Author: Wayne Harada

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ONE MORE CIONE ‘FOLLIES’ AT ARCADIA

At 95, showman Jack Cione has slowed his gait and his memory fades off and on.

Yet, he is in the midst of prepping the Arcadia Follies set for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7, 8 and 9 and 2:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Arcadia’s theater space on Punahou Street.

“This is my last one,” Cione (pictured left) said the other day. “I really think so, because I’m moving slower and I often forget what I taught the cast.”

He selects tunes for the cavalcade of melodies, and assigns tasks and teaches the choreography  to the cast. Several years ago, “the last one” was  to be the final one,  and the concept put to rest,  prior to the pandemic.

But there Cione is again, still an active Arcadian, tooling around on a scooter, since he has difficulty walking. The cane and the walker are history now.

“Broadway Babies” is the theme of the production, featuring veteran regulars like Elva Yoshihara and Sheila Black, who will be among the “Babes” in the cast of 30, with origins from such shows as “Hello,  Dolly,” “Mame,” and “Mary Poppins.”

Outsiders (non Arcadians) such as Becky Hahn, Faith Agbayani and John and Karen Kotake are also faces and dancers you might recall, if you’ve been to previous Follies.

Cione’s tact is to have his cast lip-synch to notable show tunes – this year’s show will highlight tunes from shows like “Pippin’” – and fortunately, costumes that were featured in past productions will be back, likely with a new wrinkle and twinkle.

See, when Cione decided to throw in the towel, some of the costumes were sold but many were retained by costumer Bill Dougherty, who oversaw the gear back in the day.

When he died, the costumes were bequeathed to Hahn, who happily stored them in her basement and has helped return some to their original glory for yet another go.

The show is free to Arcadians and their guests, so unless you know someone in that senior facility, you can’t have access. …

Clublicity

Singer Mary Gutzi’s (pictured right) in the spotlight, from 7 to 10 p.m. today (July 22), at the Paradise Lounge of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Her buddy Shari Lynn will return there, same timetable, on Aug. 5, then Shari and hubby Michael Acebedo, will head for a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate his  80th birthday. They return around Sept. 14 …

Gail Mack (pictured left) and Gordon Kim have been a singing duo for several decades now, after their George Street group disbanded. So if you’re a fan/follower, you might want to check ‘em out from 5 to 8 p.m. Aug. 20, at Mango Street Grill, at 130 Mango St., in Wahiawa. I don’t get around much anymore, but you might explore and join them. (I get my Gail Mack treat during the holidays, when her beloved “It’s Christmas Once More in Hawaii Nei” gets constant radio play. )…

But here’s some lovely news, that you can plan ahead to attend. Gail and Gordon will be joined by Jerry Santos (pictured right), Kamuela Kimokeo and Steve Lucas, Dec. 23, at Mango Street, in what seems to be a Christmas present. For information, call (808) 627-5451, and reservations are suggested.

Santos warrants a regular gig in Waikiki, with his group Olomana, but even before the pandemic, it’s been tough for anyone to land a club. Hotels neglect to do their part in turning around the slump in business, and despite knowing that on-site music is an amenity worth offering to visitors, there seems to be no upward move to return to the days of glory .,..

And that’s Show Biz. …

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HAVE YOU HAD A PNEUMONIA SHOT?

Just asking…

Hey, seniors. Have you had a pneumonia shot recently?

Longs pharmacies are giving these shots now (Medicare and your health insurance will cover). Got a call yesterday from Longs and made an appointment earlier this morning and received the shot.

So far, no side effects. So far, haven’t from anyone receiving the shot.

So asking: ya plan to have one? Supposed, it’s a preventive move so not required, but doesn’t hurt to have one, I guess…

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UKULELE FEST: NEW BLOOD, SAME GOALS

The Hawaii Ukulele Festival will celebrate everything ukulele, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday (July 23).

It’s the same attraction, at the same site, for the same reason: To showcase ukulele strummers and glorify the versatility of the four-stringed instrument.

But the event has new presenters, since Roy Sakuma, who launched the festival several decades ago, has retired.

The new backers mean many new uke players will perform, including Kamakakehau Fernandez, Ku’uipo Kumukahi (pictured, left) Mika Kane, Na Ukulele ‘Ekolu, Kalei and Corey, Brittney Paiva, Kris Fuchigami, Kimo Hussey, and Zanuck Lindsey.

Admission is free. If you’re a uke player, bring your instrument for impromptu jams. …

Broadway strike averted

Great news!

The IATSE (International Alliance of Theatre Stage Employees) strike on Broadway, which would have happened on Friday (July 21), is off.

The Broadway League and Disney Theatrical have a tentative 11th hour agreement that will avert the strike, according to Playbill.com.

IATSE members have yet to vote and approve the so-called Pink Contract, for behind-the-scene workers like backstage hair and makeup personnel and other theatrical support workers. If the union members reject the new pact, a new strike date could be set.

