Portraying a fictional Doctah Frank, comedian Frank DeLima made a rare appearance at MW Restaurant to deliver a musical parody honoring Dr. Thomas Kosasa Saturday night (July 8).
About 110 guests – many of Kosasa’s clients whose bebes he delivered over a span of 50 years, as well as the doc’s medical peers — attended the event, belatedly marking”10,000+2” infants delivered by Kosasa.
Doctah Frank DeLima, in doctor mode.
Kosasa, with Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, is a longtime OBGYN specializing in obstetrics and gynecology.
DeLima, a comedian whose specialty includes creating musical parodies, was commissioned by Cha Thompson, a family friend of Dr. Kosasa and his wife Mi, to appear as a faux doc to deliver a brief musical parody about the real doctor’s milestone baby deliveries. It was a one-in-a-lifetime gift – immortalized on a formal video but delivered live with DeLima in doctor gear, singing the parody to Kosasa to the tune of “Mr. Sandman,” the tune by The Chordettes.
In Doctah Frank’s version, there’s localized and pidginized lyrics to salute Dr. Thomas on his stunning ongoing mission in delivering keiki.
There was name-dropping – bebes with eyes like Genoa Keawe, a warm heart like Jimmy Borges, and wavy hair like Jason Momoa – to reflect the island spirit.
“Tom was definitely surprised and happy!,” said Mi Kosasa. “I never saw him smile so much.”
Three years ago, Dr. Kosasa (pictured) delivered his 10,000th infant. At that time, Jerry Wu hosted a party honoring him at MW’s original restaurant on Kapiolani Boulevard.
So why a shebang now?
“This past February, Tom delivered Jerry’s only son, L. Tristan,” said Mi. (Mom is Renee Tan). “And last September, Tom delivered Michelle and Wade Ueoka’s (chef-owners of the MW of the eatery) only child, a son named Ryeland. And since MW is Jerry’s and our favorite restaurant, Jerry wanted (the party) at MW’s new location at Kapiolani and Ward Avenue.”
Among those at the party – again hosted by Wu — was a Kosasa friend who flew to Hawaii from Budapest, since she had three infants delivered by Dr. Kosasa. Other out-of-towners came from Tokyo, Korea and Las Vegas.
A “Top Gun” motif was the evening’s theme, with many donning gear relating to Tom Cruise’s film, and all attendees received aviator glasses donated by Brad Nicolai, who unfortunately couldn’t attend.
MW shut down the restaurant for the evening, using the main dining room as a cocktail lounge and utilized the adjacent Bentley Room – with vehicles relocated to create dining space – for a lavish, sumptuous dinner.
Brian Chang and Mike Ching entertained for five hours, with dancing closing the evening.
DeLima put his heart and soul into the parody, a rare one-time-only performance of the song. He spent two weeks honing the number. “I did 10 takes to finally get it right,” he said of the final video he recorded, a copy of which has been presented to Kosasa. “I think Dr. Thomas loved it,” he said of his performance. “He was smiling through it.”
Because July 8 was DeLima’s birthday, the party guests sang “Happy Birthday” to him.
A video of DeLima in his doctor guise is shared on my Facebook page; if you choose to view it, it would be a great gesture to make a donation to DeLima’s ongoing Student Enrichment Program, where he annually stages inspirational sessions with public and private school students …
And that’s Show Biz. …
Hi Wayne,
Sounds like everyone had a great time at the party with Frank and the Doc.. Glad you got to go. Hope your NY trip was wonderful and you got to see all the shows you wanted to and were able to get around ok with the electric wheelchair.
Aloha Dolores