’60 YEARS’ OF BRIGHT LIGHTS

Two theatrical milestones will be commemorated when the Castle Performance Arts Company (CPAC) and the I’m a Bright Kid foundation (IABK) collaborate to stage “60 Years of Castle Theatre” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 2) at the Ronald E. Bright Performing Arts Center at Castle High School.

Ron Bright, pictured left, has been the eminent resident, inspirational director and educator, who staged musicals at Castle during his tenure beginning in 1963. He has been mentoring a flock of young theater buffs over the decades, many who ultimately made the cut to star in Broadway musicals after graduation from Castle.

The event also coincides in what would have been Mr. Bright’s 90th birthday on Sept. 2. He retired in 1988 and died July 7, 2015, at age 81.

A third historical moment will unfold, too,  when the Michael Bright family – Michael is Mr. B’s second son —  vocalize together for the first time, on “A Million Dreams,” the power ballad from the film, “The Greatest Showman.” Michael will be joined by wife Jade and their children (and Mr. B’s and Mo Bright’s grandchildren) Caitlin,  Drew and Colton, a familial moment that surely will have Poppa beaming and applauding from his heavenly perch.

Mo Bright, joins Ron Bright, at the keyboards.

“It’s such a wonderful feeling, to have them performing and singing for the first time as a family,” said Mo Bright. “I’m so proud of all of them.”

Mo has been part of Mr. B’s life and times from the get-go, with a ringside seat for most of the prime spectacles staged by him. She was always an onlooker, offering comfort and support from the sidelines, and was a valuable assistant to Mr. B, logging notations for the shows.

“It seems like only yesterday,” she said of the passage of time. “Sixty years? The memories are still fresh in my mind.”

She’s been Auntie Mo to all the stage youngsters, for nearly all the times he’d assemble a cast and rehearse in his inimitable style, creating opportunities leading towards opening night. “I may have missed a few shows,” she sighed, referring to the times she was pregnant with sons Michael and Clarke Bright and daughter Jodi Bright Stein.

Ron Bright and son Clarke Bright prep for “West Side Story.”

This joint project between CPAC and IABK means all collaborative hands will be on deck from both theatrical teams, with CPAC’s Karen Meyer rehearsing and staging Castle’s students and IABK’s Ligaya Stice coordinating elements from her camp, the mission being to share the story and history of the theatrical seeds planted and nurtured on the Kaneohe campus.

Curiously, there’s no director per se, and while there will be the noticeable presence of 24-VII, the versatile dance group led by Marcelo Pacleb, there’s no bona fide choreographer credited nor a vocal or musical director.

Emcee chores will be shared by Wally Tavares, Castle ’72, and Devon Nekoba, frequent Bright-directed singer-actor who also is a radio deejay now.

Regulars to Mr. B’s Castle shows, as well as his post-retirement productions at Paliku Theatre at the Windward Community College, will recognize the faces and voices of performers Kimee Balmilero, Jodi Leong, Sarahlea Kekuna, Allan Lau, Miguel Cadoy III, Kalea McLagan  and the aforementioned Nekoba.

The Ron Bright Theatre is home of the Castle Performing Arts Center.

The show will embrace memories from pre-Castle Theatre productions at Castle Gymnatorium and Benjamin Parker School, to more recent IABK endeavors at Paliku, providing an arc of triumph reflecting the spectrum of the Bright learning curve.  The musical fare will run the gamut, from “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from “The Sound of Music” to “On My Own,” from “Les Miserables,” and from “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” from “Annie Get Your Gun” to “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman.”

“Celebrate 60” is the first of two Ron Bright productions this month.

“An Evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein Classics,”  produced by the IABK foundation, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 29 and 30 and at 4 p.m. Oct. 1 at Paliku Theatre, at Windward Community College. The show will feature such signatures from the R&H vaults including “The King & I,” “South Pacific,” “Oklahoma,” “Carousel” and “The Sound of Music.”

Details:

  • “Celebrate 60”

Tickets: $20 adults 18-64, $10 students 18+, seniors 65+, military. A collaborative production by CPAC and IABK foundation. Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/75807

  • “Rodgers & Hammerstein”

Tickets: $32 premier; $27 adults;  $22 seniors, students and military;  $17 youths 6-13; free, toddlers 2-5; $17, floor seating (ticketing required for all). Produced by IABK. Tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/event-details/75827 or imabrightkid.org/tickets

Local boy Morales in China tour

Local boy Joseph Morales, who has been one of the touring Hamiltons in the family of “Hamilton” companies, is one of several Broadway leads who are touring in “Next Stop Broadway,” in prestigious multi-cultural gigs in China, arranged by Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment.

