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To bid you best wishes, as “A Chorus Line” closes this weekend at Diamond Head Theatre, I created a limited number of these “A Chorus Feline” cards to wish you a mahalo and aloha. Wish I had enough cards for each one of you.
The Hawaii Academy of Performing Arts will go live, then virtual , for its 44th annual Na Hoku Hanohano Awards event.
It’s set for Sept. 11 as a “live” event filmed for telecast Oct. 7 via KFVE.
There will be an array of entertainment and entertainers, clad in finery like the customary awards evening, with a bento part of the Hawaii Theatre proceedings.
“Ho‘ala Hou — A New Awakening” is the theme for the proceedings.
The idea is to enable nominees and the retinue of performers the chance to celebrate in person – social distancing has not been factored in, at this time – to maintain the aura of an awards celebration, considering the nearly two years of lockdowns and the rebirth of live entertainment around town, with HARA carrying the banner to uplift the musical community with –what else — music.
Though 40 awards categories are at stake, attendees will have to wait for the announcement of winners in a prime-time show from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 7 on KFVE, with an encore presentation in the same time slot on KGMB.
HARA members will have first dibs at tickets, so if you’re an industry participant, you should receive details and protocols via a link provided in an email.
At the Hawaii Theatre, doors will open at 4 p.m. for no-host refreshments outside of the theater, fronting the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park. Tickets include boxed bentos from Kuhio Avenue Food Halls, available from 4 to 6:30 p.m.
Pre-show festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m., with footage filmed for Facebook and aired prior to the show. The broadcast at 7 p.m. will include presenters and performances, with possible pauses for re-takes, if necessary. The experience will be akin to be being in a studio where a show is being taped.
Tickets are $65 to $110 (plus $9.50 for ticketing fee, benefitting the Hawaii Theatre). HARA members will be first to sign up; public sales will begin next week, and members are asked not to share the HARA link with non-members.
COVID-19 mandates will be in place, with attendance requiring a valid vaccination card or a FDA-EAU negative test result 48 hours prior to the event. …
No Po‘okela Awards this year
The Hawaii State Theatre Council is shelving its Po‘okela Awards this season, largely due to the pandemic but also because it is reexamining and bolstering its awards evening, celebrating excellence in theater.
‘Play/Write’ competition under way
Kumu Kahua Theatre and BambooRidge are partnering to launch “Go Try Play/Write,” a monthly playwriting competition.
Entrants must write/create a five-page monologue or a 10-page scene, based on a monthly prompt.
Every month, Kumu Kahua’s artistic director Harry Wong II will provide a prompt to define a scene.
The contest starts at the first of the month and concludes the last day of the month.
The August prompt is a monologue or scene depicting a confrontation between a person and a cockroach. A monthly winner will be selected and receive $20 and a subscription to Bamboo Ridge Press. There is no cost to enter; for details, call 536-4441 or visit kumukahua.org
Entries must be submitted at https://www.kumukahua.org/gotryplaywrite
And that’s “Show Biz.”
Auwe. It’s 10 p.m., you’ve just exited the movie theater, and you’re hungry for a late night snack. So where to go?
Home, probably.
The abundance of wee-hour restaurants – some 24/7, others serving till midnight – is history.
In the old days, you could hele on to Pier 7 at the Ilikai. Or a neighborhood saimin stand.
Or a pancake house, like the one on Ala Moana Boulevard (whose name I can’t recall) across the Ilikai, if you were seeking a platter of flapjacks with sides of egg and Spam.
And yes, Kau Kau Korner at Kapiolani and Kalakaua, at the entrance of Waikiki, was a shrine of sorts and a symbol of a destination for ono kau kau. After work, after movie, after doing a show in Waikiki. It was also the home of Coco’s … until the Hard Rock Café settled in there. All gone now.
Other sites, like Wailana, at the corner of Ala Moana and Ena Road, served us well. It was a place where we all gathered, after the first round of going out, and finished the evening with local chow, frequently of singers and musicians we had seen earlier.
There was hope for a meal, too, if you slipped into a booth at Columbia Inn, before the midnight hour, where dinner, snack or breakfast options awaited. Maybe even at the counter-service at the Liliha Bakery, on Kuakini Street.
No can do. Not anymore. Nada.
