Arts | Entertainment | Crafts | Life
Just asking…
When you’re feeling down and out, what song will trigger a sunshiny-bright mood that could change a frown into a smile?
I nominate Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” that snappy and cheery ditty that could easily brighten a room.
Part of the lyrics: “Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof, because I’m happy.”
Share and nominate a song – and provide a few lines from a verse, if you can – to add to the list of happy ditties that can shoosh away the stress.
Auli‘i Cravalho, the Kamehameha Schools graduate who voiced Moana in the hit Disney animated film, has had a whirlwind year ever since she came out on Tik Tok in April 2020.
In June 2021, half-smiling in a full page story with photo in Entertainment Weekly, she’s talking about how far she’ll go in the next step of her acting career. The placement of this interview-profile piece is significant: Cravalho is one of the myriad of entertainment stars, current and future, in The Pride Issue of EW.
For the LGBTQ community, June is big time. At the end of the month, gay pride awareness will be front-and-center, with huge parades particularly in San Francisco and New York, hubs of the movement.
Cravalho is elated that her decision to go public about her sexuality is resonating with fans, friends and followers. “The fans are only too happy to accept another gay,” she is quoted.
Since “Moana,” she has landed roles big and small, and is currently filming an Amazon Pride Video series, “The Power,” but also has been sought to portray roles written expressly as bisexual or gay, reflecting life.
While she hasn’t been formally asked to revisit Moana in a rumored live-action Disney film beyond the animated original, Cravalho – who is part Hawaiian — is happy to have crossed the intersection of being pigeon-holed into the mass of “racially ambiguous, Latin-esque girl…who sings her way out of poverty.” Inclusion and awareness are part of the new threshold of Hollywood.
Disney may do “Moana 2” as a cartoon, and yes, Dwayne Johnson will return as Maui the Demigod. Others expected in the sequel: Rachel House as Pools, Temuira Morrison as Tuira, Jemaine Clement as Tamatoa, Alan Tudyk as HeiHei and Nicole Scherzinger as Sina, according to online sources. …
Liliha Bakery in Waikiki
It’s going to be confusing soon, when a Liliha Bakery branch opens at the International Market Place in Waikiki.
Proprietor Peter Kim is expanding the reach of Liliha’s famous coco puffs, in the heart of the visitor center, when the new outlet opens in the site formerly occupied by Kahu’s Sushi and Seafood Buffet and Yauatcha Waikiki.
Liliha’s original bakery is in Liliha, of course, famous for its always-filled counter service,and larger restaurants at Macy’s in Ala Moana Center and another on Nimitz Highway.
Kim has filed permit applications for his fourth Liliha’s Bakery, the timetable for which has not been announced. But you gotta know that coco puffs will be a take-off champ from the get go, and dining in should bring visitors – and locals who venture to Waikiki – to enjoy local style, breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
Kim, founder of Yummy Korean B-B-Q take-out restaurants, operates a range of other restaurants, including Signature Streak House atop the Ala Moana Hotel. …
More ‘Mosquito’ on the way
With Apple TV+ winding up the first season of “The Mosquito Coast” on June 4, it’s grand news for series stars Justin Theroux and Melissa George.
The word of a second season also is reason to celebrate for Paul Theroux, the author of the book on which the series is based. Paul is the uncle of Justin and has been spending pandemic time at his North Shore pad; he also is one of the executive producers in a hui that also includes Justin.
This TV take on “Mosquito” follows an earlier 1986 feature film starring Harrison Ford.
The series has had mixed reviews from critics and since Apple doesn’t release Nielsen ratings numbers for its project, there’s no yardstick on how popular the show is/was.
Theroux’s latest novel is “Under the Wave at Waimea,” with a surfer protagonist riding the metaphorical waves that reflect life, with a stunning North Shore presence. The perfect book for summer reading, rippling with Theroux’s brilliant and vivid storytelling technique.. …
And that’s “Show Biz.” …
Update: After this column was posted this morning, I got an email from Joe Moore, announcing yet another postponement of “The Sunshine Boys.” Thus, the following column has been revised.–Wayne Harada
For the second time since the pandemic shutdown began nearly two years ago, the production of “The Sunshine Boys” — which was listed in an email announcement from the Hawaii Theatre — has been delayed again.
