Category: Reviews

Even a one-day (overnight) stay at a Waikiki hotel is a wondrous way for a staycation.

Here’s the background: I covered two back-to-back shows Sunday (Dec. 11) at Blue Note Hawaii, located at the Outrigger Waikiki resort.

The first show  (Frank DeLima) was at 12:30 p.m., a brunch event, followed by two later shows at 4 and 8 p.m. (Makena, aka as Ho’okena and members of The Makaha Sons), a Christmas and Hawaiian show. Took in the later performance.

Made no sense to drive in (during the Honolulu Marathon on Kalaniana‘ole Hwy.) only to return home in Hawaii Kai, and commute back a few hours later.

So I took the risk and checked out kamaaina rates, but they were $325 a room. Imagine what regular rates might be!

Contemplated the kamaaina rate. It was easiest to book a room where the shows were, but at those prices? An expensive risk, perhaps.

Waited a bit, then rechecked several days later via phone what rates were and the price had gone down, I guess, to $225, with no resort fee and half-price for overnight parking ($45 regular price).  So I decided to book ‘em, a holiday gift to myself and my wife.

At check-in, we were enticed into signing up for an upgrade ($89 more) for a room on a higher level with access to the hotel lounge, where breakfast and happy hour/dinner meals were included. Hmmmm. Decided to go up in price and room level, figuring we’d just eat at the hotel, utilizing the included dinner at night and breakfast the next day before checking out. After all, meals for two in Waikiki at a restaurant would cost more than $89. And our wrists became a gameplayer (why and how, more later).

The room was spacious, on the 16^th level (17^th is the penthouse), not super-duper elegant but comfy, clean, and convenient, with wi-fi, upgraded soap and shampoo amenities and an exclusive lobby-to-room access located near the Blue Note club.

A happy hour trek to the lounge, located on the former Chuck’s Steak House site on the lobby level, provides an efficient but no-choice meal, with the largest taro chips plus traditional corn ships with a slightly zesty aku dip, a couple of fruit options, and fried noodles with chicken and pork protein. Enough to satisfy the hungry, but lacking lounge-level fare choices and perks I’ve experienced at Mainland brand-name hotels at much higher tariffs.

A Sunday visit meant that Henry Kapono was doing his beachfront jam sessions near Duke’s, his signature show for decades. From a stone’s throw away, I peeked and listened from the lounge, noticing that swimwear folks were truly enjoying the moment.

Breakfast was satisfactory but also pedestrian – buffet eggs, bacon, bread and bagels for do-you-own toasting, tiny strawberry yogurt, fruits like honeydew melon and sweet pineapple.

Turned out to be a working staycation, since I was at my computer following the DeLima show to write and post a review, while my wife ventured out to reacquaint herself with some of the Waikiki spots we used to but haven’t visited since before the pandemic. Also got up early Sunday morning to do a Makena review, which I completed later from home.

The most convenient discovery of the staycation was that the Outrigger, and likely other chic hotels elsewhere,  provides lounge guests with a new kind of wristband that includes your digital key (no more plastic cards to slide or wipe) to access the elevators and enter your hotel room.

Convenient for beachgoers and swimmers and no more misplaced or lost plastic card key.

That was the most eye-opening element of the staycation. And no complaints for the upgrade fee – worth it!

And that’s Show Biz. …

The more you watch “Hamilton,” the more you discover and savor; the more you observe, the more you reflect on how impactful the Lin-Manuel Miranda mega-hit is with parallels in modern-day history.

Happily, the touring company dubbed “And Peggy,” now ensconced at the Blaisdell Concert Hall for a historic eight-week run,  is the longest any show has cast its anchor here. It opened Wednesday night (Dec. 7) and runs through Jan. 29, 2023, with a well-honed cast carrying on the ebullient tradition of the musical still running in New York.

The Dec. 8 show was my fourth visit to “Hamilton,” and I’m still on a high. And I’m attending the show again, tonight (Dec. 10).

 The hip-hop/rap score, with occasional R&B tunes, still is vibrant with diverse blind casting that initially might throw you a curve. Many African Americans are in the company, including DeAundre Woods as Alexander Hamilton  (commanding and conniving, propelling the story of America’s founding father ), and George Washington (Darnell Abraham, splendid and convincing) and Aaron Burr (Donald Webber Jr., dominating as Hamilton’s clever and conniving frenemy), and they all quickly define their characters with drum-beat perfection. The rap genre boasts lines and words and these dudes have mastered the delivery of smooth lyrics, in synch with the tempos of hip-hop.

The delivery is smooth and audibility is clear, without being overbearing. The facility’s sound often has been a source of irritation –often difficult to hear a singer or appreciate the musicianship — but there’s no quibbling here.

First thing I noticed: the new-look set by David Korins (two levels, with a stylish “unfinished” fringe above the catwalk platform) augmented with lighting tweaks by designer Howell Binkley (his pallet includes orange and light blue-grey hues, with eye-catching tones that change periodically enhancing the performing space). Paul Tazwell’s costumes (properly light and bright, from formal soldier wear to elegant gowns) add to the spectacle.

(These technical team members are the show’s original artisans, so there’s powerful energy and imagination, for the road shows).

And yep, Hamilton’s “just you wait, just you wait” pitch in the opening number, is an indication he’s a do-er and he does. A political fighter and leader, who’s not afraid of verbal spats; a romantic, who has indiscretions; fearless and perhaps reckless; the secretary of treasury who takes a bullet. These are echoes of modern politicos.  

Eliza Hamilton (Morgan Anita Wood, elegant and faithful) marries Hamilton and outlives him by 50 years is the portrait of The Victim) and her sister Peggy Schuyler (Rebecca Covington, the commanding adulteress who becomes The Other Woman in Hamilton’s life) are equals in precision and perfection. Angelica Schuyler (Maria Harmon, superb, is the third Schuyler sister and intellectual equal of Hamilton).

Two other characters will wow the audience: King George (Rick Negron, comedic and captivating, via his hilarious “You’ll Be Back” anthem) and Marquis de Lafayette (Paris Nix, outrageous as Hamilton’s comrade, doubling as Thomas Jefferson).

Those fearing and uneasy of rap shouldn’t worry; the form is part of prolific Miranda’s language has been an avenue of  success, not changing, but augmenting Broadway ever-changing landscape and map; it’s not the gansta rap where hip-hip is commonly adults-only vocabulary.

Further, the revolving stage is intact and in motion, a design factor popularized by the “Les Miserables” model, and it works well in “Hamilton,” rotating performers with choreographic swirls.

The whole shebang is choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler, orchestrated by Alex Lacamoire,  and directed by Thomas Kail, all from the original award-winning Broadway team.

And that’s Show Biz. …