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“Death of a Salesman,” Arthur Miller’s riveting drama about a hardworking salesman who believes in the elusive and  evasive American dream, who ultimately becomes engulfed in a harrowing nightmare instead.

Willy Loman’s devotion and dedication to work hard … doesn’t pan out.

Dwight Martin plays Loman in Manoa Valley Theatre’s latest revival of the work, and Martin is splendid and credible and hits all the right notes. He makes you feel his passion and his agony. His quest to achieve is commendable, but his  American dream lacks a streak of reality; desire is only part of the equation. 

The script reflects a dysfunctional and contentious family on the brink of losing everything Willy lives for and dreams of. Thus, it’s a tragedy.

Wife Linda Loman (Amy K. Sullivan, very effusive) is a supporter and cheerleader of Willy, who brings home the bacon. She nudges sons Biff Loman (Matthew Miller, who tries hard but fails to achieve), a high school dropout and uncertain of a job yet,  and Happy Loman (Thomas T.C. Smith), who lives up to his character’s name, a bit more settled with a gig in a business venture to try to do good.

The fact that the lads are in their 30s and living at home after being away is an indication of another family issue, of finances and space. It’s a familiar situation in real life, so there are  truthful pangs and pathos in some of the laments in the Loman household.

The Lomans, from left: Matthew Miller as Biff, Dwight Martin as Willy, Amy K. Sullivan as Linda, and Thomas T.C. Smith as Happy.

The Lomans are residing in Boston, as the play unfolds in the 1940s,  and Willy – getting on his years, loyal to the core to his job but tired of the lonely and dangerous commutes –pleads to his boss Howard (Dan Connell, unsympathetic)  for a more stable work environment in the main office in New York. Instead, Willy is fired, dashing his hope and diminishing his worth.

He confesses to his wife that he often drives his car off the road, an accident waiting to happen. It’s not a spoiler, when “death” is in the title of the play.

Willy’s deterioration is painful to watch. He loses confidence, and his sanity is a slippery slope, since his mind is going, too, and the  meagre money he makes is gobbled up by bills he can’t afford to pay, and worst of all, he loses his dignity.

Tolerant and supportive early on, Linda eventually becomes part of the family bickering and shout-outs because Willy is off the charts himself. Depression becomes his middle name.

It’s hurtful to witness and accept his obsolescence, knowing his shining luster in early days has turned into unconscionable rust. Domestically, he feuds with his wife and kids, and a family at war is destined to implode. And Biff, who boasts he can handily land a job, doesn’t, which means Willy isn’t the sole failure.

Director Linda Johnson projects familial bonding with warmth and spirit, but as the friction and fall-outs mount, the pace is somewhat choreographic, moving around Michelle A. Bisbee’s functional, minimalist set (downstairs kitchen, with simple sets of tables and chairs). The home has upstairs bedrooms, but this is a home without a comfy sofa

Lighting by Janine Myers and sound by Sarah Velasco are conservative, suiting the unfancy setting; costumes by Kanani Sato and hair and makeup by Lisa Ponce de Leon maintain simplicity with no hints of the ‘40s.

A disclosure: The themes of mental health and suicide depicted in the play may be tough to experience, so be forewarned; however, due to the era, neither dementia nor Alzheimer’s are mentioned in the script…

‘Death of a Salesman’

A drama by Arthur Miller, which can be described as a tragedy, about a luckless salesman getting on in his years, who dreams the American dream, which eludes him.

Where: Manoa Valley Theatre.

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, extended through June 9; add-on performances are at 7:30 p.m. June 8 and 3 p.m. June 9.

Tickets: $25 to $46, at (808) 988-6131.

Broadway grosses, week ending May 26

Two long-running musicals perched at the top of the weekly compilation of Broadway musicals, three recent arrivals have found their places as future contenders.,

The Top 10:

1—”The Lion King,” $2,220 million.

2—“Wicked,” $2,003 million.

3—“Hamilton,” $1,801 million.

