Author: Wayne Harada

Na Leo Pilimehana, easily Hawaii’s best-known girl group, continues to celebrate its fourth decade as a performance brand, with “40 Years of Na Leo,” from 5 p.m. Sept. 21 at the Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell.

The  iconic trio, comprising Nalani Choy Jenkins, Lehua Kalima Alvarez and Angela Morales Escontrias, are Kamehameha School chums, who entered and won the KIKI Radio-sponsored Brown Bags to Stardom IV competition, when they introduced their groundbreaking “Local Boys” hit, which was their debut 45 rpm disc.

Since then, Na Leo’s illustrious career has embraced 20 No. 1 hits, two national hits and 24 award-winning CDs.

Earlier this year, the trio staged a 40^th anniversary show at Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College, but the Waikiki Shell concert will be the signature celebratory milestone event, with an all-star slate of guest artists including  Henry Kapono, Robert Cazimero, Jerry Santos, Keahiwai, the Hawaiian Style Band and Glenn Medeiros.

Tickets: lawn open seating, $40; reserved terrace pool area seating, $40, including souvenir lanyard; reserved pool area seating, $119, with premium view, including souvenir lanyard pass; reserved front row seats, $149, with premium view and souvenir lanyard pass; available at www.tmrevents.net …

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Cione home after eight weeks in Kuakini

Jack Cione, the longtime entertainment entrepreneur, finally is back to his Arcadia apartment, after an eight-week stay in Kuakini Hospital.

Normally a Straub patient, he was shuttled to Kuakini when Straub was full and unable to accommodate him.

“Everything’s wrong with me,” he muttered about his ongoing pain and weeks of tests and treatment. “But I liked Kuakini…and the food.”

Though he’ll have to watch his post-hospital regimen, Cione – who’s 97 and fragile — is eager to resume rehearsals for his fall revival of his popular Follies show, with his cast of fellow Arcadians.

“This is my last one,” he said of the musical revue which this year has a Copacabana theme…

Maduli services this weekend

Services for Janet Lee Maduli, veteran entertainment professional and a former officer of the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts, will be held Sunday (Aug. 4).

Services will be at Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe, with visitation at 11 a.m., rites at noon, and burial at 1:30 p.m.

A sunset Celebration of Life will follow from 5 p.m. at the Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell.

Further, this year’s Na Hoku Hanohano Awards ceremony, from 3:30 p.m. Saturday (Aug. 3) will be held at the Hawaii Convention Center in Waikiki and will be dedicated to her memory.

Maduli died July 9 at age 67 and with husband Kata Maduli worked tirelessly as fixtures in the Hawaiian entertainment community…

And that’s Show Biz…

It’s all here, in Diamond Head Theatre’s highly anticipated Disney musical, “Frozen:” the estranged sisters, Elsa and Anna; the hit song, “Let It Go;” the delightful puppet Olaf, the carrot-nosed snowman; the non-speaking faux reindeer, Sven.

The show, with book by Jennifer Lee, and songs by the prolific couple, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, is based on the animated tale that turned little girls into mini-Elsas, donning ice blue costumes reflecting Queen Elsa, especially at Halloween. Many little girls wore Elsa-inspired dresses and mini-gowns, and their parents bought battery-operated $15 snowflake wands that they could illuminate and wave during the finale.

I was not a huge fan of the Broadway original, which was fueled with Disney budgets that could replicate the ice castle and the wintery wonders of Arendelle, where the Nordic story is set. But a Disney mega-hit always lands on the big screen, then Broadway.

A tip: watch for the production’s splendid moment, when Queen Elsa’s black costume is whisked off in jiffy seconds, revealing her glittery silver gown, it’s literally a keen revelation.  

DHT, however, doesn’t fully create the razzle, nor the dazzle, of the icy clime, relying on (like other community theaters) mostly projections of oversized snowflakes and curtain drops and background slides to reflect winter. Thus, it’s a challenge for Deane Kennedy, set designer. One particular set piece —  two moveable blocks  of stairs –  resemble hollow concrete blocks. Perhaps plastic, or translucent tile augmented with icicle drippage, might have helped attain a better mood. Worse, at the performance I attended this past Saturday (July 27), the two-stair segments were locked for a few seconds of sheer anxiety, with struggling handlers trying to free the halves. An isolated misstep, for sure.

