‘TIS CHRISTMAS TIME…IN RHYME
‘Twas the night before Christmas
And Santa wondered in his sleigh;
“What am I delivering
“For the folks of Hawaii Nei?”
Since the yuletide is on Sunday
His worries were tough;
Delivering his presents
On the Eve? Whoa, rough!
The coronavirus had challenged
His legion of elves.
Despite face masks and boosters
They could barely fill his gift shelves.
For Governor Josh Green
Aloha wear aplenty
No more green scrubs
As work gear, evidently.
For LG Sylvia Luke
A roster of must-do chores
To validate her election
With projects she adores.
For Mayor Blangiardi
A special wishing well.
To get the rail rolling
Come high water or hell.
Another December vacation
For Barack and Michelle;
And a holiday title for Bette Midler:
The Jingle Belle.
For Bruno Mars another stint
As a Super Bowl half-time trouper
Pure talent; no frills,
Just Hooligans. Super duper.
And please, for Marcus Mariota,
Just let him be;
Still a QB work-in-progress
He’ll eventually get there. Whee!
And no more injuries
For the Dolphin’s QB Tua;
Plus a Super Bowl bid
Some day, for shuwah!
For Jason Momoa,
Less projects, more time.
To focus on authenticity
For his movies sublime.
For the “NCIS: Hawai‘I” crew
A Hawaiian language dictionary
To bolster pronunciation
Hey, the show’s not Pictionary.
For“Magnum’s” Jay Hernandez
A welcome-back nod
For NBC, peacock feathers,
For a miracle…like God.
For the visiting “Hamilton” cast
Bravos, standing ovations!
Being in the room where it happens
Is cause for celebrations.
For comic Frank DeLima;
More home-grown parodies
For prolific Henry Kapono
More feel-good isle melodies.
For Robert Cazimero, what else?
A hefty 12-string pikake lei;
For Shari Lynn, a rescheduled
Jazz concert, soon, okay?
Another home-brewed concert
For Royal Hawaiian Band maestro Clarke Bright
May the ork returns to Carnegie Hall
‘Twould be aloha — book a flight!
And wouldn’t it be sweet
If there’s more collaboration
Between Kyle Kakuno and Roslyn Catracchia
For more yuletide exploration?
For Loretta Ables Sayre,
Deliver a Broadway show;
It’s time for her to rev up
Her singing, comedic glow.
For Judy Murata
A jug of good cheer.
For Danny Kaleikini
Perennial aloha that’s dear.
For author Frances Kakugawa
A fifth “Wordsworth” book.
For Alan Wong and Alan Takasaki
New kitchens where they’d cook.
For Vanita Rae Smith
More directing chores;
For the Bright Kid brand
A show to reopen the doors?
For Kevin Iwamoto
No more plumbing leaks;
Dripping water, mold,
A mess no one seeks.
For the venerable Roy Sakuma
More time teaching kids;
The Ukulele Festival is pau
Anyone with new bids?
For retired Cha Thompson
Something simple, besides wealth;
More mo‘opuna time, less stress
A recipe for good health.
For Afatia and Misty
The Tihati Productions team
A new Polynesian show…
Would be a keen dream.
For Jerry Santos, Bryan Tolentino
More gigs small and big;
For Makana, Taimane
Rolando, too. Dig?
For Kuana, Keali‘i,
Two peas in a pod.
As singing kumu hula
They deserve halau nod.
Applause for Manoa Valley
For its vibrant website;
A nudge to Diamond Head
To catch up, shed light?
For Kimie Miner, a trophy
For her “Christmas in Hawaii” tune;
It’s surely a notable hottie
With lyrics that’ll make you swoon.
For my Mainland buds
Ellen, Christine and Willy?
Warm hoodies, of course,
It’s winter time, silly!
To animal advocate Audy
An arf and a meow.
Maybe a song to show
The rest of us how?
Carole? Melveen?
Nohe? Amy? Marlene?
Maybe it’s time to update
The Local Divas? Keen?
Or perhaps a Dudes version
With Keola? Kapono?
Kapena? Kalani?
Would this be ho‘oponopono?
And why not assemble
An all-star band?
With Michael P., Jake S.
John K., Benny C. Grand!
An Obie for Lee Cataluna
A Tony for Greg Zane;
A Pulitzer for Paul Theroux
Awards wish list..sane?