New performance dates are June 16 through June 26…in 2022.
The comedy, by Neil Simon, will feature Joe Moore, Hawaii’s longtime most-watched news anchor on KHON-TV, and his one-time Army buddy, Pat Sajak, the host of the wildly popular syndicated “Wheel of Fortune” game show.
“Mighty kind of you featuring ‘The Sunshine Boys’ in today’s Show Biz column online…and I hate to disappoint, but for the second year in a row, the Covid pandemic has forced us to postpone the show for a year,” said Moore in an email. “Large gatherings are still not allowed under the state’s restrictions, so rather than perform the show to a widely spaced, one-third capacity audience who might might not feel comfortable in a large crowd yet, Pat and I along with Greg Dunn, head of Hawaii Theatre, decided it best to postpone the benefit run as we want to raise as much money as possible for the theatre.”
On a family note, the play also will mark the professional acting debut of Bryce Moore, son of the newsman. Bryce previously co-starred in “Under the Blood Red Sun,” a made-in-Hawaii film.
The supporting cast also will include Therese Olival, Robert Duvall, Jeanne Wynn Herring, Matthew Mazzella, Bart DaSilva, and Robert Doan.
Moore and Sajak have frequently performed together on stage in Hawaii. Because one lives here and the other on the mainland, rehearsals are frequently done virtually.
Moore portrays Willie Clark and Sajak is Al Lewis in the play about the reunion of vaudevillian vets tapped by CBS to do a TV special. Willie Clark’s nephew (Bryce Moore) attempts to bring the duo together, but longstanding grudges and friction resurface, and the question of ageism raises doubt about whether the duo can succeed and mend the broken bridges of the past.
Rob Duvall, a multiple Po’okela Award winner, will direct.
Performances will be at 7 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays, with additional matinee shows at 2 p.m. Saturdays, through June 27.
Tickets; $30 to $75, available at www.hawaiitheatare.com.
Chai opens newest, KALO, with Hawaiian food
Chai Chaowasaree, owner-chef of Chef Chai’s, has opened a new restaurant, KALO: Hawaiian food by Chai’s, in the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel Waikiki Beach, at 400 Royal Hawaiian Avenue at Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki. Spada Bar and Restaurant previously occupied the site.
KALO offers a range of Hawaiian small plates, side dishes and entrees including a Hawaiian sampler, pineapple lobster curry, grilled rib eye steak and oxtail soup, served from 4 to 10 p.m.
“I chose the name KALO because it honors one of the most important staple foods among native Hawaiians,” said Chaowasaree of taro, the iconic diet item among Hawaiians.
A breakfast menu – with variations of eggs and Portuguese sausage, pancakes, poke bowls topped with fried eggs, beef stew with rice – will be served beginning July 1 , from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Reservations: 931-6222…
And that’s “Show Biz.”…
“Forever Plaid,” a modest, nostalgic off-Broadway musical about a fictional four-part-harmony group, has been extended for four more performances (through June 13) at Diamond Head Theatre. Go see it, if you can; you’ll be forever glad.
It is the perfect confection for this ongoing pandemic, with a small four-member cast, an orchestra of two, and one set against which four lads appear in sort of a dream sequence since they perished in a crash en route to a gig where they specialize in boy-group harmonics of the 1950s. The title alludes to the group’s fondness of plaid, and there are four of ‘em, and they idolize the Four Freshmen.
That’s all the subtext you need to know to enjoy this stroll down memory lane.
Tyler Devere appears as Jinx, Scott Fikse as Smudge, Ryan Michel as Frankie, and Will Thomson as Sparky, whose vocal ranges, when combined, result in sweet harmonics suitable for songs of the era, including “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “No Not Much,” “Rags to Riches,” and “Moments to Remember.”
