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READERS THEATRE MOVING TO TAG

Windward Readers Theatre, a fixture at Pohai Nani retirement residence in Kaneohe for many years, will launch its 9th Readers Theatre season Aug. 8 at a new location, the Brad Powell Theatre at TAG, The Actors Group at the  Dole Cannery complex in Iwilei.

WRT, championed by the remarkably tireless director  Vanita Rae Smith and a booster of the Readers Theatre format, has played to intimate audiences for years.  Smith scheduled Readers Theatre for 12 years, which were Sunday afternoon sessions at the Army Community Theatre’s Richardson Theatre at Ft. Shafter, for 12 seasons, where Smith was artistic director of 24 years of musical theater successes under the auspices of the U.S. Army.

Vanita Rae Snith

The Readers format meant that elite and discriminating viewers would huddle on seats on the mainstage, where some of Hawaii’s legendary names would rely on the words of playwrights of works to bring drama to life, with listeners bringing their imagination to the plate.

Now the format will still be targeting readers and listeners alike, in the modest but effective TAG space. These theatrical Dark Night selections  — meaning attractions staged during the usual non-show evenings — will be embraced as part of TAG’s new season, with tickets at a modest $20 price.

Dwight Martin

The premier Readers Theatre vehicle at TAG will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – Aug. 8, 9 and 10 – with Dwight Martin, former Manoa Valley Theatre producing director, embracing John Barrymore, in William Luce’s “Barrymore” directed by Smith. The piece is filled with tension and surprises, surrounding the film and stage star, in the grips of advanced alcoholism, prepping for a production of “Richard III,” and reflecting on his multifaceted life, loves and legendary statue, a leading man on the brink of his last hurrahs.

“The last time we did a Readers Theatre at Pohai Nani was in March of 2020, and the auditorium there has been shut down since,” said Smith of the pandemic that closed nearly everything. “We didn’t charge an admission at Pohai Nani, and had a plate for donations, which went to them to cover expenses (of producing fees).

“Our new home at TAG will broaden the horizon of Readers Theatre, which are oral interpretations that fits the spirit at our new location,” said Smith, who has assembled  a slate of Readers Theatres scripts which amount to a legitimate “season.”

Also in the Readers Theatre agenda:

* Jo Pruden, portraying Lillian Hellman in  William Luce’s “Lillian,” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26, 27 and 28. Replaces an earlier-announced Bronte work. Directed by Smith.

* Alan Shepherd’s “Mary and Joe,” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4, 5, 10, 11, 12. Featuring Shepherd, Amy K. Sullivan, Christine Umipeg and others. Directed by Shepherd.

* Agatha Christie’s “Murder, Margaret, and Me,” at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 23, 24 and 25. Featuring Jo Pruden, Shari Lynn and Eden Lee Murray. Directed by Smith.

*  “Sea Marks,” based on a memoir of Gardner McKay, at 7:30 p.m. May 29, 30 and 31, 2023. Featuring Annie Rennick and Peter Clark. Directed by Smith. …  

Dark Night Readers Theatre shows require an additional admission, apart from the fees of TAG’s weekend shows.

TAG’s 2022-23 season launches with David Lindsey-Abaire’s “Good People,” directed by Peggy Anne Sigmund,  opening  at 7:30 p.m. Friday (Aug. 5), with performances Thursdays through Sundays through Aug, 21 (2 p.m. curtain on Sundays). Tickets are $35 adults, $25 seniors and $20 students and military. Visit www.tagtickets@hawaii.rr.com or call (808( 722-6941. TAG requires viewers to don facemasks at all of its shows. …

Broadway grosses, for week ending July 31

The leaders still lead, in the roster of box office champs, but the dollars are fewer at least for now.

“The Music Man” still is No. 1, grossing $2.940 million, but not over the top of $3 million for much of its run to date. So Hugh Jackman is still the Money Man, too.

“Hamilton” again is No. 2, demonstrating it’s still a hottie in the room where it happens, pulling in $2.246 million.

“The Lion King” still has its roar, at No.3 and $2.166 million.

The list is courtesy the Broadway League. And note that the charts now show the rundown by grosses, not alphabetically. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

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MS. IGE MEETS POETIC ‘WORDSWORTH’

It’s not an everyday experience, when the First Lady of Hawaii shares and reads a book by a local artist, with the results posted on YouTube.

