Author: Wayne Harada

Just in time for the Christmas holidays, a new, original musical about a dilemma facing Santa Claus, premieres at 7 p.m. tomorrow (Dec. 3) at Mamiya Theatre on the St. Louis School/Chaminade University campus.

Entitled “The Year Christmas Was Almost Cancelled,” the family-friendly show is produced by Mo‘olelo Studios with a pair of veteran local theater names — Kyle Kakuno and Roslyn Catracchia –collaborating artistically. He scripted the show and is directing, she composed the musical score featuring 10 songs.

“What if we wrote our own Christmas show?” Kakuno asked Catracchia during a phase of pandemic, when they had ample time to consult. “The script evolved over the last year, and the pandemic provided us time to meet and create the show, because everything (referring to the local stage shows) was shut down.”

“We wanted to bring something new and fun for the families this Christmas – especially after the cancellation of live events due to the pandemic over the past couple of years,” said Kakuno.

Catracchia agreed, “Hawaii needs something joyful and exciting. Kyle and I have been working together for over 30 years, so – after having no productions for the past two years – it’s been refreshing and a total blessing to be working on a brand-new holiday musical together for our island families.”

The story takes place in Santa’s workshop at the North Pole, where a sobering thought emerges: What if there is no Christmas?

Mrs. Claus is the first to recognize the possibility that there could be no Santa at Christmas, since he is ill and his doctor mandates three months of rest and recuperation.

The story themes resonate with elements of hope, faith, wellness, giving and the spirit of can-do. The underlying tone – if you become ill, there’s always the consideration that you refrain from doing things in your life — is not verbalized but implied and it’s a realistic message all should adopt.

Matthew Pedersen plays Santa; he is the lone Actor’s Equity union member in the cast and has Broadway creds, including “Miss Saigon.” Callie Doan is Mrs. Claus.

Kakuno, the drama honcho at St. Louis for two decades, has resigned from teaching but still is affiliated with Saint Louis and Sacred Hearts Academy, which have been the foundation for casting roles. The cast includes Poasa Aga, Isaiah Castillo, Christopher Casupang, La Tanya Faamausili- Siliato, Sanoe Harris, Ka’ulani Iaea, and Samuel Tafolo as Santa’s faithful elves. The actors range from fifth graders to high schoolers and collegians.

Kakuno and Catracchia also were artistic collaborators at Honolulu Theatre for Youth, and she is widely known as the composer for the late Lisa Matsumoto’s stable of pidgin-English musicals, which parodied fairy tale figures in a local-style retelling.

“It’s always terrifying when your work gets a public viewing for the first time,” said Kakuno. Some of his dialogue recurs in a few of Catracchia’s melodies. He said they both perused the script and she would say “I see a song here, a song there,” and thus was born the score.

Among the tunes to expect: “Sweet, Sweet Snow,” sung by Mrs. Claus to the man in red, and “Christmas Magic,” sung by the ensemble contemplating the notion that there would be no Christmas magic if there’s no Santa.

The show’s producer, Mo‘olelo Studios,  is a wing of KaiHonua Entertainment, which last year took over the operations of Mamiya Theatre, where Kakuno had a relationship for 22 years directing all of the school’s stage productions ranging from “In the Heights” to “Footloose.”

Kakuno said, “Long story short, the president of KaiHonua Entertainment is Kainoa Jarrett, a former student of mine and my stage manager over the years.” The company specializes in providing tech support in audio and lighting equipment. So the outsourcing of the theater continues to have links with the longtime director, who now is manager of Mamiya Theatre and artistic and managing director of KaiHonua.

Kakuno anticipates that the launch of ‘The Year Christmas Was Almost Cancelled” this season could be tweaked, edited and nurtured to possibly become a recurring holiday attraction in the future. Indeed, it could be the gift that keeps on giving during the Yuletide. …

*. *. *

“The Year Christmas Was Almost Cancelled”
Showtimes: 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 6 p.m. Sundays, through Dec. 18.

Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 for students, at www.moolelostudios.com

Extras: After each performance, there will be entertainment, food and drinks including s’mores, hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies, Santa photo-shoots. and a snow and light show.

And that’s Show Biz. …

Scott Caan, who was Danno in the rebooted “Hawaii Five-0,” is one of the co-stars in Fox’s first responder drama, “Alert,” premiering Jan. 8, following an NFL game.

Its regular slot will be Mondays at 8 p.m., beginning Jan. 9.

Caan will portray Jason Grant, partnering with Dania Ramirez as Nikki Batista,  in the drama where minutes and time matter. The show will boast a tagline, “For the Missing Persons Unit, Every Second Counts.”

