The Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts will bestow its annual Lifetime Achievement Awards from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dec. 19 at the Monarch Room of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.
The luncheon event will honor the following:
* Jeff Apaka –.For many years, he was a Sunday performer at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Tapa. The son of Alfred Apaka, aka as the Golden Voice of Hawaii, Jeff was at one time the youngest entertainer headlining a show in a main showroom venue in Waikiki.
* Patience “Pat” Bacon – A longtime Bishop Museum employee of Japanese ancestry with an encyclopedic knowledge of Hawaiian culture, hula, language and history, Bacon was the hanai daughter of renowned Hawaiian scholar the composer Mary Kawena Pukui.
* Jay Larrin — .A veteran singer, composer, and performer in Waikiki hotel lounges in the 1970s and 1980s, Larrin is a Tennessee native with Hawaiiana in his heart, composing and performing his island-themed tunes such as “The Snows of Mauna Kea,” “Little Lei Lady” and “The Koolaus Are Sleeping” for locals and visitors alike.
* Aaron Mahi –.A native Hawaiian who graduated from Kamehameha Schools, Mahi was known as the bandmaster of the Royal Hawaiian Band, and under his baton, the legendary band was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.
* Dr. Puakea Nogelmeir – A prolific island scholar of things and themes Hawaiia, Nogelmeir is a Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning composer, kumu hula and associate professor of Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaii. He also has been a musical collaborator of Keali‘i Reichel.
Additionally, Life Achievement Recognition Awards will be presented to:
* U.S. Sen. Daniel Kahikina Akaka.
* Emma Kapi‘olani Farden Sharpe.
Tickets: $80, includes lunch.
Information: https://harahawaii.com/lifetime-achievement-award
Broadway buzz
“Diana,” the musical biography on Princess Diana, is one of the first casualties of the reopened Broadway season this fall. The show, which opened Nov. 17, also had been streaming on Netflix, will close Sunday (Dec. 19) after 33 performances at the Longacre Theatre.
Among its many producers is sometimes Maui resident Michael Jackowitz, who also is the driving force behind a yet-to-be-tested or unveiled Hawaiian-themed musical on the goddess Hi‘iaka, which has had input by local “names” Keali ‘i Reichel and Roslyn Catracchia, with ex-islander Patrick Makuakane choreographing and Stephen Schwartz of “Wicked” and “Pippin” musical hits also among the music collaborators. …
Passing mentions
Sorry to report the passing of Dennis Carroll, a professor emeritus of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Hawaii, and founder of the Kumu Kahua theater group. He died Nov. 12 at age 81.
William Dennis Carroll was his full name, but he was known as Dennis, an active playwright in his prime and also launched Kumu Kahua’s annual playwriting contest to stir interest among local playwrights whose works of local themes, culture and characters, would eventually be staged by Kumu Kahua.
He was born in Sydney, Australia, and joined UH in 1969. Survivors include his wife, three children and four grandchildren….
And Harry B. Soria Jr., the centrifugal force of territorial-era Hawaiian music, died Dec. 7 of unknown causes at age 73. He was founder-host of “Territorial Airwaves,” his signature radio show, but also an award-winning record producer and liner note writer of numerous disc projects.
His massive recording collections– certainly the most valuable, authentic and complete archival files of a specific timetable in island music history –will be donated to the Hawaii State Archives.
Survivors include his wife, Kilohana Silve. …
And that’s Show Biz. …