Hugh Jackman is returning to New York stage weekend performances at Radio City Music Hall, beginning Jan. 24, 2025.
Of course he’s a superstar, of stage and screen, and this gig will not be your ordinary Broadway run.
Wish I could go but there’s time to plan a trip. And Jackman is box office gold, so it’s likely he could have a total sell-out before his first gig.
Sharing the info, in case you want to make a New York visit to see this mega-star on the maxi-stage which is Radio City. The venue has 5,960 seats plus a 150-seat pit, if utilized.
Themed “From New York, With Love,” the shows will be retrospective, curated from Jackman’s catalogue of Broadway and films, including his first New York hit, “The Boy From Oz,” which earned him a Tony Award, and including “The Music Man,” his last stage musical, plus “The Greatest Showman” and “Les Miserables,” his big screen biggie.
Jackson also starred in a West End presentation of “Oklahoma!” which has been released on DVD, and also did “Carousel” off-Broadway.
So, yes, there should be ample familiar fare to croon.
Jackson’s playdates will be on Fridays and Saturdays during select months in 2025:
…Jan. 24 and 25.
…April 18 and 19.
…May 23 and 24.
…June 20 and 21.
…July 18 and 19.
…Aug. 15 and 16.
Radio City is larger than all of the traditional theatrical palaces that surround Times Square. Obviously, staging one pair of Friday and Saturday shows spaced out from January to August gives Jackson ample “off” dates. Only a powerhouse like him could have managed to get a deal like this.
The hall’s orchestra seats are abundant; the venue also boasts a huge three-tiered mezzanine.
I have not taken in any theatrical productions at Radio City, though one spring, I took in an Easter show, and I caught a Christmas special, complete with live animals in a tableau of the manger scene in Bethlehem. The hall’s staging potrential is remarkable; a full orchestra up front can move to the back, then disappear in the pit. In the holiday show, a submerged ice rink appeared with, natch, skaters.
Tickets will be on sale later, but prospective buyers must register via preferred show dates, at From New York, With Love, the show’s official website. Starting Oct. 15, use your mobile phone, and you will receive a link where you can purchase seats…
‘Sunset Boulevard’ joins million-dollar club
There’s a newcomer in this week’s Broadway grosses: “Sunset Boulevard,” at No. 10. Otherwise, the leaders led, meaning “Wicked,” “The Lion King” and “Hamilton” topped the charts.
Daniel Dae Kim, the actor and producer known for two Island-filmed TV series – ABC’s “Lost” and CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” – will executive produce “Makawalu,” an indie feature film initiated by the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF).
The project will be wholly created and co-directed by eight Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) filmmakers.
Kim, who is currently starring on Broadway in David Henry Hwang’s “Yellow Face” farce at the Todd Haimes Theatre through Nov. 24, will be involved in what stacks up to be the largest budgeted indie project filmed here, according to Deadline, which broke the news. A figure has not been announced.
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the Asian American Foundation (TAAF), and Pacific Islanders in Communication (PIC), “Makawalu” is attracting 90 per cent of funding resources outside of Hawaii, with a team of eight filmmakers attached to the project: Justyn Ah Chong, Taylour Chang, Ty Sanga, Ciara Lacy, Āina Paikai, Erin Lau, Scott W. Kekama Amona and Katherine Wong . They comprise a network of skilled Kanaka Maoli (indigenous people of Hawaii or Hawaiians or native Hawaiians) talent.
“’Makawalu’ represents an important step in recognizing Native Hawaiian filmmakers and the power of their stories. As someone who’s worked with this talented group firsthand, it’s been an honor to be able to amplify their voices and help this project come to life,” said Kim in a statement.
Currently in pre-production, the feature starts shooting in spring 2025 for an early 2026 release.
First presented in 2021, the “Makawalu” project involved an extensive selection process after which the eight filmmakers participated in a five-day filmmaker lab and retreat in Honolulu with high-profile industry mentors.
Kim has been all over the map in several genres since exiting the pair of isle-filmed shows. He portrayed the King of Siam in “The King and I” in London and on Broadway. As a producer, he launched “The Good Doctor” on ABC. Kim has been a Hawaii resident for nearly two decades, traveling often for his Mainland roles, and he’s one of the most talented actors-turned-producers in the industry.