For sea-worthy Jack Cione
A lifetime cruise pass.
With shipboard musicians
Ho‘okena, Makaha Sons. Class!
For Al Waterson and Nancy Bernal .
And Eddie Onouye and Carole Kai
Eternal happiiness and togetherness
And toss in a mai tai.
For Jay Larrin, joy
With snows on Mauna Kea;
For Nippon deejay Kamasami Kong
More fans here and deah.
For you, dearest readers
You Mr. and Ms.
Season’s tidings, aloha,
And that’s Christmas Show Biz. …
TRIVIAL, BUT HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW?
Knowledge is essential but fleeting; we learn, we forget.
But some things – often called trivia –should always be etched in our minds.
How many of this short list do you know by heart? No Google searching, please.
Elvis Presley: What were three films he did in Hawaii?
- The lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
- The words to “The Lord’s Prayer.”
- What were Clark Gable’s famous eight-words utterance in “Gone With the Wind”?
- Who said ,“May the force be with you” in “Star Wars”?
- The song that is credited to be the first to launch the rock music era?
- The color of Judy Garland’s shoes in “The Wizard of Oz”?
- The titles of three films Elvis Presley did in Hawaii?
- The number of Santa’s reindeer and their names?
- Who said, “Ohana means family, family means no one gets left behind, or forgotten?”
- For Hawaii citizens only, the lyrics to “Hawaii Aloha” and “Hawaii Ponoi”?
- What happened to Jack, when he went up the hill to fetch a pail of water?
- The crime committed by Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables,” that sent him to prison?
- What famous Hawaiian holiday tune was flipside song of Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” 78 rpm disc?
Feel free to add to this list to continue this discussion…
COMING SOON…
KEALA SETTLE JOINS ‘WICKED’ FILM
Great to learn that some of our Hawaii-reared talent are finding their way to the big screen.
No, not referring to the likes of Jason Momoa and Dwayne Johnson. They are in their own league, with signature projects under way.
Talking about the likes of Keala Settle, who will play Miss Coddle in the Jon M. Chu-directed movie version of “Wicked.” You know Settle best as the former Kahuku actress who famously portrayed the Bearded Woman in Hugh Jackson’s mega-hit musical, “The Greatest
Showman,” in which Settle might have been a sideshow attraction but wound up performing and scoring a huge musical hit, “This Is Me.”
Headliners in this Broadway-to-cinema transition of “Wicked” will be the earlier announced Cynthia Ervo and Ariana Grande, who will take over the leads of Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) originated by Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth (Glinda the Witch of the South), respectively. “Wicked” (the movie) also will bring together Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, and Bowen Yang as Pfannee.
Director Chu, who helmed Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” in its film incarnation, has expressed an opinion that “Wicked” ran 2 hours and 45 minutes as a Broadway show, but opined on Twitter that “it would be impossible to wrestle the story of ‘Wicked’ in a single film without doing some real damage to it.” Omitting or trimming tunes or character roles felt like fatal compromises to the original sources, and composer Stephen Schwartz seconded the motion. Thus, a two-parter is in the works and composer Schwartz has agreed that Act 1 will conclude with “Defying Gravity,” and he will write a new original addition to the flick version, as reported in Variety. “Wicked Part 1” is due to be released by Universal on Dec. 25, 2024, and “Wicked Part 2” will follow on Dec. 25, 2025. Talk about a multi-Christmas present. …
Elsewhere, Auli‘i Cravalho, who voiced Moana in Disney’s “Moana” animated film, has been cast in the forthcoming Paramount+ film version of “Mean Girls,” which will be directed by Arturo Perez and Samantha Jayne. Cravalho will portray Janis, with Renee Rapp reprising her role as Regina George (she did it on Broadway), Angourie Rice as Cady, and Jaquel Spivey as Damian in other key roles…
Still strumming and teaching
The annual Ukulele Festival no longer is in founder Roy Sakuma’s rear view mirror. He’s moved on.
“Boy, how times have changed,” he said in an email. “ I am still teaching (mostly on Zoom) but do go to the studio on Wednesday mornings to teach. It’s still a lot of fun to teach.”
Of course, the folks love him since he’s a jovial sort, with not just teaching skills, but with memories to share.
Meanwhile, wife Kathy still has been busy running the studio. Almost like a mom-and-pop operation, like the good ol’ days. …
And that’s Show Biz. …