Arts | Entertainment | Crafts | Life
Just asking:
Anybody still play the long-forgotten Chinese checkers game?
You remember how it all works, often with marbles, sometimes with pegs placed in holes, to hop over your competitor?
My game board was a circular tray, with the triangular sectors hiding storage space to put the marbles to rest until the next game.
Any thoughts to share?
Two more island theater groups – the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and The Actors Group – have finalized their fall stage seasons.
HTY has embraced a title/theme for its 2022-2023 slate of shows: “E Ho‘i Hou: Return Anew,” a celebratory notion following virtual stagings during the height of the pandemic, anticipating “our return to live gatherings with laughter, stories, culture and learning,” according to Eric Johnson, HTY artistic director.
At TAG, five of its six shows will be Hawaiii premieres – newbies are hot here.
Honolulu Theatre for Youth
The HTY slate, at Tenney Theatre:
Show descriptions, precise performing dates and other details have not yet been announced. For details, visit www.htyweb.org
The Actors Group
TAG shows at the Brad Powell Theatre at the Shops at Dole Cannery will feature fresh and new works; five of the season’s six titles are Hawaii premieres:
Information: (808) 741-4699 or www.taghawaii.net
Honoring dads
Father’s Day – Sunday June 19 — will have a Hawaiian vibe at Chef Chai’s, on Kapiolani Boulevard.
You can do an all-you-can-eat lobster tail buffet at either a brunch or dinner outing.
Kuana Torres Kahele, with the 2000 Miss Aloha Hula winner Tehani Gonzado, headlines the brunch session, with reservations being taken from 9 a.m.to 9:30 a.m. and also from noon to 12:30 p.m.
Robert Cazimero, a monthly Chai’s performer, will reign over the dinner show, with reservations being taken from 4 to 4:30 p.m. and from 7:15 to 7:30 p.m. Cazimero willf feature hula regulars Sky Perkins Gora and Bully Keola Makaiau.
Cost is $125 per person, for the entertainment and special buffet including a gamut of appetizers, soup and salads, plus entree and dessert options.
There is a pre-Father’s Day dinner, on Saturday, June 18, without entertainment, also with a $25 tariff including the lobster tail buffet.
Reservations: (808) 585-0011 or www.chefchai.com …
Clublicity notes
Blue Note Hawaii, at the Outrigger Waikiki resort, features these troupers in the nights ahead:
Tickets: (808) 777-4890 or www.bluenotehawaii.com …
And that’s Show Biz. …
There’s a blurry haze surrounding the fate of “Tokyo Vice,” a gritty HBO Max cop drama set in the seedy underworld of the yakuza of Japan. Will it have a second season? It depends on what you’re reading or hearing. NA (not available) is what’s listed on one website regarding future episodes, but Wikipedia states a logical reason to the mystery: that the show was shut down because of the Covid-19 impact in Japan.
Thus, the never or next issue is still playing out on social media.
The logical indication is, however, that it’s sayonara for the mysterious but engaging 1990s story about a gaijin (foreigner), Jake Adelstein (impressively played by
Ansel Elgort) seeking fame and credibility, working as a novice crime reporter in constant communication with his seasoned mentor, Hiroto Katagiri (superbly played by Ken Watanabe). Adelstein is a real-life cop reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, who wrote the memoir on which the series was based.
The eighth and final episode ended without the customary to-be-continued notion of a second season, nor an indicator that future life awaits, particularly because of the unfinished business portrayed so far. Awkward!
It matches the clumsy uncertainty regarding CBS’ “Magnum P.I.,” the domestic procedural which aired its final episode Friday (May 13), following weeks of hopeful wonderment of a fifth season. The episode concluded with shared “I like you” admissions from both Thomas Magnum (Jay Herandez) and Juliet Higgins (Perdita Weeks), likely intended for a sequel that is now impossible. CBS has axed the show. It’s history. Pau.
These two shows – one streaming, the other on prime time TV– represent worst case scenarios of halting ongoing storylines without a proper conclusion. It’s an unexpected slap in the face – Will Smith, anyone? — on the fan base of dedicated viewers.
Tokyo’s expansive dark alleys and neon signage art have become kind of a “character” of a city with hoods killing clients if they don’t fess up “protection” fees. With so many loose threads, the abrupt ending suggests that all concerned expected a second-season pick-up to sort out the tangles.
Instead, the series concluded with loose, tangled, even bloodied plot strings hanging in the air. Will HBO Max reconsider? Can the show be picked up and streamed elsewhere? No answers here.