Clearly, he’s been huddling with industry figures as Sean Baker (“Anora”). Sarah Wayne Callies (“The Walking Dead”) and Dana Ledoux Miller (co-writer and co-director of Disney’s forthcoming ”Moana 2.”)
Other producers include Sundance alum Sarah S. Kim (“August At Akiko’s”), and HIFF artistic director Anderson Le. John Cheng of 3AD Media will also executive produce.
“Makawalu”tells the story of a typical July 4th luau on the island of Oahu through eight different perspectives. The word Makawalu, in modern Olelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) terminology, references “different perspectives of a situation.”
“The filmmakers crafted a layered screenplay that will unpack many ongoing issues that modern Native Hawaiians face,” said HIFF’s Le. “From the exotification of Native Hawaiian culture in Hollywood media, to the repercussions of American colonization through capitalism and militarization of Hawai‘i, ‘Makawalu’ explores what it means to be ‘Hawaiian’, being priced out of ‘paradise’, all on U.S. Independence Day.”
Beckie Stocchetti, HIFF executive director and “Makawalu” executive producer, said: “The intention of the ‘Makawalu’ project is to provide an opportunity and access for these groundbreaking filmmakers to have full ownership over the telling of their story from their perspective. In order to make that happen we also needed to fundamentally change the traditional financing structure of independent film.”
Casting details have not yet been finalized.
Since the production is funded and ready to shoot in early 2025, HIFF is simultaneously launching the HIFF Studios, to support independent film productions in Hawaii, with a suite of support of financing, legal, and artist development programs to increase career opportunities and develop an industry pipeline for Hawaiian and Pacific Islander creatives…
Jack Cione, an extraordinary entrepreneur and a legendary showman with multiple careers, was 96 when he died peacefully in his sleep on Oct. 1 at the Arcadia residence for seniors.
In the last chapter of his life, Cione was best known as the producer, director and choreographer of the popular “Follies” staged by and at Arcadia, expressly for residents and their guests. His finale, entitled “Copacabana,” was a sellout Sept. 6 through 8.
Thus, the general public wouldn’t know much about this significant and scintillating wedge of his life. Cione was an Arcadian for 20 years, trading his previous condos to officially join the senior generation and play out his last years.
His colleagues, who starred in the inspiring “Follies” vehicle, were privy to a gentle giant who was a workaholic who turned non-performers into stage stars.
In the nearly 50 years I’ve chronicled his endeavors, I discovered Cione always did things his way. In death, he still was calling the shots.
Thus, there will be no memorial service, one of his last requests. His body has been donated to the John A. Burns School of Medicine.
“A humble individual, he wanted to leave quietly,” said Yvonne H.C. Toma, a colleague who regularly performed in the “Follies” and was Cione’s assistant director for 13 years whose role included transferring Cione’s hand-written script, composed aboard a sea cruise he adored, to the computer.
“We felt blessed he walked through our lives and know he is at peace and orchestrating fantastic productions with awesome costumes in heaven,” said Toma.
In an August phone conversation, Cione told me, “Everything’s wrong with me,” referring to chronic pain, heart and mobility issues. He had spent eight weeks in Kuakini Hospital and was relieved to be back home.
At that point, his last “Follies” was looming, and he confessed, “This is my last one.”
Arcadians will tell you that a Cione production would not be perfect without showgirls (and guys) decked out in bejeweled costumes, often put together with glue gun and old Arcadia sheets repurposed into gowns by Cione.
The sisterhood at Arcadia had tons of memories.
Anne Hedani said, “My first memory of involvement in Arcadia’s ‘Follies’ was one of pain..blisters and burns from a hot glue gun. Jack knew I wasn’t ready to walk across a stage, so he put me to work mending long feathered capes with a huge hot glue gun. It wasn’t much fun, but the following year I made my way to sitting on the stage waving my seaweed arms. By then Jack knew I was valuable in the costume department, so he kept me happy doing group dances.”