Overall, DHT scores high points with the three Cs: casting, choreography and costumes.

Directed and choreographed by Charlie Williams, the lead players bring ample stage presence and winning voices to their roles – reflecting savvy casting.

Alana Clayson (Elsa) and Allana Poelzing (Anna), the estranged princess sisters, are fun to watch; Clayson is the ice queen who acquires magical powers when she’s elevated to Queen after the demise of her parents, who ruled the frozen kingdom. Poelzing is the outgoing, fun-oriented goofball pouring out BFF cheer.

And Kyle Malis (Olaf) is visible as the puppeteer, and he projects  and creates humor and personality for his snowman, animating and giving life and voice to the character, right down to his own shoes.

Equally delightful, without uttering a single word, is Jill Jackson (Sven), inside a furry reindeer costume on all fours, in a role shared with Sam Budd.

Speaking of sharing: Kirra Baughn was Young Elsa and Hayden Lau was Young Anna in the performance I saw; Katie Walthall and Natalie Coleman also take turns in the roles.

The other male leads are Legrand Tolo Lawrence (Kristoff), the ice-selling merchant who becomes Anna’s sidekick and eventual husband, and  Kimo Kaona (Hans) as the 13^th brother in the family from the Southern Isles, who is Anna’s suitor-turned-villain. Kaona has the best voice in the cast, with volume and projection of an ideal Broadway belter.

Williams’ choreography involves and embraces movement and magic with vigor, making his dancers appear to be having joyous fun. It’s a small army, prancing in unity. Like, life’s a party.

The production boasts Madison Gholson’s brilliant costumes, including dressy, flowing gowns for the ladies and equally formal suits for the gents, which fill the stage with elegance. Elsa’s formal white gown is the centerpiece of luxury of royalty. James Martin’s hair and make-up rise to the occasion of glamor.

Jenny Shiroma’s nine-piece orchestra, which includes a trio of keyboarders (she’s one of them) provide depth and delight to the melodics, though most tunes are not particularly singable to fans. Besides the central hit, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman,” rendered by Young Elsa and Young Anna, and “For the First Time in Forever,” an anthem featuring grown Else and Anna and the townspeople of Arendelle, might be hummable.

Technical elements (lights by Dawn Oshima, sound by Jericho Sombrio) are first rate and spot-on perfect.

One final kudo: DHT merits applause and a shout-out for its lavish
“Frozen” playbill, comprising 40 pages including front and rear covers. Such a venture is a tribute to the company of 35 actors, pictured in full color with anecdotal bios, and also is a valuable tool for spectators who can consequently identify the actors. Yes, it’s a costly element to produce and publish but it has to be budgeted along with other necessary needs of putting on a show. The paid ads show support of theater and boost interest in DHT and indicate commitment to show aloha to its crews and its audiences. This one is particularly impressive, concluding DHT’s current season, and prominently showcasing the 2024-25 season. It’s an attractive keeper, and a model for other local theater organizations. To Trevor Tamashiro, executive director, and John Rampage, artistic director, mahalo plenty…

And that’s Show Biz…

‘Frozen’

What: A Disney musical by Jennifer Lee (book) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (music and lyrics), based on their animated film

Where: Diamond Head Theatre

Curtain times: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays, through Aug. 25.

Tickets: $68, at (808) 733-0274, or www.diamondheadtheatre.com …

Comedian Frank DeLima, who turned 75 last July 8, has been a tireless fixture on the entertainment map for 50 years.
“Time to retire,” he said over a recent lunch, a goal already in motion.

For 45 years, he has engineered a student enrichment program, visiting nearly all public schools statewide, and later added private schools. Those youngsters now are adults, who listened to Uncle Frank’s motivational advice – laced with fun – about growing up safe and savvy.

With retirement on the horizon in the months ahead, he’s still doing one final round of school visits.

“I have 55 schools scheduled, then my program of 45 years (he’s dubbed it a student enrichment endeavor) will be pau. Cost too much to continue,” he said.

“Also, my mobility makes it more difficult (he utilizes a pair of walking canes). Time to say pau. But I have such great memories.”

Thus, when schools reopen next week, DeLima will be on the last leg of  motivational visits which will wind up at Thanksgiving.

It’s a feat he’s been engaged in over the decades, staging 5,500 performances for Hawaii’s youths in grade and middle schools.