As lovingly directed and choreographed by Andrew Sakaguchi, who played Smudge in a 1997 mounting of this bon-bon at the unlikely Waikiki restaurant-club called Hula Hut in 1997, “Forever Plaid” represents the naivete and niceties of a kinder, gentler time in entertainment.
Its flashback motif works, in this era of pandemic stress, and DHT’s revival is an opportune vehicle to move back into show mode, albeit with caution and safety. Masks are required for entry and watching, and social distancing protocols remain. The tradeoff is a feel-good feeling as you exit the theater.
The show, created by Stuart Ross, lowers the bar considerably in the production realm, but succeeds in keeping reality in check; DHT has a full slate of creative talent at play, without the overhead of an overblown product in a financially distressed time.
The four gents are genial and appealing, engaging in minimal but essential choreographics, which require some dancing feats but more hand motions and body action. Agility is a must, for a visually hilarious panorama of 3 minutes and 11 seconds of the antics during an Ed Sullivan Show, embracing such warm remembrances including Topo Gigio, my-name-Jose Jimenez, jugglers and accordionist, spinning plates and hula, Senor Wences and his hand puppet Johnny, in the host’s “really big shoe.”
Remaining shows: 4 p.m. today (June 7), 7:30 p.m. June 11, 3 and 7:30 p.m. June 12 and 4 p.m. June 13. Tickets: $22 at www.diamondheadtheatre.com.
“NCIS: Hawai‘i,” scheduled for a Sept. 1 launch on CBS, continues to name subsidiary cast members.
The latest additions:
Whether a locally hired actor snags perhaps the seventh key role is yet to be seen. Ya never know, of course, till it happens.
Yasmine Al-Bustam, as Lucy; Jason Antoo, as Ernie; and Noah Mills, as Jessie; were previously announced in key roles, providing, so far, an ensemble of six major players to date.
The team behind the scenes include two execs from the now-shuttered “NCIS: New Orleans,” Christopher Silber and Jan Nash as executive producers and showrunners, with Matt Bosack from “Seal Team” part of the team.
Lachey, the first female to lead an NCIS unit, will be overseeing and exploring crimes and mishaps against the backdrop of Pearl Harbor, with competing familial issues as well. …
Talk about people
Wearing facemasks, Justin and Hailey Bieber popped into TJ’s Sports Bar & Grill one recent night, surprising locals who were there, including entertainer Kekoa Kane, who was singing there. Kane was able to get photos taken with Bieber, who previously has spent time on the Neighbor Islands, renting high-profile, extravagant accommodations. Well, you only live once. …
Bright Kid scholarships
As part of the education core of the I Am a Bright Kid (IABK) Foundation, academic scholarships are awarded to deserving theatrical students.
Grace Rogers, Kalaheo High student, earned the IABK Foundation Performing Arts Award and a cash scholarship of $1,500. She will attend Emerson College this fall, pursuing a BFA in theater education and performance, and is a former participant in the IABK Summer Program in 2020.
“Theater connects people,” says Grace. “That connection is so much more valuable than any silly insecurity I may have, and I love performing because it allows me to experience that brief and beautiful feeling over and over again. I never knew Mr. Bright, but I believe that he shared this belief. As an educator, I can only hope to leave a fraction of the impact that Mr. Bright left on his students and his community.”
Ty Souza-Martinez won a $500 scholarship in the performing arts category and is currently studying vocal performance at Colorado State University in Pueblo.
And Taysha Paige of Kapolei High was awarded $500 and will attend the University of Hawaii West Oahu this fall, and commented, “I know that the rewards lie in the lives I change and the hearts I touch.”
Five years ago, Katie Yoshioka (Baldwin High School, ’17) won an IABK scholarship and completed her BA in education at Pacific University in three years. She graduates this month with a master’s in teaching and will teach kindergarten at West Union Elementary in Hillsboro, OR. “I am very excited to have my own classroom and complete my goals,” she says. …
And that’s “Show Biz.” …