Restaurants cut back schedules even before the pandemic, but the lockdown punctuated the disappearance of late-night dining. Maybe folks lost their thirst of night outings, and understandably, the hunger for late-night noshing, too.
Flash forward to the present times. You have to be in an eatery probably by 9:30 at the latest, to get table service. At M.A.C. 24/7 at the Hilton Waikiki Beach resort (the former Prince Kuhio Hotel) on Kuhio Avenue, business hours are 6 a.m. to midnight.
Both locations of the venerable Side Street Inn (Hopaka St., Kapahulu Ave.) have clipped hours, too, shutting down at 9 p.m.
Two former 24/7 brands also have abbreviated timetables: Anna Miller’s at Pearlridge and IHOP locations
The places that used to welcome night owls back in the day now close by 10 p.m.:
Conclusion: If you’re hungry late at night or in the wee hours, scout your fridge for leftovers or get the frying pan on the stove to whip out an omelet. Cup-a-Noodle just doesn’t cut it.
But the memories linger: where did you go for your night noshes back in the day?
The roots are deep, director-choreographer Greg Zane has been learning via his latest project, “A Chorus Line,” as the musical hit winds up at Diamond Head Theatre.
Since the award-winning show opened July 16, a number of island folks who’ve previously performed in “ACL,” have responded to the production and shared indelible memories and ties with the late Tommy Aguilar, whose legacy and spirit have driven and prevailed during entire run. The show has another weekend of performances, Thursday through Sunday (Aug. 8).
Suzen Murakoshi and Ron Kurowski, now Honolulu residents, are alumni of “A Chorus Line,” who have worked with some of the DHT ensemble here to keep the legacy alive. Suzen played Connie Wong in the Broadway and National Tour companies; Ron portrayed Bobby Mills in the 1979 Blaisdell Concert Hall cast and was in the original cast of the London production, and logged seven years during “ACL’s” original Broadway run.
“I consider his Bobby (like Tommy Aguilar’s Paul) as definitive portrayals. Both Suzy and Ron have ties to Tommy by performing with him during his time on tour and on Broadway,” said Zane. “Having learned the show from its creators, they have given the cast amazing insights into their characters. Invaluable details that only Ron and Suzen know, and have culled over their years with the show, have given our actors and production a tremendous depth. Both Suzen and Ron are keeping the legacy and show alive through coaching this new cast. We are so grateful to have them and their amazing support. We are so lucky!”
Zane still has two “ACL” original T-shirts and have donned them over the past few months, further keeping the spirit and tradition alive. “I guess, they help keep me connected to that ‘ACL’ legacy and to Tommy. I mean, ACL is ‘The Greatest Musical Of All Time!’” …
Isle actor Alvin Ing dies
Alvin Ing, a Hawaii native with a lifelong career in Broadway musicals, has died at age 89.
The date and cause of his death have not been revealed; he was a Los Angeles resident.
Years before he made an imprint on Broadway shows, Ing performed in the islands in such shows as “13 Daughters” at the Hawaii Theatre. He was one of the first-from-Hawaii residents to star in a number of musicals in New York and in national tours, including “Pacific Overtures,” “The King and I,” “South Pacific” and “Flower Drum Song.” He is believed to be the actor with longest run playing Wan Ta in “Flower Drum Song.”
He also starred on TV in a gamut of shows, including “Third Watch,” “Law and Order,” “Dynasty,” “Dallas,” and “Falcon Crest,” and in such films as “Final Countdown” and “The Gambler.” …
Smooth as Silk, with skates
Silk Sonic, the duo/group featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, has dropped a new single, “Skate,” as kind of a mid-summer surprise.
The tune, on YouTube, is sleekly infused with rhythm ‘n’ blues combined with Latino vibes, with Mars on congas and .Paak on drums, in the new video. The tune is Silk Sonic’s second single, providing a better sense of how the pair will ultimately pace its anticipated first album.
Because the two are on instruments, it’s hard to know how much their own body language would play out if they perform the tune live in concert. The video depicts dynamic, skate-sensitive choreography with a cluster of women sliding and gliding and skating their way with animated glee.
Clearly, Mars and .Paak are leaving the door open for more surprises in the weeks/months ahead.
See the video here: https://thissongissick.com/post/anderson-paak-bruno-mars-skate/
And that’s “Show Biz.” …