Toma said, “The longer I got to know Jack I got to know him as a brilliant person, always wanting the best for us and making us look good on stage. As a first timer performing, Jack treated me with respect and patience, supportive of my feelings and (he) understood where I was coming from. He never told me I was ‘awful’ and he only gave positive comments, ‘Do it again.”
Toma was blessed with a revelation, when Cione rehearsing the last “Follies,” that he was mentoring her to prep her to inherit the directorship of the show. “It was so touching to be told he was passing his torch to me and had the confidence that I could do it.”
Elva Yoshihara said his cast loved him. “It was his true kindness, his thoughtfulness and genuineness that made him so special. I consider him the most unforgettable character I ever met. He would see the slightest detail, which when corrected would make a difference in the whole scene. Nothing missed his sharp eyes. Even at this last Follies and he was truly tired and obviously ailing. I happened to walk by him on the way to the stage, and he called out to me, ‘Elva, where’s your bracelet?’
Yoshihara added, negative press about Cione’s earlier life of naked men and women didn’t acknowledge that these ventures from his past reflected “the business side of him. He knew what would sell and he knew when to pull out; he had impeccable timing when it came to business.”
She recalled an incidence when he had to pass through backstage , where women were all changing, he never once looked up as he passed through as others have. “He kept his eyes focused on his mission. He never touched us, ever, and he had good reason to if he wanted, as he oversaw all the costumes. People have no idea of that side of him. He is just pictured in another way.”
Cione and his wife Maydelle (now deceased) came from Phoenix AZ — where they operated a dozen Arthur Murray-style dance studios — to Hawaii for their honeymoon. The Ciones loved the islands and never left.
His early fame – what most folks remember – was operating a string of nightlife clubs like the Dunes on Nimitz Highway, Forbidden City at the entrance to Waikiki and Le Boom Boom club in the International Market Place.
At the Dunes, he featured legit acts like Judy Garland, Pearl Bailey, and Wayne Newton before they became show biz legends, and Cione gained international fame when he switched policies to launch a Naked Waiter luncheon show, marketed to lure workforce women to cheer and applaud when their waiters dropped trous and hit the stage during lunch hour in the 1970s.
Forbidden City was essentially a strip club, where the likes of Tempest Storm did her gyrations, though actor Sal Mineo starred in “Fortune and Men’s Eyes” in 1970.
Le Boom Boom was essentially a dance production with exotic women, clad in flashy costumes.
Cione also staged a “Follies” show, originating at the Pearl Harbor Officer’s Club, at the esteemed Royal Hawaiian Hotel Monarch Room, complete with Las Vegas-style plumes, glitter and rhinestones.
From the 1960s to the ‘80s, Cione operated a variety of night spots, all over Waikiki, most with risqué fare. So, he became a hot entity on the liquor commission agenda, and I remember him back in the day, when he would call the papers or TV stations that he would be arrested…to achieve publicity. The laws, prior to statehood, didn’t flag nudity in nighttime shows, so the rules had to be updated.
Cione always had a flair for themed shows, so he generated all-Asian, all-Black and even an ice show.
With clubs in his past, he turned to authoring, penning “What Do You Say to a Naked Waiter?” all about the making and marketing of his Dunes noontime attraction. The mid-‘70s book, was a must-see, must-read for many (it was sold on Amazon), and this opened a new career for Cione: luncheon speaker.
In 2014, Cione did another book, “Repotting Can Be Such a Bitch,” the repotting referring to a change in life and livelihood. The contents include remembrances of his glorious past as an entertainer himself as well as his brushes with the famous over his 50-year career.
He felt he had one more volume in his veins, a revisit to the naked waiters, which included nude phots of the servers plus a sex-survey with women commenting on their sex lives. It wasn’t a book worth doing – he showed me the text – and I advised him not to publish the book, for fear of damage and impact on the waiters who by then were aging adults and families.
Cioneis survived by his son Stephan and daughter-in-law Anne.
With the demise and cancellation of CBS’ “Hawaii Five-0” and “Magnum P.I.,” Fox’s “Rescue: HI Surf” is the lone filmed-in Hawaii TV show.
It’s not a townie production; it’s filmed in our rural neighborhood of the North Shore, and hopefully it will make a splash.