That’s what’s happening in literary land, when Dawn Amano Ige, Hawaii’s first lady, read and shared one of island poet Frances Kakugawa’s Wordsworth books, the first in a series of children’s volumes in which a mouse named Wordsworth inspires youths to do the right things in life, tapping poetry to resolve conflicts and problems.

Dawn Amano Ige

Ms. Ige’s support and reading of Ms. Kakugawa’s popular poetry book hurls the printed word into a new dimension and is a gentle prelude of the University of Hawaii Hilo campus’ forthcoming musical theater launching – based on the Wordsworth character created by

Frances Kakugawa

Kakugawa – which will be the focus in the November premiere of a musical showcasing the impact and inspiration of a fictional mouse. A win-win for all involved, with this kind of blissful exposure. …

Much ado at night

There’s a splendid mixture of night life events on the August calendar. To wit:

  • “Na Kupuna Night,” an ongoing evening of Hawaiiana, spotlights Jerry Santos and
Jerry Santos

Friends, at 6 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Hawaii Convention Center. Doors open at 5 p.m. for bar and dinner service; show from 6 to 7:30 p.m.; vendors available from 3:30 p.m., kanikapila music from 4 to 4:45 p.m. Tickets: $79 for dinner,  $49 for cocktails only, available at www.hmpshawaii.com . Presented by the Hawaiian Music Perpetuation Society, supporting the kupuna of Hawaii.

Shari Lynn
  • The Shari Lynn Trio makes another appearance at Medici’s at Manoa Marketplace,  from 6 p.m. Aug. 27. Featuring Jim Howard on keyboards and John Kolivas on bass. Tickets: $75, includes dinner; doors open at 6 p.m., show at 7:30 p.m. Visit ww.w.tix.com/ticket-sales
  • Charlys Ing, longtime advocate of Hawaii Ballet Theatre, is the focus of  “Charlybration –A Summer Concert,” at 7:30 pm. Aug. 20 at the Leeward Community Theatre. Tickets: $45, atwww.hawaiiballettheatre.org/events or www.showtix4u.com/events
Lloyd Kandell
  • “Tiki in Waikiki 2022,” featuring the Lloyd Kandell-led Don Tiki, the Waitiki 7, and Sherry Shaoling, will be staged at 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at the Hawaii Theatre. Tickets: $25 to $45, at www.hawaiitheatre.com or (808) 528-0506.
  • Paula Fuga, popular chanteuse of blues and more, pays tribute to Aretha Franklin in shows at 6:30 and 9 p.m. Aug. 5 ad 6 at Blue Note Hawaii. Tickets: $35 and $45, at www.bluenotehawaii.com or (808) 777-4890.
  • Beat-Lele, engaged in ukemanship and The Beatles music, performs at 6:30 and 9 p.m. Aug. 12 and 13 at Blue Note Hawaii. Tickets: $25 and  $35, at www.bluenotehawaii.com or (808) 777-4890. …

‘American Idol’ auditions

      “American Idol” is launching its 21st season, and the sixth on ABC (Fox was the anchor previously), with “Idol Across America” as the theme of the virtual auditions beginning Aug. 3.

Auditions will be held in all 50 states,  plus Washington D.C ., and Hawaii’s chance is pegged for Aug. 19, where wanna-bes from Alaska, California, Nevada, and Washington scheduled the same day.  

For info on how to schedule a slot, to virtually make that initial audition before a producer, visit www.americanidol.com/auditions…

The first round of tryouts will begin in the spring of 2023. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

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AFFORDABLE BRUNO, BACK IN THE DAY

Newspaper add, in the 1990s

Imagine seeing Bruno Mars, for $10 ($7.50 for kamaaina). That was the cover charge, in Aug. 1990, when Bruno was Little Elvis in his dad Peter Hernandez’s group, The Love Notes, performing A “Fabulous 50s” show at the Esprit nightclub at the Sheraton Waikiki.

The accompanying newspaper ad is a gem, an early documentation of Bruno’s magic. I saw this show, back in the day, and yep, he had charisma and stage presence then.

Note, too, that Bruno Mars was not yet his show biz name, nor pictured in the ad. We know what ultimately happened, when he grew up and relocated to Los Angeles, to launch a career that hooked an international crowd.

Were you lucky enough to catch this gig by chance?

