So Magnificent!
And this year’s Diwali cast

Novemer 2024 |  By Sarah Hodges

Every year since 2018, Still & Moving Center staff member Doris Morisaki has graced our audiences with her fantastical narration of the Ramayana, while our students, teachers, and staff reenact epic battle scenes, a true love story, and the tale of the triumph of good over selfishness.

While we’ve always celebrated Diwali since our opening almost 14 years ago, we didn’t do it with such fanfare. It started out with Director Renée Tillotson simply telling the story behind the Diwali festival of lights: the tale of Prince Ram, Princess Sita, and the demon, King Ravana. Since then, our celebration has evolved, with many of the thanks going to Doris.

Performers in our annual Diwali presentation are now up to no small feat, with dozens of cast members and dancers finding their way into characters and coordinating with others with an intricate script. For many, this of the ancient Indian epic the Ramayana is the first time acting since grade school plays, if at all.

As narrator, Doris threads together all aspects of the story, so that every other participant can focus on just the movement of their character without ever learning or speaking a line, often one of the most arduous parts of acting. Carried by the confidence in Doris’s ever-varying voice, character to character, nobody has to feel shy, and each can play their role at full force. Everyone fulfills the Still l& Moving motto: “Claim your magnificence!”

“Renée has this ability to see something in you before you do,” Doris explains, referring to how she suddenly got the part one year as the Diwali narrator. “About 20 minutes before the show, Renée decided that I should be the narrator in her place. I had been reading the narration while she rehearsed the actors in their staging. She liked the way I changed my voice – whether for a demon or a delicate princess or the brave monkey hero Hanuman. Somehow, on the night of that show, I was able to pull it off.” Doris didn’t just “pull it off”, but she carried the narration with resounding talent. And she’s been narrating ever since!

“I’ve learned at Still & Moving how to roll with changes and do my best,” says Doris with a laugh. And she’s always glad when she does. “As a kid, I was always a limelight-lover, but I didn’t have any talent to perform,” she explains. “Since being a part of Still & Moving Center, I now have something I can do on stage, something of value to offer. Whether hula dancing or Diwali narrations, I always have fun.”

Doris hardly ever gets nervous on stage, and she notes how this year she felt especially calm thanks to the great organization and preparation of her colleagues. “That calmness opened more space for me to get into character,” says Doris. Other than at rehearsals, she doesn’t practice reading the script before the show. Years of experience ring out, with a freshness.

As they perform an important back-and-forth takes place between the actors and Doris. One year when most of the ‘actors’ were actually puppets, Doris realized she had to work much harder to infuse energy and life into the voices of each character. This year with real human beings back on stage acting out their parts, Doris’s various voices flowed out with ease.

A reminder from Doris: “Rule number one around here at Still & Moving Center: You’re not going to remain stagnant! When Renée sees something in you and believes in it – even long before you see it in yourself – you may soon find yourself stepping into new realms of expression and magnificence.”