The anticipation, and axing, equals the recent undeserving dismissal of CBS’ filmed-in-Hawaii “Magnum,” begging a question: Where are the ethics of the TV industry, which builds up its storylines and yet when push comes to shove, they simply shut down, and call it quits with no lifelines to explore. Literally, diehard followers are left hanging, and they deserve better.
Perhaps the rebooted “Magnum” – a far better procedural than the earlier reboot but canceled “Hawaii Five-O” – had become a victim of too much of the same thing, particularly since CBS’ other brand, “NCIS,” added a colon and an okina to its “NCIS: Hawai‘i,” which was green-lighted for a second season this fall and thus grabbed the next-season ticket despite being a freshman show. The scenics were postcard-pretty on all the island procedurals; “Magnum” seemed to have become the victim of this- too-much-ness, despite its good but not great ratings. There had been talks earlier of a “Five-O” and “Magnum” crossover, but realistically, that was an odd idea. Brands shouldn’t mix; like, Starbucks wouldn’t and shouldn’t partner up with Dunkin.’
The “NCIS” original, minus Mark Harmon, did a crossover with its “Hawai‘i” sister towards the end of the island show’s first season, so it was a workable same-brand handshake.
Methinks scripts must be logical, with crossosvers. Think of NBC’s “Chicago” brand with its “Medm” “Fire,” and “P.D.” on Wednesday nights, jammed with operations, fires and thugs, providing fictional fireworks for the Windy City first-responders. Firefighters appear on the hospital show; cops pop up, too, and yes, there are crossovers galore. But the franchise skillfully shares characters, when plotlines warrant the give-and-take.
Similarly, the CBS trio of back-to-back “FBI” shows on Tuesdays, is ladened with exciting characters tackling current plots that embrace kidnapping, drugs, and gangsters, using the model of “Chicago.” Thus, judicious crossovers work with this brand, too.
On Thursdays, NBC’s original “Law and Order” has been rebooted and Sam Waterson as Jack McCoy is grappling for tenure again and is basically under utilized to regain his niche again. The long-running “Law and Order: SVU” with Sgt. Olivia Benson (the irrepressible Mariska Hargitay) as the boss trying to curb sexual assaults and crimes has had crossovers plus a spin-off. Thus, stability and durability is working in this camp.
“Law and Order: Organized Crime” still needs fine-tuning, to give Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni, from the SVU roster earlier) more juice since he’s fumbling to find footing and viewership.
But back to “Tokyo Vice.” It warrants a second season, to clean up some bloodshed, and work out not just the fate of Alderstein but the denizens of characters. Spoilers alert here, if you’re still midway through viewing the show: Will Samantha (Rachel Keller) find her fellow bar hostess, Polina (Ella Rumpf), who has been captured by her boyfriend and taken Samantha’s lifesavings, too? Will Sato (Sho Kasamatsu), survive the dangers and trappings of his yakuza lords? Will Katagiri-san’s wife and children dodge the yakuza’s threats of murder. Will Eimi (Rinko Kikuchi), the newspaper editor, finally find faith and trust in her cub reporter Adelstein and assist him with a foothold? Much to chew in this unfinished stew.
Yet it’s been a splendid, unexpected thriller with its fish-out-of-water central figure, in a dangerous situation with constant threats as he paddles in this uncertain underworld to help curb crime.
If there’s a takeaway, even if there’s no final closure on “Tokyo Vice,” it might be this: watching and hearing Elgort utter his lines in Nihongo is a treat; he memorized his lines phonetically and this accomplishment makes him one of the most unheralded, unappreciated figures in dual-language serials.
As for the “Magnum” playout, there’s a sweeter outlook. At least Magnum’s got his car and Higgins has her mansion. And Hernandez, on social media, was philosophical in his response to the show’s demise.”All good things must come to an end,” he said. “We made memories I’ll be forever grateful for and thanks to each and every one of you for going on this wild ride with us,” he said.”It’s all love. Until next time.”
Now, that’s a sentimental and warm expression of aloha. …
And that’s Show Biz. …
You may remember Mary Gutzi as Norma Desmond, in a 2011 production of “Sunset Boulevard,” at Diamond Head Theatre.
Or perhaps, when Gutzi was Grizabella, the aging cat, awaiting ascent to the Heavyside Layer, in a Broadway tour of “Cats” at Blaisdell Concert Hall.
With other credits ranging from “Les Miserables” to “Ragtime,” Gutzi is no stranger to voice and stage technique and tryouts.
So in June, she’s tapping her skills to offer workshops for kids and adults interested in voice and acting lessons, with tips to prep for future auditions for stage, film and TV roles.
Her agenda:
Fee for each session is $50, confirmed upon advance payment.