4—“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” $1,721 million.

5—“Merrily We Roll Along,” $1,612 million.

6—“Hell’s Kitchen,” $1,554 million.

7—“MJ, the Musical,” $1,500 million.

8—“The Wiz,” $1,475 million.

9—“Aladdin,” $1,356 million.

10—“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” $1,222 million.

The complete list, courtesy the Broadway Guild:

And that’s Show Biz…

A goal helps the medicine go down

Sometimes you need to set a goal in the road to wellness.

I’ve gone through two rough months recently; March and April were tough and challenging, with an insistent flu bug and/or cold virus that wouldn’t stop and brought me recurring fever, headaches, coughs, a runny nose and, yes, duress and perhaps distress.

On a day that I felt I was in the gutters,  I remembered  what one of my doctors at Queen’s Medical Center told me last summer: the road to wellness requires a goal, which serves as an incentive to go-for-broke and embrace it, because if you have a destination, it’s beneficial in your struggle to get well.

So, on a day I felt lousy, I checked with my wife Vi, about suitable travel dates, and that was enough of a nudge I needed. A fever and sore throat didn’t matter; I went to my computer, searched for, and booked, a roundtrip flight to New York, and quickly secured a hotel room. I felt my temperature going down when the confirmations trickled in.  

I haven’t felt better since. Sorry, chicken soup, but that doc was right:  the best medicine for feeling better was a positive goal. The mission is not yet accomplished, but booking the trip and finalizing the itinerary were booster shots I needed.

Further, my primary physician kindly did two Face Time chats and he also prescribed antibiotics and meds to help ease and address my struggles with mucus that came up when I coughed, and he followed up with a wellness telephonic check.

The fever has subsided, the coughs minimized, so I finally added to my goals regular at-home exercises I learned at OrthoSport earlier; the exercise regimen helps strengthen my legs and address my lower back pain; the benefit here is that some of the workouts can be done horizontally, while lying in bed.

I continue to have mobility issues –  still not stable on my legs – so Mr. Walker (my walker)  will make his first New York trip, joining Mr. Wheelchair (a power chair I’m renting) and Mr. Cane (my trusty standby).

Truly, I need all the help I can get to navigate the uneven sidewalks and streets in the Theater District. The excitement is mounting.

When I’m on Broadway, as my friends know, I see as many shows I can attend on the limited timetable there. That said, I booked eight shows, with a pal of mine joining us for three productions (one matinee, two evenings) over two days. So, it will be a tad frantic. But fun!

As my doc said,  you gotta have a plan. Goals  matter…

And that’s Show Biz…

Vinyl records will likely be the center of attraction at Hungry Ear Records’ Hawaii Record Fair 2024 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday (June 1) at The Barn at SALT at Our Kakaako, 327 Keawe St.

And it’s the first time, since 2019, that Hungry Ear is scheduling its Record Fair, clearly one of the best events to acquire collectible music from all platforms.

Admission depends on time: $5 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (children under 12 free), and $25 for early birds, from 9 to 10 a.m. It’s free, from 1 to 3 p.m.

Vendors and music fans will convene to buy, sell, and trade at the island’s largest assembly of music media, old and new, including vinyl records, compact discs, cassettes, stereo equipment, and music memorabilia.

“With the resurgence of physical media, primarily vinyl records, The Hawaii Record Fair is the perfect way for record collectors young and old to meet up with other like-minded music enthusiasts and have a chance to buy, sell or trade both classic and new vinyl records, from The Beatles to Taylor Swift all under one roof,” said Jim Williams, manager-buyer for Hungry Ear’s record fair.

He said the event will draw more than 30 sellers, with wares to sell in all physical music formats, including classic vinyl records now enjoying new appeal among collectors, compact discs, even  outdated cassette tapes, reel-to-reel tapes, eight-track tapes, plus stereo equipment, and music memorabilia.

