When John Rampage turned 12, his mother took him to see a national tour production of the hit musical, “Mame,” at Chicago’s historic Shubert Theatre (now the CIBC Theatre). It was a birthday present he will always remember.
A boy around his age was a principal in what young Rampage thought was the most wonderful show that he had ever seen. Every Saturday for the next two months, he caught a train to downtown Chicago from his home in the suburb of Riverside, a half-hour ride away, to see the afternoon matinee of “Mame.”
“My $5 weekly allowance was enough to buy round-trip fare, a hamburger and a balcony ticket,” recalled Rampage, who has been Diamond Head Theatre’s (DHT) artistic director since 1995. “I knew Patrick’s lines by heart. My dream was that one day the boy who played him would be sick, and the director would say, ‘It’s okay, the kid who comes every Saturday and watches the show from the balcony can take his place.’”
Of course that didn’t happen, but Rampage went on to build a 54-year career in theater — success, he acknowledges, that is notoriously elusive. He has been on stage or directed and/or choreographed 90 different shows (some multiple times), including Tony Award winners “Evita,” “Cabaret,” “The Producers” and “A Chorus Line.”
Rampage exhibited a penchant for performing at an early age. Avid world travelers, his maternal grandparents gifted him with costumes from countries they visited. He has albums full of snapshots of him as a preschooler, singing and dancing around the house dressed in that attire.
“That was the 1960s, when great variety shows like ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ and ‘The Hollywood Palace’ were on TV, so maybe they inspired me too,” Rampage said. “I come from a family of lawyers, so it was assumed I would also go into law. But I was the odd one who went in a very different direction.”
His mother supported his interest in the performing arts, so when he asked if he could take ballet and jazz dance lessons at age eight, she happily obliged. By then, he’d already had roles in several school and community theater shows, including “Gypsy,” “Oliver,” “Carousel” and “The Sound of Music.”
Rampage started performing professionally in 1972, just before he turned 18 (he was still a minor, so his mother signed his first contract). Since then, he has made a living from performing and teaching dance, primarily in Honolulu, with which he forged strong ties early on.
His globe-trotting grandparents moved to Honolulu from Riverside in the late 1950s. Prior to World War II, they had traveled extensively throughout Europe but decided not to go back after the war ended. His grandmother didn’t want to fly, so it was easy for them to get to Asia and the South Pacific, their new travel priorities, via cruise ships from Hawai‘i.
Beginning in 1959, when Rampage was five, he and his mother stayed with his grandparents every year for two months, usually between January and March to escape Chicago’s bitter-cold winters. His half-sister and her family had also settled on O‘ahu, so those long annual visits were enjoyable bonding time. They continued for about a decade, until his grandmother died and his parents divorced.
For the next several years, trips to Hawai‘i were less frequent and of shorter duration. His grandfather passed away in 1971, and in 1974, Rampage’s mother declared she was not going to endure another brutal Chicago winter and moved to O‘ahu. The following year, Rampage decided to live with her until a Mainland job started four months later. He was promptly cast in the supporting role of Tommy Djilas in “The Music Man,” presented by Honolulu Community Theatre (HCT, now DHT).
When the Mainland show was canceled, Rampage wound up staying in Hawai‘i for four-plus years. Work for HCT and the Honolulu City Ballet kept him busy, and he also appeared in a nightclub act with headliner Zulu, a regular in the original “Hawai‘i 5-0” series. That nine-month gig took him to Maui, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i island and Los Angeles.
Between 1980 and 1990, Rampage lived wherever the jobs were, including Madrid for a year. For most of that decade, he spent half the year on the Mainland and half in Honolulu where he worked with numerous groups, including DHT, Hawai‘i Ballet Theatre, Mānoa Valley Theatre, Hawai‘i Opera Theatre and Leeward Community College.
With Rampage’s help, cast members fine-tune a scene from “The Last Five Years,” which ran from Jan. 23 to Feb. 8. (Courtesy of Diamond Head Theatre) 
Rampage makes a point to the cast before they rehearse a scene from “The Man of La Mancha,” which was performed last year. (Courtesy of Diamond Head Theatre) 
Rampage and Shari Lynn starred in “Love Letters” at Diamond Head Theatre. This photo was taken before the Feb. 18, 2021, performance, when DHT was just beginning to offer shows again after being shut down for eight months during the pandemic. (Courtesy of John Rampage)
Honolulu became Rampage’s permanent home in 1990. Today, as DHT’s full-time artistic director, he juggles myriad responsibilities, including managing budgets; selecting each season’s six shows with Executive Director Trevor Tamashiro; and directing and/or choreographing at least one show (this season, he will direct and choreograph “Funny Girl”). He is also the instructor for two weekly 90-minute dance classes at DHT: Broadway Jazz, which he has taught for the past 32 years, and Silver Stars, which he launched 12 years ago.
“Silver Stars is offered to seniors 60 and older three times a year,” Rampage said. “They’re delightful! I teach them a different dance style to a different song each 10-week session. By the end of it, they’ve had fun, some exercise and feel like they’re Broadway performers!”
Acting, ballet, vocals and flamenco are also among the 17 classes in DHT’s year-round education program. The Shooting Stars performance troupe comprises aspiring singers, dancers and actors aged eight through 16. Rampage was their director for 26 years — up until two years ago when he passed the torch to a colleague with fresh vision and energy.
“I’ve seen how performing has dramatically changed some kids’ lives,” he said. “Maybe they aren’t excelling in sports, academics or other things in school, but they find their niche in theater. They gain confidence, their talent blossoms and they make a successful career of it. When they come back and say, ‘You taught me so much, you inspired me to pursue this’ — wow! That’s my greatest reward: being able to share my knowledge, experiences and passion with young people, who keep theater alive and help it flourish.”
It’s showtime!
Diamond Head Theatre will close out its 2025-2026 season with three blockbusters: “West Side Story” (March 20 to April 5); “Funny Girl” (May 22 to June 7); and “Les Miserables” (July 31 to Aug. 16). Performances are usually Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. Matinees on the second Sunday of every production are translated into sign language.
Tickets start at $43. For more information, call 808-733-0274 or visit diamondheadtheatre.com.
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