Keri Rene Fuller and Joseph Morales, are touring China.

Morales joins Jen Colella (“Come From Away”), Keri Rene Fuller (“Six”), and Zachary Piser (“Dear Evan Hansen”) and they’ll represent America in shows at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center, the Nanjing Lichi Theater, the Chengdu City Concert Hall and the Shanxi Opera House. Performances began Aug. 23 and run through Sept. 10.

Top Chinese performers also are part of these  presentations, themed “A Star-Studded Night of New Broadway Classics.”

Morales, a Wahiawa native who is a former Bright Kid performer, also starred in Lisa Matsumoto pidgin English musicals before finding his calling in “Hamilton,” in which he played the title role in Chicago and several national tours. …

And that’s Show Biz.. …

ONE IN, ONE OUT: STREAMING SCRAMBLE

“Magnum P.I.” – the first four seasons of the CBS procedural – has been picked up by Amazon for its free streaming Freevee, beginning Sept. 1, according to TV Insider. This will be the only streaming venue to air the Jay Hernandez-Perdita Weeks show, which has been a ping-pong bouncing everywhere.

“Magnum P.I.” stars Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks will be seen on Amazon Prime’s Freevee streaming site, starting Sept. 1.

These original episodes were honed and developed at CBS, which surprisingly dropped the series, at the end of Season 4, which then was picked up by NBC, where previously-filmed shows of the second half of the fifth and final season, will air Oct. 4 on NBC, perhaps giving the filmed-in-Hawaii a possible edge in winding up in prime time again.

Currently, only NBC’s Peacock streaming site will air the earlier shows of the fifth season. …

The “Doogie Kamealoha” ‘ohana — from left, Matt Sato, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jason Scott Lee and Wes Tian — have been denied a third-season renewal on the Disney Channel.

Elsewhere, it’s aloha – meaning goodbye – for  “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.,” the Disney+ streamer which filmed two seasons in Hawaii, won’t get a third season pickup. The show, starring Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Lahela Kamealoha, aka “Doogie,” was pink-slipped Aug. 25, according to Variety.

“Doogie” is one of two Disney projects shut down because of the unresolved, embattled writers guild strike that has stopped production of nearly all new and ongoing movies and TV shows, in prime time as well as in the widening streaming market, which has been a hot button for actors demanding payment, an issue which has been an under-the-radar till current negotiations.

The other local Disney show also stalled by the strike is “Lilo and Stich,” a live-action film based on the animated film set in Hawaii. It’s still on the agenda, but “Doogie” failed to earn a third-season pickup.

“Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” was created by Kourtney Kang, who executive produced alongside Melvin Mar, Jake Kasdan, Dayna Bochco, Jesse Bochco, Matt Kuhn and Justin McEwen.

A credible ‘ohana bond included Kathleen Rose Perkins as Dr. Clara Hannon, Lahela’s mother who’s also her supervisor at the hospital; Jason Scott Lee as Benny, Lahela’s father; Matt Sato as Kai, her older brother; Wes Tian as Brian Patrick, her younger brother; Emma Meisel as Steph, her BFF, Alex Aiono as Walter, her first boyfriend; Milo Manheim as Nico, her patient and new love interest. The show also boasted Al Harrington in his final TV role as an uncle, before his death. …

Broadway grosses, for week ending Aug. 20

There’s no newbie in the Lucky 7 $1 million club on Broadway.

Translation: The leaders still lead.

The Top 7 on the Great White Way are:

1– “The Lion King,” $2.226 million.

2–“Hamilton,: $1.904 million.

3 — “”Wicked,”: $1.559 million.

4 — “MJ, the Musical,” $1.451 million.

5–“Aladdin, $1.381 million.

6– “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barbor of Fleet Street,” $1.325 millon.

7–“Back to the Future, the Musical,” $1.258 million.

Here’s the entire list of the week’s grosses:


And that’s Show Biz. …

HENRY ADMITS HE’S ONTO SOMETHING

Here’s an encouraging update, to our open letter to Henry Kapono, to see if he might get behind a “We Are the World”-type anthem, to kokua the folks affected by the tragic wildfires on Maui.

We thought, while watching the Lahaina and hundreds of homes go up in flames in real time, that only one man, the prolific and productive Henry, (pictured below, left) might use his creative juices, tap his army of music-industry colleagues, and his longstanding mission to support communities in time of needs to make this a reality.