In the early phases, he had sponsors to help absorb some of the costs, like airfare for neighbor island visits.

Since he gets no salary and charges no fees for these talks, he underwrites gasoline for his SUV and hires three rotating student drivers as assistants. Aside from donations made to the program at his website (www.frankdelima.com), operational costs come from his pocket.

Still, he’s keeping an active life and pace.

To keep busy this past summer, he’s been visiting senior residences and retirement homes – a new agenda — bringing his ethnic humor to Hawaii’s kupuna.  

“The seniors are just as responsive as the students,” said DeLima. “Seniors ‘get’ the stories of me growing up, which they all can relate.”

He’s visited the Plazas at Kaneohe, Pearl City, Waikiki, Mililani and Punchbowl, the two Ivys in Hawaii Kai, the Lanakila Multipurpose Center, One Kalakaua, Senior Living at Iwilei, Kinaole Estates in Kaneohe, Kulana Hale, the Hale Kuike in Nuuanu, Kaneohe and Pali, plus Craigside and Ilima at Leihano.

Arcadia in Manoa is the lone senior residence he hasn’t visited – and wants to — if only someone gives him the green light. “They never responded to my request,” said DeLima.

Content depends on the audience. For students, his chats focus on life behavior – study hard, avoid drugs, no bullying.

The makule gatherings contain reflections of his growing up days and how he nurtured and absorbed ethnic traditions and life lessons as a local growing up in Pahoa Valley.

He doesn’t sing at school gatherings but tosses in a periodic vocal for the oldsters.

The kids are fun to embrace; the seniors are attentive, but a few tune out (fall asleep). A gathering of the elderly also brings out the canes, walkers and wheelchairs.

For clubgoers, DeLima established his stand-up career at The Noodle Shop, a tiny venue at the Sand Villa Hotel, where he was a singing comic. He eventually created wacky ohana ethnic characters, who prevailed in  scores of Waikiki venues no longer existing, including the Polynesian Palace,  the showroom at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel, Hula Hut, Captain’s Table and the Pagoda Hotel, among others. Remember  Imelda Marcos, a Japanese sumotori, a Chinese magician and gameshow host Fu Ling Yu, a Catholic  Cardinal Vermicelli, and a tita name Mary Tunta. (The latter an homage to his Portuguese upbringing in the Punchbowl region of Pauoa Valley. All his characters were duked up in lavish costumes).

Aside from his comedics, DeLima also has been a valid and versatile vocalist, backed by his duo, Na Kolohe, comprising Robert Nishida, bassist, and David Kauahikaua, keyboarder. His hits included “Waimea Lullaby” and “Lucille,” plus his  trademark “Filipino Christmas”  medley, a fun, fractured and formidable holiday season favorite, delivered in a twinkling Christmas tree outfit.

DeLima also is notable for his periodic musical parodies embracing elements of everyday life, penning lyrics to well-known musical titles. He has poked fun at government shutdown, Covid-19, and most recently to “Kona Low” a weather-related term.

As part of his forthcoming retirement countdown, DeLima will join forces with two fellow stand-up comics, Andy Bumatai, 70, and Augie Tulba, 56 (aka Augie T), at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 at the Hawaii Theatre.

His finale will be a Sunday brunch show at 1 p.m. Dec. 15 at Blue Note Hawaii at the Outrigger Waikiki resort.

There’s been no character like DeLima on the show biz circuit. He certainly will be missed…

Broadway’s $2 million club

Only three Broadway shows regularly post weekly grosses topping $2 million. Thus, a shout-out to the trio of chart-toppers – “The Lion King,” “Wicked” and “Hamilton.”

The Top Ten, for the week ending July 28.

1—“The Lion King,” $2,629 million

2–“Wicked,” $2.226 million

3—”Hamilton,” $2.021million

4–“Hell’s Kitchen,” $1.665 million

5—”Aladdin,”$1.649 million

6—”Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” $1.605 million

7—”The Outsiders,” $1.461 million

8—”MJ the Musical,” $1.434 million

9—”The Wiz,” $1.407 million

10—”Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” $1.380 million

The entire list, courtesy the Broadway League:

And that’s Show Biz…

Former president Donald Trump has been calling Joe Biden “the worst president ever,” but a Sunday New York Times story yesterday on fact-checking — headlined “Don’t Take Trump’s Word for It. Check the Data” –is a revelation.

