The musicians on stage play the ukulele.

"This will be one of the co-stars in our documentary," Tony Coleman said, holding up a collectors ukulele made in the 1920s.

Coleman, a Toronto native, is producing a documentary on the ukulele called "Mighty Uke" -- a world journey to find the four-stringed instrument.

"There's a whole different vibe, a whole different kind of music that happens on the ukulele," he said.

Coleman saw it happen in a pub in England and in Israel, where he filmed jewish and arab kids strumming together.

"They see this program as a bright light in a dark tunnel. It was so inspiring," he said.

Since January, Coleman and his wife, Margaret Meagher, have worked on three continents and in about a dozen mainland cities. They're in Hawaii to tape interviews with Bill Tapia, Roy Sakuma and Jake Shimabukuro. They're also doing research on the history of the ukulele in Hawaii.

"Here, we really need to spend time and get connected. And we've managed to do that," Meagher said.

Coleman took a year off from his job with Canadian public television to travel the ukelele trail.

"We never went there but there are ukulele players in Iceland," he said.

Save that for a sequel.

"Mighty Uke" should be ready to air by next May.

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