The pounding surf and waves of the North Shore make this a first-responder series – two episodes already have aired — and the treacherous, even death-defying work is documentary-like, especially when someone is in need to be saved by the lifeguards.
The show will regularly be aired at 9 p.m. Mondays on Fox, streaming the next day on Hulu.
A hearty mahalo to casting directors and show runners, who’ve come to rescue to end the drought of island-filmed TV; you’re doing it properly with a few real-life Hawaiians in lifeguard roles. And they have real-life smarts about water safety.
If you recall, neither of the reboots — “Five-O” nor “Magnum” — cast a bona fide local in secondary lead roles. The traditional prevailing notion has been Hawaii performers lack experience so outsiders land parts. Jack Lord ‘s original “Five-O” gave island talent the opportunity to learn what it takes, and they were successful. Remember Al Harrington? Zulu? Kam Fong Chun?
Fortunately, show creator Matt Kester is a Hawaii native who also happens to be a devoted, longtime surfer, and so far, he’s a valuable, perfect fit, for “Rescue: HI-Surf.” So, give him a high-five.
“From the time I was a kid, lifeguards were a ubiquitous presence,” he told TVLine. Thus, this new adventure benefits with his hindsight.
The notable director John Wells (you know him from “ER” and “The West Wing”) did the first two episodes. This is “Baywatch” on steroids, where the sea is real, the performers must have surfing skills, and Mother Nature has a hand in how high the waves will be. Ya can’t script those mountainous waves to your shooting sked .
The episodes might be manufactured, but much of the success of the show will depend on the flexibility of this daredevil crew. Immediately noticeable: there are no “marquee” name stars in the ranks; stardom will come when these physically fit, muscled and chiseled bods do their rescuing.
Certainly, like any TV show filmed here, Hawaii always emerges as a star, too.
Capt. Sonny Jennings (Robbie Magasiva, a Kiwi) heads the crew of lifesavers who must patrol those either surfing or novice swimming in the tricky, foamy stretch of beach that could be, and does, become perilous.
High tide translates into high danger, even for surfing pros; a surfboard can hit a surfer in the head, a swimmer could be tossed and twirled into unseen shoreline rocks.
Others in the cast are Arielle Kebbel as Emily “Em” Wright, Adam Demos as Will Ready, Kekoa Kakumanu as Laka Hanohano, Alex Aiona as Kainalu, and Zoe Cipres as Hina.
If the first wave of episodes is an example of what’s to come, “Rescue: HI-Surf’ should have a long run…
Bits and pieces
Show Bits: Manoa Valley Theatre’s next production, “Once on This Island,” will be staged in the round, according to Jeff Portnoy, MVT board president. The show opens Nov 16, and there’ll be no proscenium, with spectators surrounding the actors…
And it’s not every day that you see the executive director of Diamond Head Theatre, Trevor Tamashiro, manning the lift that enables handicapped folks to hitch a ride from the parking lot behind the theater in the mini elevator. Tamashiro also is frequently spotted in the concession booth, helping patrons buy drinks and snacks…
Vanita Rae Smith, former director at the Army Community Theatre and frequent maestro of the Readers Theatre now relocated at TAG (The Actors Group) can’t say enough about the I’m a Bright Kid Foundation’s “Newsies” hit at Paliku Theatre. She raved about the show but flagged the marvelous and mobile stage set, t surely one of the marvels of the production. “I wish every local director and set designer could have seen it,” said Smith of the choreography of the set as well as the agility of the mostly youthful cast…
Broadway grosses, for the week ending Sept. 22
“McNeal,” starring Robert Downey Jr., has joined the $1 million club on Broadway. Otherwise, “The Lion King” has reclaimed the No. 1 spot.
“Lend Me a Soprano,” in its final week at Manoa Valley Theatre,
is high comedy at its best. The show is like an active volcano, full of volatility, spewing mistaken identities, flowing with emotional tension, and constant choreographic jostling in an exquisite suite.
In Act Two, there’s finally an eruption of movement – vigorous and frantic chases and escapes amid non-stop door-slamming.
The show’s creator, Ken Ludwig, is known for “Lend Me a Tenor,” so “Soprano” is the female version of crisis within the Cleveland Grand Opera Company.
