Local playwright and children's book author Lisa Matsumoto, whose pidgin-influenced works delighted audiences statewide, died yesterday following a head-on collision caused when she drove the wrong way on H-1 Freeway.

Police are investigating how Matsumoto's vehicle ended up traveling against traffic on H-1 west-bound, east of the Kalihi Street overpass, at about 3:30 a.m. yesterday, police Sgt. John Agno said.

A Waipahu woman whose vehicle was struck by Matsumoto's was hospitalized in serious condition, officials said.

Friends and associates mourned the popular artist.

Burton White, artistic director and manager of Hawaii Theatre, where some of Matsumoto's plays were staged, said Matsumoto was "a wonderfully talented woman who touched people who knew her and who worked for her."

"She was just a bright spot and she had the largest heart of anybody I knew, always giving, always positive. An exceptional talent. It's a loss," he said.

Matsumoto, 43, died after sustaining serious internal injuries and a broken neck in the wreck.

Police received at least three 911 calls of a car matching the description of Matsumoto's vehicle traveling the wrong way on the freeway prior to the collision, police said.

"It's pretty frightening. It does appear that she was on the freeway for a quite a while," said police Maj. Susan Dowsett, head of the department's traffic division. "It's unusual that would occur. Collisions like this are very rare."

Police said it is unknown if speed, alcohol or drugs were factors. Toxicology tests will be performed during an autopsy scheduled for today, police said.

Police said Matsumoto's green, four-door Toyota Camry was about 530 feet east of the Kalihi Street overpass, in the lane closest to the median, when it struck the other vehicle.

The black four-door Toyota Corolla was driven by a 35-year-old Waipahu woman, who suffered head and leg injuries in the 3:32 a.m. crash.

The younger woman, who swerved to the right to avoid Matsumoto's vehicle, was taken to The Queen's Medical Center in serious condition.

Matsumoto also was taken to Queen's, where she died late yesterday afternoon, associates said.

A 21-year-old man whose car crashed while trying to avoid the collision was treated at the scene and was not taken to the hospital, said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city Emergency Services Department.

"When (EMS) arrived on scene, the 43-year-old female was already out of the car, and Honolulu firefighters were performing CPR," Cheplic said. "She was in cardiac arrest status, and we were able to sustain her life until she arrived at Queen's."

Matsumoto and the Waipahu woman were wearing seat belts, and air bags in both cars deployed, police said. The accident took place in light traffic under cloudy skies and the roadway was wet, Agno said.

Firefighters sent three companies to the scene.

Matsumoto's death was the 64th traffic fatality of the year, compared to 90 in all of last year.

PIDGIN PLAYS

Matsumoto was best known for stage productions such as the "Once Upon One Time" trilogy of fractured fairy tales with a pidgin spin. But children might know her touring programs that often had an environmental message.

She also was one of a group of local playwrights with a common goal.

"We're working toward the same thing, trying to create unique, indigenous local theater that's about Hawai'i by local people," said Harry Wong, artistic director of Kumu Kahua Theatre.

Her work really helped popularize pidgin plays, he said. "It was able to reach across a lot of local people who don't normally go to theater," he said.

Matsumoto was a graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute and the University of Hawai'i. Her works have been staged all over the state, and 'Ohi'a Productions, which she co-founded, offers in-depth theater programs in several schools.

Recently, she had been working with composer-actress Roslyn Catracchia to adapt their musical "On Dragonfly Wings" to reach a wider audience. The musical, inspired by Alana Dung, a Hawai'i girl who lost her battle with leukemia at age 3, was selected for the 12th annual ASCAP Foundation/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop in Los Angeles.

"She and I were right in the middle of working on a draft ... which was due today for a performance at the University of Georgia in April," Catracchia said yesterday. "She knew exactly what she wanted to do. ... I need to get this out as part of her legacy. It's become a lot more powerful thing."

The duo planned to take the play to the Mainland, with hopes of getting it on Broadway, said Matsumoto's attorney, Jeff Portnoy, who had been working with her on the rights to the musical.

"It was undergoing a tremendous transformation from what was seen here ... but the theme of hope and redemption and how people deal with death are the same," he said.

"She was such an extra talented person," he said. "It's just such an unspeakable tragedy."

Zan Timtim, speaking for 'Ohi'a Productions, said Matsumoto was very involved in the company, even though she was involved in other projects.

"She was a multitasker," Timtim said. "She had her hand in everything."

Last night more than 100 friends and family members gathered at First Presbyterian Church in Kane'ohe to remember Matsumoto and try to deal with her sudden death through a mixture of laughter and tears.

"It's so typical. Lisa always had a way of including people and bringing everyone together," said friend Devon Nekoba, who first acted in one of Matsumoto's plays in the 1994 and remained part of her extended 'ohana since then.

"She was always the one who could make you feel part of the family. Even if you were just playing a tree at the back of the stage, she made you feel just as important as the person singing the songs front and center," he said.

Nekoba said part of Matsumoto's talent was to make the theater accessible to everyone.

"She spread the joy of the theater everywhere she went," he said.

'TRYING TO SLOW DOWN'

Catracchia, who went to grade school with Matsumoto and became a lifelong friend in college, said Matsumoto on Wednesday had been telling her that they both needed to take care of themselves.

"She was trying to slow down, to enjoy those we loved and spend time together," she said. Catracchia was shocked to get a 5:30 a.m. call yesterday about the accident from someone who had been in one of their plays 10 years ago.

"Lisa's 'Ohi'a 'ohana is so big, you always run into somebody who's done one of our shows," she said. "She had such endless energy, endless positive energy. She always tried to tap into the child in each of us and to remind us about love and aloha and that it's OK to be a child and laugh as hard as we possibly can."

Matsumoto's current production of the "Christmas Gift of Aloha" at Ala Moana Center was shuttered last night. It will reopen this evening, Catracchia said.

Advertiser entertainment editor Wayne Harada and writer Mike Leidemann contributed to this report.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com and Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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