Thus, Caan the actor still will be a cop in the Missing Persons Unit with the Philadelphia Police Department.

While the procedural will explore hunts for missing kids and adults, a parallel thread will be part of the story, since Jason and Nikki’s quest to locate missing people includes an alert to discover a long-lost missing son of theirs.

Each episode on Fox will air the next day on Hulu…

The masquerade continues

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” the longest-running Broadway musical ever, has postponed its planned Feb. 18 closure. Instead, the show – with that majestic chandelier and that mystical and magical masquerade scene –  has been extended to April 16 at the Majestic Theatre.

It’s not surprising, however, since the show has been attracting audiences with box office grosses like a new hit; some want to see the production one more time, others want to catch the real McCoy for the first time. When the throngs are recurring, and expanding, it would be madness to shut down operations.

Ben Crawford and Emilie Kouatchou are the Phantom and Christine, respectively, in the current cast. …

Broadway grosses, week ending Nov., 27

“The Lion King” roared into second place in the ranking of Broadway shows, for the week ending Nov. 27.

“King” logged $2.674 million, nudging “Hamilton” to the No. 3 slot, with $2.613 million.

No. 1, not surprisingly, continues to the “The Music Man,” with $2.865 million.

As mentioned above, “Phantom” with ts music of the night has upticked to $2.241 million, after announcing new closing dates, a skosh behind”Wicked,” with $2.320 million.

The listing is courtesy The Broadway League. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

Joseph Pekelo Kekipi Bright Recca, a beloved entertainer with the voice of an angel and an impeccable Hawaiian historian, died Nov. 18 at Queen’s Medical Center.

He was 76 years old.

Recca had been wrestling with throat cancer for more than a decade and spent much of the last few months  under hospice care. He was transferred to Queen’s a few days before his passing.

Throat cancer silenced this brilliant vocalist, who hadn’t had real food for more than a year, sustaining only on IV fluids. Yet his mind was quick, and his heart was strong enough for him to endure the irony of not fully utilizing his given talent: that voice.

He was a man of many talents with a swagger that was wholly his brand. He spoke and read Hawaiian, graced the stages of Waikiki and the Neighbor Islands and owned the spotlight as an emcee and singer.

Indeed, he was not your everyday Joe.

How well you knew him depended on how you addressed him: Joseph, Joe, or  Pekelo.

I last saw him in all his glory, three years ago, at the 50^th anniversary bash of Tihati Productions, his employer for much of the five decades, which also was the occasion for his final bow, though at that time, he was as fit as a fiddle.

Only Pekelo would have three different outfits for a gala – one for cocktail hour schmoozing, one for the hoopla, and one for pau hana going-home gear. Despite his personal health issues, he demonstrated that the-show-must-go-on demeanor.

A celebration of life will be produced by Cha Thompson, co-founder and former vice president of Tihati Productions, from noon to 3 p.m. Jan.29 at the Ainahau Ballroom of the Princess Kaiulani Hotel, where he set anchor in the Tihati revue as emcee and male vocalist, for 15 years, partnering with soprano Patricia Lei Anderson (now Murray), the prevailing musical duo in their heyday.

No one knew Pekelo better than Thompson, who had distant familial ties with Recca though they acted like they were bona fide blood relatives.

Thompson always called Recca “Pekelo,” Hawaiian for Peter, one of his formal given names commonly used by his intimate show biz buds.

“Our relationship of boss-employee, braddah-sistah creators of Hawaiiian culture, started from high school, when he would come down the hill from Kamehameha School to Farrington just to talk story with me and my gang,” said Thompson. The Kalihi rivalry was mostly symbolic, Farrington being a public school that produced a long list of entertainment marvels, and Kamehameha perceived as a formidable private school virtually looking down from Kapalama heights onto the Farrington campus. Hence, the obvious competish.

But the feuds were fun and fueled a bond of shared responsibility since the pair grew up together as teammates in Tihati, shaping and growing the post-statehood visitor industry business in Waikiki, on Maui, on Kauai, and on the Big Island.

Young, creative and energetic, they both had the stamina to “travel the world together, with 30 to 40 entertainers, to share the magic of Polynesia,” Thompson said. “He, the emcee, me, the hula soloist-coordinator of the promotions; he, leading the charges, making sure that and monitoring the ‘Hawaiian’ section of Tihati Productions.” (Tihati is noted for its array of the Polynesian culture beyond Hawaii’s shores, including Samoa, Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand and Tonga).