The MVT director, Rob Duval, orchestrates the lively, symbolic lava flow with crisp, quick, explosive and gushing movement, resulting in riotous laughter and thunderous applause. And Duval also selected a versatile and splendid cast of eight.
In this version, a diva, Elena Firenzi (Barrie Kealoha, as grand as they come and bold as a bull), is tardy for a benefit performance of Georges Bizet’s “Carmen.”
The general manager of the opera company, Mrs. Wylie (Shannon Winpenny, forthright and formidable and eternally funny), is in a tizzy with the no-show of her star soprano. What to do? The show must go on.
Her assistant, Jo (Jasmine Haley Anderson, mousey but bold and aspirational) comes up with a solution: she is willing to step in and impersonate Elena, and what the heck, she’s conveniently a budding soprano anyway.
Thus, Mrs. Wiley and Jo are in cahoots, to keep the secret theirs, until Elena and her husband Pasquale (Eriq James, who spends most of his time perusing LIFE magazine) finally arrive. The diva has a squabble with the hubby, who runs off with his suitcase and leaves a note to his wife, who ODs on pills and lands dead silent on the bed.
While Jo preps to become the guest warbler, she’s a bit spooked that Elena is silent and still and sleeping, then checks and assumes she’s expired.
So, opportunity looms, and Jo dons Elena’s costume; certainly, she blooms when she’s ready for the spotlight; Mrs. Wiley is alarmed but desparately needs to pull off this operatic con job.
In the interim, Leo (Adam Kalma, tall, lean, handsome and also a fame-hungry baritone) arrives, along with Jerry (Michael Linnett, Mrs. Wiley’s son), to close in on the faux soprano. Julia (Holly Holowach, a cheerful opera buff) appears in glittering silver and black outfit with a silver headpiece resembling the Chrysler Building, as a character wise cracks. And even the room service bellhop (Madison Cuartas, an eager beaver, who’s celebrity-struck) has her run of ins and outs.
And something to ponder: is this the only play where all the gents drop trousers, in hopes of a sexual encounter?
This is truly a unified ensemble, supported by a tech team that delivers. Set designer R. Andrew Doan has created an exquisite set with five doors that star in the Act Two run-and-slam-athon (seven, if you count the central double door and the twin doors of a closet). There are doors for a kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom and a second in/out bedroom door. Kudos should go, too, to scenic artist Willie Sabel and props designer Jax Pitts, for embellishing windows, a traditional settee and a medium-sized circular one, plus a fireplace, with floral and wall lamps and a comfy-looking bed with an ample coverlet.
Costume designer Amber Lehua Baker’s gowns (especially Mrs. Wylie’s) and two other gowns (one for the faux Elena, one for the real one), and the tuxes for gents? Fashionable stuff.
Hair and makeup designer Lisa Ponce de Leon’s hair styles for Mrs. Wylie, Elena and Julia are awesome; looks good enough for a formal night out.
Lighting design by Chris Gouveia and sound design by Sarah Velasco validate the subtle sense of mood and style of the show.
Loved, too, the animated replay of scene highlights – crazy chases involving one and all — before the final curtain. Yes, a well-deserved standing ovation!
A footnote: Wish MVT would restore the customary playbill, with mini-bios and pics of the performers and the backstage creative team; the current two-fold sheet, with one half-sheet insert with promo and ads, is insufficient. It may be a budgeting issue, but actors and audience alike savor and favor a traditional page-turning playbill. After all, it’s respectful homage to the players and the patrons to receive a traditional playbill, too. Costs still remain, but the pandemic is over. Please? For the 2025-26 season, perhaps? …
And that’s Show Biz…
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‘Lend Me a Soprano’
What: A madcap comedy by Ken Ludwig, about a soprano diva who is late for a gig, triggering mayhem and madness with lots of door-slamming
Where: Manoa Valley Theatre
When: Final performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Sept. 27) and Saturday (Sept. 28) and 3 p.m. Sunday (Sept. 29).
Tickets: $48 for adults, $38 for those 25 and younger, $43 for military and senior citizens, at (808-988-6131) or www.manoavalleytheatre.com