Category: Show Biz

With Broadway prepping its fall comeback in New York, NBC also is reopening its playbook with plans to revive “Annie,” airing live on TV, on Dec. 2.

Harry Connick Jr. has been cast as Daddy Warbucks and Taraji P. Henson will perform as Miss Hannigan. The Annie role has not yet been announced.

The resumption of Broadway live via TV thus lights up the small screen, making NBC the key network for live stagings of cherished musicals.

The Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of Harold Gray’s comic strip features music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan. “Tomorrow” was the breakout hit from the show.

Alex Rudzinski will direct.

Long a stage classic, the Tony-winning show will be the fourth filmed version, preceded by the original 1982 TV movie co-starring Carol Burnett and Albert Finney, the 1999 remake with Kathy Bates and Victor Garber, and the 2014 version with Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz.

‘Harry Potter’ returning as a single play

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” will resume on Broadway this fall, but staged as one show instead of the two-part original that played the Great White Way prior to the pandemic.

Thus, “Cursed Child” will premiere next Nov. 16 at the Lyric Theatre in New York, where the two-parter had been in residency for a couple of years. Another premiere will be Jan. 11, 2022, at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, followed by a Canadian company debuting in May 2022 at the Mirvish Theatre in Toronto.

The one-show format will enable to audiences to still enjoy a journey of magic and mystique, with a mature Potter but with the convenience of getting the tale told in a single visit, vs. a second time slot for part two.

Fourth and foremost

“A Capitol Fourth,” a PBS concert airing on Sunday (July 4), will be multi-tiered Fourth of July celebration, though minus the traditional live show from the West Lawn of the U.S. capitol.

Instead, Vanessa Williams will host a myriad of pre-taped performances originating from a gamut of locations across the country, though there will be a few live moments.

Hawaii’s Auli‘i Cravalho, the voice of Disney’s “Moana” animated feature, will be among the performers to be featured.’’ She will sing “A Whole New World,” from “Aladdin,” originating at the Unisphere in Queens, New York, while Mickey Guyton performs “Without a Net.”

Jimmy Buffett sings Woody Guthrie’s signature “This Land Is Your Land,” taped from California, with quick clips depicting the Golden Gate Bridge, the Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty.

Alan Jackson emerges from Nashville, for a taste of country; Renee Fleming brings her operatic sizzle to deliver the national anthem; Cynthia Erivo performs from Southern California.

Among other legendary troupers on board: Gladys Knight, Jimmie Allen, Ali Stroker, Laura Osnes; “Hamilton” star Christopher Jackson shares the patriotic “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”

Pentatonix (from Los Angeles), Train (from San Francisco) and Jennifer Nettles (from Time Square on Broadway) also take the spotlight.

NASA astronauts, Kermit the Frog and the National Symphony Orchestra reflect the diversity of celebrants, embracing the message of patriotism, love, unity and hope…

And that’s “Show Biz.” …

To escape the clutches and controversary surrounding her efforts to abolish her conservatorship ties with her father, entertainer Britney Spears has escaped to Hawaii with her beau for rest and recreation, perhaps hoping that resolution will swerve her way.

Her destination and vacation details are not known; but overnight, a Los Angeles judge has denied her request.

Legal beagles admit Spears’ case might be a challenging battle; her next date in court had been set for July 14, but might be changed with the new wrinkle in her battle

Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, has been her co-conservator for the past 13 years, an alliance intended to provide protection for her. At 39, she obviously feels she is no longer vulnerable for career abuse, and has been seeking to terminate the conservatorship.

Whatever the outcome, perhaps the lesson is: it may be best for career entertainers who begin as young and budding performers to seek managerial leadership outside of the family. When the friction is within the ohana, it surely becomes a sticky wicket. …

‘Love Island’ filming in Hilo

Two Hawaii competitors will be featured on CBS’ “Love Island,” seeking amour this summer, with filming originating from the Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo (a Doubletree Resort).

They are Christian Longnecker, 24, owner of a coffee company, and Kyra Lizama, 23, a coronavirus relief worker.

The show will premier Wednesday (July 6) on CBS, then will be screened at varying time slots through the end of the season. So check your TV guide for airtimes.