At his young age, fresh out of high school, he was performing with Haunani Kahalewai as one of her Royal Lads, at the Royal Hawaiian’s Monarch Room, while she was a featured hula dancer with Elaine Frisbie’s “Puka Puka Otea”  at the Queen’s Surf prior to founding Tihati Productions with her husband-to-be, Jack “Tihati” Thompson. Recca married hula dancer Shirley Recca, who had also performed in Tihati shows.

He learned show biz skills from Kahalewai, and adored her to the point of imitating her style, but she advised him be true to his own talents. He said in a 1977 interview that the Hawaiian superstar told him “Don’t be anybody but yourself. Be Joe Recca.”

He was on the brink of discovering his still budding fame, but he never forgot that tip.

 He initially became a Waikiki fixture as part of the ensemble cast of “Paradise Found,” a spectacle at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

But his signature show would be the one  at Ainahau Ballroom of the Princess Kaiulani, where he emceed the production and sang duets with soprano Anderson-Murray, a former Miss Hawaii who made it to the finals of the Miss America pageant..

While at the PK, Recca and Anderson also partnered in becoming the first historians leading a Waikiki historic trail walking tour, for the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Assn. under the tutelage of George He‘eu Kanahele, the late and notable Hawaiian historian.

He also sang with Marlene Sai and co-starred with hula stylist Bevery Noa at the Halekulani Hotel and assisted Nina Keali‘iwahamana when she was a regular with  Webley Edwards’ “Hawaii Calls” radio show originating from Waikiki.

A  little known fact about Recca is that he was prominent in his family’s religious profile as the Rev. Joseph Pekelo Kekipi Bright Recca,  the Hope Kahu (assistant pastor) of Ke Alaula Oka Malamalama, the mother church of Ho’omana Na’auao O Hawai’i, the first independent Hawaiian Christian organization in the islands, established in 1853.

He descended from a stream of familial ministers, starting with his great-grandfather, the Rev. John Kekipi Mai’a, who was also the founder of the church. Born and raised in the church, Rev. Joe had always been a part of ministers and the congregation, sharing his many talents, time, and of course, that beautiful voice of his. He was ultimately ordained as a minister by his mother, the late Rev. Regina Bright Recca in 2004. Since then, he served as the assistant pastor of Ke Alaula Oka Malamalama with his sister, the Rev. Bettina Moanawai Recca, who is the head pastor of the church and organization.

In the Hawaiian community, Recca was an established storyteller of stories and sermons, and his life reflected his faith in God and aloha for all. After he was unable to perform because of his cancer, he served as a Hawaiiana consultant for Tihati.

Another “insider” reflection that typified the Recca-Thompson friendship: “Did I say that he had allure about him that made him stand out?  He was a real gentleman,” said Thompson because of supreme manner. “He insisted I learn to laugh like a girl, minus the ‘deep loud roar,’ as he called it. He kept saying ‘You can do it, Cha, you can do it,’ and I would say but why would I want to (change her laughter). I nicknamed him ‘The Baron,’ and we knew the good, the bad, and the ugly about each other.”

He never stopped challenging Thompson to improve her Hawaiiana knowledge, when they both took nighttime classes in Hawaiian language at Kamehameha.

Recca helped launch Tihati’s Polynesian show at the Hyatt Regency Maui 42 years ago, which remains the company’s longest-running vehicle in the same venue. “He inspired our other emcee-singers,” said Thompson, since he became the model of emceeing  under the Tihati umbrella, including Francis Kamahele, who became that show’s eminent singer-host who also was a pastor in his other life. Other Tihati emcees who learned from Recca include Kale Chang, Sia Tonga, Ryan Souza, Sam Kapu III and Hoku Damaso. 

The celebration of life event will feature performances by  Karen Keawehawai‘i, Nina Keali‘iwahamana, Taimane, Kimo Alama, Melveen Leed, Makana and his sisters-, Ku‘uipo Kumukahi,  Jerry Santos, Patricia Lei Anderson Murray and family, Raiatea Helm, Kealoha Kalama, Aaron Sala, the Waimanalo Sand Band, Nalani Keale, and Leimomi Ho.

Four emcees — Brickwood Galutaria and Kimo Kahoano, alternating with Mele Apana and Davey D – will share the mike.

The house band will feature Ha‘alilo, Chuck Tilton, Vicky Hollinger, Kawika McGuire, and Aisley Haleamanu.

Recca’s sister, the Rev. Bettina Recca, will present the sermon.

Besides his wife Shirley, immediate survivors include their two daughters, Elan and Delys Recca, and one grandson, Andrew.

And that’s Show Biz. ….