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‘DOOGIE’ DUO IN ‘PROM PACT’ FLICK

They are in the midst of filming the second season of Disney+’s “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D>” here, but word is out that Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim will co-star in “Prom Pact,” a rom-com for youths.

Lee, of course, portrays the titular character of  the teen doctor in the island-based family comedy. Manheim plays Nico, a newbie in the “Doogie” family, and the romantic interest of the young doc.  Coincidentally or not, an off-screen Lee-Manheim dating relationship was the buzz online before the second season filming began.

Peyton Elizabeth Lee

In “Prom Pact,”  to be produced and directed by Anya Adams, Lee will play Mandy Yang, a high school senior, and Manheim is cast as her beau, Ben, during prom season of the 1980s.

Milo Manheim

The premise is that the youths are awaiting prom dates, though Yang’s key interest is her anticipated enrollment at Harvard, but she learns she is still on the wait-list of applicants. In the midst of this worrisome issue, she attempts to find a way in, even if it means that she asks for help from the dude she despises, the campus jock all-star, Graham Lansing, to be enacted by Blake Draper, whose father happens to be  Harvard grad and a powerful senator. She signs on as his tutor.

Other cast members include comedian Margaret Cho, as Ms. Chen, a counselor, and David S. Jung, as Lee’s father, Tom. Both have appeared in season one of “Doogie.”…

Filming will be in Vancouver, B.C., and “Prom Pact” will screen on Disney+  in the spring of 2023. …

Bruno Mars

Wanna party with Bruno Mars?

It’s not easy, nor affordable, to secure tickets for a Bruno Mars concert in Las Vegas, one of his prime markets for in-person shows.

So an alternative site, if you’ve got the inclination or loot, might be a super duper vacation splurge in the Bahamas, complete with a Labor Day weekend pool party.

Mars, an island native, will appear in a luxe Pina Colada Pool Party celebration Sept. 1 through 4, at the SLS Baha Mar. The centerpiece will be a Mars performance with his Silk Sonic partner, Anderson .Paak, on Sept. 4

The venue’s website has details. …

And that’s Show Biz. ….

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COMEBACK TIME FOR CHRIS CUOMO

Chris Cuomo, the former CNN news anchor fired nine months ago because of ethics concerns relating to investigations about his older brother Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor, is returning to the cable news primetime gallery this fall.

But while his new job, on NewsNation, will enable him to return to his craft, it will be minus the lofty gleam of CNN, where he was a popular resource on “Cuomo Primetime,” where his viewership of about 2 million a night at his peak.

Chris Cuomo

NewsNation’s Dan Abrams made the announcement earlier this week.

Though it’s a step much lower than CNN, Cuomo will now have a huge task in reinventing himself, as a reporter-anchor with rich skills. He likely won’t have his brother Andrew on the new venue, since the sexual harassment scandal led to Chris’ suspension, then dismissal, at CNN, where the fallen politico Andrew made frequent appearances in 2019 and 2020.

And with the robust number of Capitol Hill political issues still prevailing amid the ongoing pandemic, there’s enough newsy topics he could explore as he wiggles into the race with resilience…

Crossing Rain, crossing ocean

Fresh from winning the Favorite Entertainers of the Year award at the recent Na Hoku Hanohano Awards in Honolulu, Crossing Rain, Hawaii’s k-pop boy band, will give a concert Aug. 13 at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood.

The venue, dating back to the 1970s,  has been a popular site for career-building, with such troupers as Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joe, Smokey Robinson and Temptations concerting there.

Crossing Rain will perform Aug. 13 at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles and Sept. 3 at the Palace Theatre in Hilo.

Band members are Monarch, Asher, Jorden, Haru, Devin and Shotaro, launching in 2021. And with school reopening soon, Crossing Rain – aka XR – will be juggling school work with song-and-dance rehearsals to prep up for their Los Angeles debut.

XR also will give a show at 7 p.m. Sept. 3 at the Palace Theatre in Hilo. For the local gig, tickets are $65 for VIP seating, $45 for general admission, available at www.hilopalace.com . …

Broadway grosses, for week ending July 24

As expected, the hot trio of largest-grosses on Broadway, held on to their steady ranking for the week ending July 24.

The top three: No. 1, “The Music Man,” at $3.016 million; No. 2, “The Lion King,” at $2.434 million; and “Hamilton,” at $.250 mill The figures are courtesy of  the Broadway League:

And that’s Show Biz. …