Inquiries: Nancy Bernal at (808) 947-5763, email at NancyBernal@aol.com.
Send payment to Nancy Bernal, 2444 Hihiwai St., #905, Honolulu HI 96826. …
Broadway show grosses
Check out the grosses for the week ending in May 8, 2022.
| Show Name | GrossGross | TotalAttn | Capacity | %Capacity |
| A STRANGE LOOP | $476,797.00 | 4,965 | 7,376 | 67.31% |
| ALADDIN | $1,091,385.55 | 13,123 | 13,816 | 94.98% |
| AMERICAN BUFFALO | $514,501.63 | 4,686 | 6,008 | 78.00% |
| BEETLEJUICE | $900,622.50 | 8,042 | 12,816 | 62.75% |
| BIRTHDAY CANDLES | $264,076.00 | 3,624 | 5,816 | 62.31% |
| CHICAGO | $684,274.40 | 7,149 | 8,640 | 82.74% |
| COME FROM AWAY | $473,306.68 | 4,926 | 8,368 | 58.87% |
| COMPANY | $617,116.73 | 5,563 | 8,368 | 66.48% |
| DEAR EVAN HANSEN | $489,004.50 | 5,395 | 7,872 | 68.53% |
| FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE / WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF | $159,092.90 | 2,421 | 6,184 | 39.15% |
| FUNNY GIRL | $1,382,855.75 | 9,512 | 9,752 | 97.54% |
| GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY | $274,781.50 | 3,341 | 6,384 | 52.33% |
| HADESTOWN | $856,528.50 | 7,209 | 7,344 | 98.16% |
| HAMILTON | $2,103,020.00 | 10,012 | 10,592 | 94.52% |
| HANGMEN | $252,543.44 | 2,601 | 6,416 | 40.54% |
| HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD | $1,177,920.80 | 10,466 | 12,976 | 80.66% |
| HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE | $317,017.00 | 4,221 | 5,096 | 82.83% |
| MACBETH | $1,365,598.50 | 8,077 | 8,408 | 96.06% |
| MJ THE MUSICAL | $1,352,589.00 | 9,973 | 11,096 | 89.88% |
| MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL | $1,592,497.50 | 10,323 | 10,400 | 99.26% |
| MR. SATURDAY NIGHT | $565,411.50 | 4,058 | 5,955 | 68.14% |
| MRS. DOUBTFIRE | $477,132.00 | 5,710 | 8,272 | 69.03% |
| PARADISE SQUARE | $193,669.30 | 4,804 | 7,856 | 61.15% |
| PLAZA SUITE | $1,668,783.10 | 7,756 | 7,800 | 99.44% |
| POTUS: OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE | $380,673.50 | 5,709 | 11,608 | 49.18% |
| SIX | $1,162,514.00 | 7,954 | 8,248 | 96.44% |
| TAKE ME OUT | $351,909.70 | 3,342 | 4,095 | 81.61% |
| THE BOOK OF MORMON | $905,752.71 | 7,875 | 8,528 | 92.34% |
| THE LION KING | $1,716,181.00 | 13,195 | 13,568 | 97.25% |
| THE LITTLE PRINCE | $330,668.47 | 6,231 | 11,776 | 52.91% |
| THE MINUTES | $346,283.00 | 3,696 | 5,336 | 69.27% |
| THE MUSIC MAN | $3,431,657.08 | 12,151 | 12,200 | 99.60% |
| THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA | $742,308.20 | 7,847 | 12,840 | 61.11% |
| THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH | $174,481.00 | 3,304 | 8,464 | 39.04% |
| TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL | $1,065,578.30 | 8,694 | 11,824 | 73.53% |
| WICKED | $1,341,127.00 | 11,264 | 14,456 | 77.92% |
And that’s Show Biz. …
Nudity on Broadway is nothing new, but infrequent. When someone goes au natural, it raises the buzz – and some barriers – like the latest incidence.
A baseball play, “Take Me Out,” features two actors – Jesse Willliams and Patrick J. Adams – in full-frontal nudity in a locker room scene. It’s playing at the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway, and has been extended through June 21. Not sure if the nudity is part of the appeal, or simply brisk box office sales because of the controversy.
Whatever the reason, that theater has taken on new security measures, with playgoers required to isolate their cellphones in Yondr felt pouches with a magnet security tagging system, so calls or texting or photo-taking cannot be done for 2:15, the duration of the production. The regs are outlined in an insert of the show’s Playbill.
But clearly, somebody didn’t abide by the rules – likely, refused disclosure that they had a phone, or the device was not discovered during the entry process – and took photos of the aforementioned nude scene, prompting the theater security folks to demand the images be erased after unauthorized images appeared on social media.