Host Arielle Vandenberg and narrator Matthew Hoffman return filming on the premises of the Big Island’s beachfront hotel.

for fun and frolic, both indoors and out. Perhaps the cast and crew have been advised that Hilo is known for sprinkles and rain, even during the summer, so umbrellas and tents might be at the ready just in case there’s an occasional drizzle.

In short, temptation and temperament will be displayed, and on Love Island, there can only be one love couple. …

Double the Silky pleasure

Silk Sonic clearly is leaving its door open … for more laurels.

SS, comprised of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, immediately became fans of followers, radio and websites, with the release of its first chart powerhouse, “Leave the Door Open.”

The tune easily passed the 1 million sales mark, landing at No. 1 on the Billboard survey, and since has and surpassed the 2 million level, making Silk Sonic eligible for a second (2 times) platinum certification.
According to Hip Hop by the Numbers, Mars and .Paak should further earn a second plaque from the Record Industry Assn. of America (RIAA).

Surprisingly, Mars is the winningest RIAA-winning artist of all time, collecting five of the 60 awards so far presented. …

And that’s “Show Biz.” …

…

Colleagues and friends of the late Joy Valderrama Abbott bid her a final adieu at a mid-day gathering Wednesday (June 23) at Waialae Beach near the park. They couldn’t let the coronavirus further delay a memorial gathering.

Abbott was a well-known singer, dancer, philanthropist, businesswoman, tennis and golf enthusiast and a Broadway booster who resided in three states: Hawaii, Florida and Pennsylvania.

She died on Feb. 8, 2020, just as the coronavirus pandemic began to lock down life and activities, so a planned memorial then was cancelled. A year later, when COVID 19 was still in full bloom, here and elsewhere, it still was not prudent to hold a memorial service on the first anniversary of her passing.

Instead, a quiet, private remembrance gathering finally was held on the Waialae shoreline, with flowers dancing as if choreographed by Abbott. It was a time to reflect and say aloha to a beloved trouper.

Abbott was a member of Punahou School’s class of 1948, and her lifetime friend and fellow student, Elva Yoshihara, assembled a handful of Buffanblu grads for the send-off, with the scriptures shared by Philip Ching, also a classmate. An informal lunch at Waialae Country Club followed.

Abbott was the widow of the legendary Broadway producer, director, and playwright George Abbott, whose iconic creations included “Damn Yankees,” “Pajama Game” and “Pal Joey.”

While she never performed on Broadway, she was an advocate of theater and had been staging the “Mr. Abbott Awards,” honoring a luminary on the Great White Way, annually until her death.

She had an unbridled passion for the stage, particularly the Broadway musicals, and was never shy to share her vocal talents. In recent years, Abbott staged free cabaret performances tapping Jim Howard as her pianist accompanist. To reciprocate, her Arcadia friends even hosted a birthday party for her a couple of years ago.

Yoshihara recalls her BFF’s “never say no” spirit, citing an occasion from the past where Judy Murata invited them to dinner at the House Without a Key at the Halekulani Hotel, in the era where Kanoe Miller was the featured hula soloist.

 “At that time, Joy had not had her second knee surgery or second hip surgery, so she was having a hard time walking with a cane,” said Yoshihara, who assisted Abbott to the stage.

Abbott replied, “Elva, when I’m on stage, I have no pain.”

Indeed, she was prone to so many surgeries – her shoulders, her knees, her hips – that I affectionately called her Bionic Woman because of numerous operations and interior replacements.

She had a flair for fashions, so she was always clad in attractive, eye-catching gowns. While her Hawaii gigs were informal and intimate, she also staged a Hawaii Theatre performance in decades past, where he singing and dancing and vogue-ish manners intersected. Oh, she also had a warehouse of jokes that she could share, mostly off stage.

Her indomitable spirit to entertain began years ago. At age 8, she was known as the Shirley Temple of Hawaii. As a performer for her business company named Moana, she did frequent shows, but after she met and married George Abbott in 1983, after a 25-year courtship, she curtailed her performances as her husband’s career flourished on the Great White Way. He died in 1995.

Joy graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia in 1953, where she excelled as a nationally known tennis player, competing her collegiate career as the captain of her undefeated team, earning a slot in the Temple University Hall of Fame.