His encouraging response, received this morning via email:

“Aloha Wayne: Hope you’re recovering well.  Yes the Lahaina wildfire has been something unimaginable, and the response of our Hawaii people is just phenomenal.  I have been

thinking of a song. ‘We Are The World,’ keeps coming up.

‘ I’m sure someone is working on it.  I’m talking to people I trust and respect and we’re thinking of something that might be very interesting.  I’ll keep you posted.  In the meantime, take care of yourself.  Friends, Henry.”

Henry’s wife, Lezlee, also said the Henry Kapono Foundation already is supporting efforts on the Valley Island to kokua  Mauians during these devastating times, via the “We Are Friends Maui” program.

The link: https://www.henrykaponofoundation.org/we-are-friends-maui

Henry remains an influential mover-and-shaker and logically, this sort of special needs should be within his realm of creativity. Hope a Maui tune or project that he’ll spearhead evolves over the next few months. . …

Rain is forecast

Crossing Rain, pictured below, Hawaii’s homegrown K-Pop boy band, will perform at  7 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Joseph Rider Farrington Auditorium at Farrington High School.

Also performing, B.E.T., and Augie T, an FHS grad. The event is a fundraiser for www. bravehawaii.com.

The event is part of the October celebration of NationalAnti-Bullying Month.

A fundraiser for www.bravehawaii October is National Anti-Bullying Month 100% will go to fund community and school programs as well scholarships.

 Tickets: $30 VIP, including a meet and greet; $20 lower level and $15 upper level.

The link:

https://augietllc.thundertix.com/orders/new?performance_id=2939314&fbclid=IwAR2V-4Jf9NANzJOgM_n7XsO1BeGjvxkJdkc8wsm49E5eviEz26PV1bj6Ir8https://augietllc.thundertix.com/orders/new?performance_id=2939314&fbclid=IwAR2V-4Jf9NANzJOgM_n7XsO1BeGjvxkJdkc8wsm49E5eviEz26PV1bj6Ir8

And that’s Show Biz. ..

I WAS BROKEN AND NEEDED FIXING

A hospital is a hotel for broken bodies, I’m discovering.

When you check in, you leave your attitudes and anxieties outside and forget about your worries and embarrassments! Toss out modesty, too~

And oh, no underwear allowed, too.

I’ve been in Queen’s Medical Center for a week, not by choice but necessity, and I’m blessed with having a team of 10 or so  doctors monitoring my situation, with supported by a very devoted and helpful staff of nurses.

I was broken, and needed fixing.

The day I was wheeled in via an ER ambulance on Aug. 11, I didn’t realize the cause or seriousness of the health; the doctors helped solve the mystery through X-Rays and Cat scans. The problem:

I developed abscesses in my liver and gall bladder and the treatment included draining both gooey messes.  Now, when I go home, I will still have drains next to my right rib cage. Surgery to remove the ball bladder might be an option, but will have to wait.

Patience  and perseverance will be required, since treatment and healing have to best buddies to resolve this problem.

A hospital also is like an opera and a drama. There’s a lot or orchestrated treatments and roles, with blood  drawn and tested, and a chorus of liquid drips, including antibiotics.

The roles are plentiful and varied, most performed by a corps of nurses, both male and female, who arouse you in the wee hours to dispense your meds, or bring you extra blankets amid frigid nocturnal corridors.

In theatrical terms, they are dressed in chic work uniforms in stunning hues, from black to baby blue, from purple to dark green, from hot pink to olive green, and more.

Last night, the hospital’s fire alarm screamed for an hour and 10 minutes, the second day for this fire drill faux pas to happen. Life moved on like nothing happened.

There was a fella down the hall, I could only hear, not see. Mostly during the evenings, he would moan a mantra probably only he could understand.

There are many house rules; you don’t get to decide what you’ll wear, so yep, the noble hospital gown, with backside open to show your derriere, is the only garment you wear. So you get used to it.

if you cannot walk normally, buzz for your needs. In my case, a therapist on my team mandates I use the walker to go to the bathroom, or move from bed  to a chair for meals. I cannot eat meals in bed; the logic being, I need to regain my awareness of the need to re-evaluate my life at home.

On several mornings, he’d visit the room and we’d walk the walk in the corridors together, engraining in my mind how to properly navigate  with the walker. The secret: with arms on both sides of the device, your legs and body must be close to the front of the walker, the best way to avoid a fall. He asked how many shows I saw in New York, and he couldn’t believe it.