No word about charges being filed, but it is across-the-board illegal to take photos in any play, with or without nudity, and the ban-the-phones directive maintains privacy issues for the actors. No ifs, ands or buts about this house rule. There’s new technology in place, where the theater security can monitor and sense camera in photo mode.
The lock-the-phone element – new on the Great White Way — has been utilized occasionally by mainstream rock concert stars, not due to nudity, but because the performers didn’t want the distraction of phones aiming at them or they didn’t want patrons to limit access to have images that could be shared or sold, even on social media.
I saw the original “Take Me Out” when it originally was staged in 2003, with the nude scene but minus the uproar of illegal photo-taking. There wasn’t the ban on phones in the house either. And if memory serves, no pics appeared for gawkers.
The fuss and flurry about nudity on Broadway might go back to 1971, when “Oh! Calcutta” debuted at the Belasco Theatre. The nakedness was constant, making the raucous show a success in its original run and a revival production later. It wasn’t a good show – but I recall the notorious nudity, with actors cajoling in the buff.
But baring it and sharing it goes back a bit earlier, to 1968, when “Hair,” subtitled “The American Tribal Love Rock Musical,” opened at the Biltmore Theatre. For the record, the show had rock and pop hits and hippie cultural elements. But only about 20 seconds – amid flashing lights – of nudity.
I recall asking James Grant Benton, the island comedian-actor who was in the Las Vegas company of “Hair,” what the governing rules were for cast members who would strip at the show’s finale. You remember, when “Let the Sunshine In,” was sung and danced. He said peeling and baring were voluntary, not required; if you felt it, you’d do it. Or not. And it was a quickie, if you did.
More impressive, in a Los Angeles production at the Aquarius Theatre in 1968, was the policy of engaging audience members to join the ritual of letting-the-sunshine-in, by ascending to the stage. The last Broadway revival was in 2011, and at the performance I attended, audience members could get on stage for the “Sunshine” sing-along.
Among other Broadway shows with nudity:
* “The Full Monty,” about unemployed British steelworks who attempt to be male strippers, has a big reveal – just as the lights go out. Meaning it’s a teaser scene, where most audiences see nothing.
* “Equus,” a revival of a psychological drama about Alan Strang, a disturbed youngster who blinded six horses, became a Broadway hit in 2007 when Daniel Radcliffe, by then a superstar thanks to his “Harry Potter” franchise of flicks, appeared naked, brightly and clearly. Nope, his young Potter fans could not attend, because of its adults-only restriction.
* “Spring Awakening,” a musical about boarding school teenagers in a repressive German society in the late 19th century, featured two young “Glee” faves, Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele, in one steamy scene but the baring was brief and Groff’s butt probably noticed, only briefly.
* “M. Butterfly,” the David Henry Hwang drama inspired by the operatic drama “Madame Butterfly,” tells the story of a military officer Rene Gallimard (played by John Lithgow) having a longtime love affair with Song Liling (portrayed by B.D. Wong), incredibly not knowing that his paramour is a guy, not a woman; a major disrobing nude scene features Wong.
* “Miss Saigon,” the hit musical with a Vietnam storyline about an American soldier and his tryst with a Vietnam woman, had a brief bedroom scene in a darkened moment, with mostly his butt showing. The disrobed solider in the original production was Willy Falk, a Punahou grad nominated for a Tony Award as a Featured Actor in a musical.
* “Love! Valour! Compassion!,” a gay Terrence McNally comedy with a lot of exclamation points, featured a company of eight skinny dippers, unclothed, in one frolicking scene. Broadway veteran Nathan Lane was in the cast.
* “The Lisbon Traviata,” another McNally endeavor, is an homage to opera singer Maria Callas, involving two aging men in a relationship, disrupted with the arrival of a younger gent, leading to an operatic finale of sorts, with nudity along the way.
**********
When actor Joe Chishold appeared nude in “Afterglow,” an off-Broadway hit at the Davenport Theatre in 2018, he shared meaningful thoughts about dropping trous in an interview.
“Every single one of us is naked at some point every day,” he said. “American culture has spent the last century demonizing nudity, making it into something naughty or bad, but it’s the most basic human state of being. Somewhere along the way, we sexualized the naked body. But I think it is important to reaffirm the fact that sex and nudity are two separate things. That is a big takeaway of this show. In my mind, nudity onstage or onscreen, as long as is it serves a purpose and is not gratuitous, is simply another costume (or lack thereof).”
*******************
Three other shows – one on Broadway, two off-Broadway – further demonstrate the diverse ways nudity end up on stage:
And that’s Show Biz…