Her allegiance to Temple resulted in the formation of the George and Joy Abbott Center for Musical Theater at the college, ensuring support and academic opportunities, for future generations of theater students. In 2007, Joy bequeathed her ownership share and future royalties earned through production of George Abbott shows, along with memorabilia, to the Boyer College of Music and Dance.

Joy also had a friend and business partner, Jerry Mirrow, who assisted her in staging shows on the East Coast and in Florida. They were companions until her death …

And that’s “Show Biz.” …

The local surfing and acting community is buzzing with of an HBO Max series, entitled “Ke Nui Road,” filming in the epicenter of North Shore watersports.

Producer John Wells is launching “Ke Nui Road,” focusing on the North Shore surfers and lifeguards, zooming in on the relationships between an elite crew of heavy-water lifeguards and the young adults and tees they train and mentor in a junior lifeguard program.

One intent of the contemporary drama is to capture the pulse of the lifeguard profession that embraces the dangers, the beauty, and the struggles of the unpredictable currents and waves, amid the island-style spirit of aloha.

Clearly, this one will require and hire a bunch of water-experienced swimmers and surfers, plus crowds of extras if a surfing meet is part of the agenda.

To the regulars who live and love the water culture, the film’s title will immediately ring a bell of recognition. The location is the epicenter of the project; Ke Nui Road is a brand of sorts, with an element of attraction and adventure, where residents and surfers traverse. In heavy wave season, the road becomes a character of sorts, too, fighting for survival along the coast, where the Pacific Ocean can unexpectedly spill into the shoreline properties of residents, while surfers try to catch the waves, as part of the mainstream surfing tradition.

Matt Kester (“Animal Kingdom”) will be an executive producer who also will provide the script.

There’s no word on how many shows will filmed, but the camera-hungry crowd here is excited about casting that’s still under way, because series “regular” roles are likely to be filled with Hawaii actors/athletes.

As one online post advises, “Time to check in with your agent.”

Wells has numerous TV and film credits, but he is best known as a showrunner and exec producer of such series as “ER,” “Third Watch,” “The West Wing,” “Shameless,” “Animal Kingdom,” and “American Woman.” …

And that’s “Show. Biz.” …

Comedian Frank DeLima is doing his part to encourage island residents to get vaccinated.

He’s launched “Do Da Vaccination,” a parody to Little Eva’s oldie hit, “Do the Locomotion,” nudging folks to get vaxxed and possibly win prizes, like airline miles or Las Vegas trips as a bonus.

He initiated the tune on his own, recording a simple self-taped video in which he shares his original lyrics, with a repetitive, “come on, come on do the vaccination for free.”

Then he got a call from adman Patrick Bullard, who asked DeLima if he could do one of his parodies to promote the State Department of Health’s bid to beef up the total of residents who haven’t yet been vaxxed during the pandemic. When he informed Bullard that he already had tune in the can, Brooks Baehr, Covid 19 response administrative assistant with DOE, contacted DeLima and sealed the deal to utilize the parody and the comic was taped in front of a “green screen,” enabling DOH to show the vaxxing progress over the past few months.

This gave DeLima an opportunity to “act” while performing, significantly upgrading his parody.

DeLima has been vaxxed; but he also has history with DOH, earlier doing promos on face masks, hand-washing and social distancing, in the early stages of the coronavirus dilemma last year.

But the wealth of prizes also ramps up the interest in vaxxing, perhaps now convincing the anti-vaxxers to cross the bridge.

“You know you really have a chance to win real big now,” he sings on the ad spot airing on local TV. “But first you gotta have da vaccination.”

He rattles off some of the current carrots: a year-long auto lease from Auto Source Hawaii, a $1,000 dining prize from Merriman’s, and 100,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles.

But if you’re already vaxxed, you still can try to snag one of the prizes. Gov. David Ige earlier this month authorized a website to register to qualify for the prizes.

Go to www.higotvaccinated.gov register, before the June 30 deadline.

Then wait to see your name is pulled from the hat, as DeLima sings. …

And that’s “Show Biz.” …

Note: To view the video, go to:

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