Like book sales, someone’s trash will be another one’s treasure, and with musical tastes ranging from rock to classical, from country to Hawaiian, the sky’s the limit.

Door Prizes donated by both local and national companies will be drawn throughout the day.

Ward Yamashita still is proprietor of Hungry Ear Records.

Information: www.hungryear.com, (808) 262-2175, email at www.hawaiirecordfair@gmail.com

‘NCIS: Hawaii’ is pau, no reboot planned

Since the cancellation of “NCIS: Hawaii”  — which completed filming three seasons in the islands here – there’s been a myriad of disappointment, desperate hopes  of a relaunch, dismay about unfairness and even conspiracy theories.

The latest is a fruitless notion of snubbing “NCIS: Origins,” the prequel of the Mark Harmon  character Leroy Jethro Gibbs in his youthful and formative years, because it will occupy a slot on the “NCIS” season this fall.

The reality is nothing is forever in prime-time TV, but the dismissal of “Hawaii” was somewhat unexpected. The then-newest spinoff of the “NCIS” franchise seemed to be in the driver’s seat, when two CBS procedurals were not yet tapped for a return this hall.
“Hawaii” was one; the other was “S.W.A.T.,” which was canceled for maybe a week but strangely uncancelled, which became an indicator that our Pearl Harbor-based crimefighting team was not going to be around too much longer.

CBS authorities suggested production costs are high, and that’s true, when you shoot in Honolulu. Yet these budget watchers proceed to relaunch the popular duo from the original “NCIS” team, Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David (Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo), to star in their new, untested series, “NCIS: Tony and Ziva,” set to film in Europe, where production tariffs surely will costlier than Hawaii. The new show won’t be part of primetime but will screen on Paramount+ instead. Go figure.

Loyal “Hawaii” fans thought perhaps their beloved procedural could jump networks and move to NBC, like CBS’ “Magnum P.I.”  which was rescued for half-a-season. A similar path would have been impossible, since “Magnum” had six episodes in the can to fill a slot that NBC had. No such vacancy existed now, to try to do the same network jump, not without a back-up of shows in the can.

For Vanessa Lachey and cast, the cruelty is that the actors could not do a proper farewell show, simply because the final episode already was complete.

The ethical solution is for a new team of writers to create a new brand to film in the paradise we call Hawaii. OK, Lachey might be the cheerleader for something like this, but I’m certain her aloha is long gone for now…

Broadway grosses, for the week ending May 19

A host of new Broadway shows are joining the Top10.

Consider:

1–“The Lion King,” $2,030 million.

 2–“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” $1,965 million.

 3–“Hamilton,” $1,858 million.

 4–“Wicked,” $1,847 million.

5–“Merrily We Roll Along,” $1,582 million,

 6–“Hell’s Kitchen,” $1,557 million.

7–“MJ the Musical,” $1,523 million.

 8–“The Wiz,” $1,497 million.

 9–“The Great Gatsby,” $1,279 million.

10—”Aladdin,” $1,273 million.

The entire list, courtesy the Broadway Guild:

And that’s Show Biz…

Silence is golden, or so goes the saying, but mum’s not the applicable response here.

So, honesty is the best policy here.

I don’t know how many times I’ve gone to Zippy’s in my lifetime; it’s been a convenience, for a quick meal, a gathering place to meet the gang. I’ve enjoyed the benefits of the Senior Card, from start to finish, and I’ve heard the complaints about how prices have gone up, up, up, and portions smaller, smaller, well I hear you.

But when I visited Zippy’s Kahala for dinner Wednesday night, I spotted Hawaiian Stew as a daily special, which I hadn’t ordered for about year.

So, I placed my order, and went full throttle to make it a complete meal (for more than $10 now) but you get a choice of soup or salad, coffee, tea or soft drink, and dessert – a slice of apple pie to “go.”