My doctors clearly have bright minds and know how to put the puzzle together. You know the old adage but not being to read a legible doctor’s prescription? Kinda true; there’s a daily chalk board of sort lists the daily nurses attending to me; the docs scribble instructions  in shorthand, I can’t fathom what’s what.

OK, this is a revelation. The hospital has no shower in the rooms, so nurses wipe you down, with brisk moves like they’re washing a car, from top to down there. I cringed a bit, the first I had this bath. Now, it’s part of my daily routine.

I’ve eaten more heart-healthy meals since becoming a patient. You can order breakfast for lunch or vice versa, but I highly recommend the Angus on a bun with lettuce and cheese, the chicken jook, the chicken salad sandwich, and the roast park. Fruit faves: watermelon and pineapple, and have not yet a veggie salad I like. Forget the bagel, bad!  The waffles can be had with low-cal syrup, and the wedge of haupia is ono. But skip the so-called ice cream; like bad ice cakes on a stick, but an assortment jello and puddings fulfill a sweet tooth. You order in advance, but even with a late, you’ll get it anytime.

So an update; I’ve not crossed that bump in the read yet, so I’ll likely be bedding here for another two daysl Around here, you take one step at a time, one day at a time. There can’t be a tomorrow if there’s no today or yesterday. Every day matters…

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BRIGHT LIGHT WILL SHINE TWICE

The I’m a Bright Kid Foundation will commemorate the 60th anniversary of a  true theatrical legend, the late Ronald Bright, with a special show at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 2 at the  Ron Bright Theatre on the campus of Castle High School.

Bright was the beloved teacher-director, who not only instilled the love and tradition of the stage to hundreds of youthful actors with his productions, but broadened his popularity by building a loyal community of theater-goers, initially at the Castle gym, but later at the Castle Theatre now named after him.

The show be a musical jointly produced by IABKF and the Castle Performing Arts Center.

Bright, pictured below, was the founder of the arts center and director of all the musicals staged at Castle before he retired;  2023 would have been his 60th anniversary of mounting Castle shows.

The date is significant, too, coinciding with what will be Mr. B’s 90th birthday.  He was born Sept. 2, 1933  and died at age 81 on July 7, 2015.

The nature and content of the production has not yet been revealed, but likely will include tributes linked with songs and dances from iconic musicals that helped shape Mr. B’s legacy. But surely, somebody —  even the full ensemble – will render his trademark tune, “If You Believe” (from “The Wiz”) — which has been a powerful and perfect mantra to perpetuate his memory.

IABKF will also present “An Evening of Rodgers and Hammerstein Classics,” its fall musical attraction, at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 29  and 30 and 4 p.m. Oct. 1 at Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College. The venue is where Bright continued to direct musicals that were on his bucket list: “Les Miserables,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” and “Miss Saigon.”

Numbers from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s legacy shows,  comprising “Sound of Music,” “Oklahoma!,” “South Pacific” and “The King and I,” will be featured in the Paliku show.

Tickets:  For “Celebrate 60!,” $20 adults, $10 students; for “Rodgers and Hammerstein,” $17 to $32, at www.imabrightkid.org/tickets

Moana” star Cravalho tackles ‘Evita’

Auli‘i Cravalho, pictured below, the voice of Moana in Disney’s animated film “Moana,” just completed singing the title role of Eva Peron in“Evita” in a concert version of the hit musical, July 31 and Aug. 1 at London’s Royal Drury Lane.

It was her West End debut.

A concert version of a Broadway musical generally means a full cast performs the show, with minimal costumes and few sets, if any, but supported by a large orchestra to enhance the “concert” element.

The 30-piece London Musical Theatre Orchestra provided the music.

Her co-star as Che Guevara  was Matt Rawle, who played the role in a London revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical. …

Broadway grosses, week ending July 30

The leaders of the Broadway pack still top the charts, as summer biz continues. And two shows posted more than. $2 million!

The Lucky 7:

1–“The Lion King,” $2.813 million.

2– “Wicked,” $2.139 million.

3 — “Hamilton,” $1.873 million.

4 — “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” $1.774 million.

5 — “Funny Girl,”: $1.672 million,

6 — “Aladdin,” $1.619 milliion.

7 — “MJ, the Michael Jackson Musical,” $1.598 million.

The complete list, courtesy The Broadway League:

And that’s Show Biz. …