Check the article. End of the debate.

Imagination is the operative word of “Imagine,” the I’m a Bright Kid Foundation’s three-day limited run special, which opened last night (July 26) to  a full house and continues today (July 27)  through Sunday (July 28) at Paliku Theatre at Windward  Community College.

Belief is the fuel that keeps the cast going.

Go see it. You’ll adore and applaud the happy faces as they go through their snappy paces.  There’s no other inspirational show like this on the planet.

“Imagine” is the culmination of a five-week IABK summer musical theater program where these 40-plus island youngsters learned the skills of acting, dancing, and teamwork, in the spirit and template of the late Ron Bright, a seasoned director and educator, who has inspired scores of Hawaii actors to take this brand of imagination to Broadway and beyond.

Led by savvy directors and mentors, the youngsters – divided into teams bearing floral names (Lehua Group, Maile Group, Pikake Group) – sing and dance their hearts out in a productive hour of 12 segments that ultimately advance their souls to an imaginary Orchid Group.

The horticultural theme works, in that seeds are planted when the girls  and boys enroll in the summer showcase program, where they are nurtured and fertilized so they sprout and bloom into bona-fide flowers in this garden of creativity.

The entire corps participate in the opening number, “Pure Imagination,” and also in the finale, “You Can’t Stop the Beat,”  and in-between, they strut their stuff in a variety of schemes. Hip-hop, pop-rock, vocalizing while dancing in circles or lines. Perpetual motion and energy.

Particularly effective:

• “The Rainbow Connection,”  the song from “Sesame Street,” featuring the Lehua sector, notably perfect since it represents the diverse rainbow of faces reflecting Hawaii’s multi-cultural population. Soloists: Aria Koboyama, Bliss Tengan, Alana French, Noah Akagi, Kiana Cameros, Kira Witlarge, Andi Trowbridge, Brooklyn Koki, Blayke Sumida, Knox Omo, Bailey Fujita.
• “How Far I’ll Go,” the hit song from Disney’s animated “Moana” film, which reflects the unbridled potential of setting and reaching goals. Soloists: Alex Kimura, Kiana Cameros, Brooklyn Koki, Bailey Fujita, Jaron Riegel, Kayla Reis, Zoe Naso, Mila Hamm, with Aria Zych and Kimi Lum Kee enacting  a hula.
• “What’s Going On,” the Marvin Gaye hit, which is a stunning and expression of internal feelings with themes like love conquering hate. Soloists: Kamakea Wright and Tobi Tengan.
• “Imagine,” the immortal John Lennon anthem about dreams, peace and brotherhood, which is rendered by the entire cast. Soul-moving, heart-tugging.

No show can exist without the vision and creativity of its director, so David James Boyd, who is artistic director of “Imagine,”  brings New York creds to the program. He is a Teaching Artist at Lincoln Center and also is associated with Queens Theatre. A long-time ally of the late Jade Stice, he admits his IABK role is an extension and expansion of her dreams and belief in IABK because she started her theatrical roots as a student of Mr. B. They’ve been buds for years.

Similarly, Allan Lau, IABK president, began his journey in theater with Bright, and Stice was his collaborator in the summer showcase until her unexpected death in June. Lau also serves as IABK program director, a summer project beyond his normal teaching job.

Clearly, Stice has been an angel overlooking the production from afar and above. You can imagine and discover her fingerprints throughout the show.

A long list of other creators was involved in “Imagine,” as vocal and music directors, choreographers, guest teachers and speakers, and other tech folks, from lights, sound, set design and more. Some are paid for their services, others are volunteers.

They all subscribe to Mr. B’s mantra: believe…

And that’s Show Biz…

—————————-

‘Imagine’

What: An original musical by the I’m a Bright Kid Foundation, featuring a student cast from a summertime program on musical theater

Where: Paliku Theatre, Windward Community College

When: 2 and 7 p.m. today (July 27) and 2 p.m. tomorrow (July 28).

Tickets: $24 for adults, $19 for seniors over 65, youths 12-17, military with ID; $14, youths 6 to 11, at www.imabrightkid.org,  (802) 395-1695 or https://cur8.com/schedule/item/24380/226586?event=85196&date=226586