When my soup arrived, I stirred it ‘round and ‘round, and ‘round and ‘round again, because something was not right. In the same size bowl Zippy’s uses for a small saimin or won ton min order, there was a lot of cabbage, celery, potatoes, and carrots but an absence of meat. I stirred some more, and voila, there was one measly morsel of meat, baby-sized  and drowning amid the veggies, if I may say so, and I told my wife about the situation. Where’s the beef?!

She knew I wasn’t going to be silent, so I flagged my waitress (a nice soul, who used to work at the now shuttered Koko Marina branch, who’s retiring this year after 48 years of waiting tables) to report the injustice.

She, too, couldn’t believe me – yes, one is a lonely number – and without hesitation, uttered “I’ll bring you more meat.”

She returned, a few minutes later, with a small bowl of meat containing perhaps a half-dozen portion of beef that was ample. But in years past, an order of Hawaiian Stew  would have included five or six hefty chunks of beef. Disclosure: the stew depicted here is from the Zippy’s website, which lists the price as $14.95, and shows four of five beef pieces, each one larger than the portion in my order.

This faux pas should not be a reason to downsize ingredients as Zippy’s continues to let prices soar; everything costs. But being manini with meat is a mistake, just as it would be lamentable if a bowl of won tun min only had a single won tun swimming with a sea of saimin noodles.

If the restaurant can’t bear the cost of beef, relabel it as Vegetable Soup. I’m sure it was an honest error, but the kitchen needs to eyeball what it is serving and stir the soup and make certain all ingredients are there.

I’m not ashamed about bringing up this issue, and perhaps I did it for some of you who have been in a parallel situation and too embarrassed to flag. It’s the principle that matters.

And our waitress earned a 25-pct. tip.

Reyn Halford will portray the dual roles of Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in the Broadway musical, “Tootsie,” premiering May 31 at the Diamond Head Theatre.

The story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart involves a competent actor, who can’t find work, until he disguises himself as an actress. The comedy was a hit film starring Dustin Hoffman, adapted for the stage by Robert Horn (book) and David Yazbek (music and lyrics).

The cast also features Chandler Converse as Julie Nichols, Aiko Schick as Sandy Lester, Moku Durant as Jeff Slater, Sam Budd as Max Van Horn, Mary Chesnut Hicks as Rita Marshall, Andrew Simmons as Ron Carlisle, Rick Smith as Stan Fields, Alex Bishop as Stuart, Ixchel Lopez-Duran as Suzie, Issac Liu as Carl, and Marisa Noelle Capalbo, Brandee Doi and Lainey Hicks as the Vocal Trio.

John Rampage is director, Roslyn Catracchia is musical director and Rampage and Celia Chun are choreographers.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 3 p.m. Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through June 16; extended at 7:30 p.m. June 22 and 3 p.m. June 23.

Tickets: $37 to $62; best available seats June 22 and 23, at www.diamondheadtheatre.com or (808) 733-0274…

MVT’S ‘Salesman’ extended

Manoa Valley Theatre’s “Death of a Salesman,”  starring Dwight Martin as failing salesman Willy Loman, opens May 23 but has added two extended performances, at 7:30 p.m. June 8 and 3 p.m. June 9,

The show’s scheduled run May 23 through June 2 is expected to be a sellout; hence, the added performances. Tickets: $25 to $48, at www.manoavalleytheatre.com or (808) 988-6131…

Broadway grosses, for week ending May 12

 There are two $2 million club members this week; “The Lion King” and “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.”  Didn’t take long for “King” to say willkommen to “Cabaret.”

The Top 10:

1—”The Lion King,” $2,114 million.

2—”Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” $2,009 million.

3—”Hamilton,” “$1,723 million.

4–“Wicked,” $1,721 million.

5—”MJ the Musical,” $1,609 million.

6—”The Wiz,” $1,567 million.

7–“Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” $1,528 million.

8—”Merrily We Roll Along,”  $1,518 million.

9—”Hell’s Kitchen,” $1,503 million.

10—“Aladdin,” $1,274 million.

The full list, courtesy The Broadway Guild:

And that’s Show Biz…