Lopaka Kapanui brings ghost stories to Hawaiʻi Theatre

Lopaka Kapanui had his first encounter with the supernatural as a seven-year-old kid in the hospital. Since then, he had a special connection to other worldly things.   

“During surgery, I died on the table, and after I came back is when strange things started,” he said.

Since then, Kapanui and his wife, Tanya, started the ghost tour company, Mysteries of Hawaiʻi, which offers tours of neighborhoods, as well as programming for schools and corporate events. The duo also writes a weekly column of ghost stories for Aloha State Daily.

On Saturday, Oct. 18, Kapanui will share ghost stories, accompanied by the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, as part of a one-night-only performance called “Hapa Halloween: Mysteries of Hawaiʻi in Concert,” at Hawaiʻi Theatre. Attendees can also arrive an hour before the concert for a costume contest and trick of treating. Get tickets.  

“Please come expecting to be scared, to be thrilled, but also to leave with a great satisfaction that the spirits won't follow you home, unless you want them to,” he added.

Mysteries of Hawaiʻi has been voted among the best ghost tours in the nation by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards in 2023 and 2024. Results will be announced soon for the best ghost tours of 2025.

“Hapa Halloween: Mysteries of Hawaiʻi in Concert” will be the first in this season’s HapaSymphony series, which features local performers as headliners, alongside classical musicians. Previously, HSO has performed alongside Kapena and ʻukulele virtuoso Taimane Gardner, among others, as part of its programming. For the upcoming concert, the orchestra will be led by Conductor Michael-Thomas Foumai, who is also its composer in residence.

Music is at the heart of a lot of Kapanui’s storytelling.

“The really cool thing about the concert is when I spoke to the conductor, I told him that a lot of times stories that I write are inspired by music,” Kapanui said. “There's a story I wrote about Princess Kaʻiulani that was inspired by Claude Debussy — his composition called ʻArabesque.’ And then I told him, there's a night marcher story that's kind of brutal, but that was inspired by a group in the 70s called ʻThree Dog Night,’ and the title of the song is ʻMama Told Me (Not to Come).’ It's about these people who go on a night marchers trail and are told not to go, and it's kind of brutal.”

The concert will include seven of his stories that will be put to music, he said. It is his first time doing something of this capacity, he said.

“This is going to be the first of its kind, and I hope to do more,” Kapanui said.

This season, the HapaSymphony series consists of five concerts which pair HSO with popular performers. Featured headliners include award-winning singers and musicians. Upcoming events will feature Natalie Ai Kamauu, Keauhou, Johnny Valentine and WaiTiki 7.

As Kapanui stood across the street from Hawaiʻi Theatre, where he will perform with the symphony, he reflected on a ghost story which involves that building.

“There is one prevailing story about the spirit of an old Chinese merchant that is still seen around the theater in daytime and a lot of times in the evening,” he said. “Underneath the stage is sort of like a passageway that goes from one side of the theater to the other, and that's mostly where they see the spirit lurking. If at any time, somebody wants to do a private tour underground to go visit the spirit, let me know.”

Get tickets.

Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.