But for now, the lights of Broadway – and national touring shows – will be aglow as usual. …

Broadway grosses for week ending July 16

The roar of “The Lion King” still is No. 1 on the Broadway charts.

In fact, longevity is part of the way to get into the “million dollar” club.

We list the Lucky 7 each week:

1 – “The Lion King,” $2.638 million.

2—“Hamilton,” $1.856 million.

3—“Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” $1.805 million.

4 – “Wicked,” $1.802 million.

5 –“MJ, the Michael Jackson Musical,” $1.596million.

6–  “Aladdin,” $1.586 million.

7—“Funny Girl,” $1.479 million.

The complete list, courtesy The Broadway League:

And that’s Show Biz. …

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IATSE STRIKE WOULD DIM BROADWAY

Uh oh. The lights on Broadway could be turned off as early as Friday (July 21) since IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union , has called for a strike authorization vote.

Negotiations with The Broadway League and Disney Theatrical have not been successful, and if a shutdown is called, even touring Broadway shows will halt.

The deadline for members to vote is 2 a.m. ET Friday, which means a strike would begin Friday, according to Playbill.com.

However, the strike could be averted if The Broadway League and Disney reps return to the bargaining table before Friday.

The strike would affect about 1,500 union members employed via IATSE’s so-called Pink Contract,  which covers stagehands, hair and make-up artists, wardrobe personnel, and others employed directly by productions. The contract covers 28 of 30 currently-running productions.

If the shutdown takes place, IATSE would be the third major entertainment union to go on strike, following the strikes in the film and television industries where union members of SAG-AFTRA and WGA have halted production. It would be particularly devastating within the Broadway fan base, which buys tickets in advance for the live productions on Broadway, if a strike occurs.

The last IATSE strike, the first in union history, was in 2007, and lasted 19 days. …

‘Beauty & the Beast’ at DHT

The enchantment of Disney’s “Beauty & the Beast” will unfold Friday night  (July 21) at Diamond Head Theatre. The show, Disney’s first entry to the Broadway world in 1994, is based on Disney’s 1991 animated film, and features music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman and Time Rice, with a book by Linda Woolvertin.

Emily North will appear as Belle, the Beauty, and David Spangenthal (pictured) will be the prince, or the Beast, who’s caught in a spell,  in the fabled “tale as old as time.”

The Beast has to be kissed by Belle to undo the spell, which would trigger a happy ending.

Spangenthal is multi-tasking in this one; he’s also directing and choreographing the show. But he also took on the same responsibilities in DHT’s 2005 production. Clearly, he’s found his true love in the play and in his life. In his director’s notes in the show’s playbill, he notes, “So much has changed in my life. I now have two children, and have grown so much as a person since. I have the opportunity to re-tell this story (with its true love theme) and share the stage with my daughter Lanah (Differt) What a blessing.” (Lanah, Kira Stone and Christine Kluvo appear as The Three Silly Girls).

With his husband Timothy, he is happy to be in a two-daddy family. And his triple-threat roles for “Beauty & the Beast.”

In Disney’s retelling of the story, animated characters emerge, such as the teapot Mrs. Potts, played by Cathy Foy, and the candelabra Lumiere, portrayed by David Sheftell.

Other players include Kyle Malis (Cogsworth), Samuel Budd (Lefou), Maurice “Mo” Radke (Maurice), Alexandria Zion (Babette) and Philex Kepa and Tobias Ng-Osario (alternating as Chip), Azaliah Kekuna (Enchantress) and Joshua-Dwayne Figueroa (Young Prince)

Roslyn Catracchia and Jenny Shiroma are co-musical directors.

“Beauty and the Beast” will run through Aug. 20; some performances are already sold out. Tickets: $37 to $62, at www.diamondheadtheatre.com or (808) 733-027

‘Magnum’ set for an Oct. 4 NBC airing

NBC’s peacock feathers are  fluttering.

 The good news: NBC has reversed its decision to drop “Magnum P.I.” after airing half the season, and now will resume airing the series at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. on the Mainland) on Wednesdays, beginning Oct. 4. The program was previously seen on Sundays.

“Magnum,” starring Jay Hernandez (Thomas Magnum, pictured left) and Perdita Weeks (Juliet Higgins), have a romance going and logically is continuing; the new time slot follows episodes of  “Quantum Leap,” formerly in a Tuesday time slot.

The bad news: NBC is pushing back its legacy shows like the trio of  “Chicago” procedurals, along with two “Law and Order” series, until 2024, the delay obviously triggered by the ongoing strike by the WGA, SAG and AFTRA, which has shut down productions of all fall shows.

Since the strike, NBC has decided to push back “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.,” a blow to fans, plus “Law and Order” and “Law and Order SVU,” the latter an indefatigable and enduring brand led by Mariska Hargitay (Olivia Benson, pictured right), also tabled for now.

NBC will have to fill prime time with reruns, even movies, since all series are shuttered.

“Magnum’s” second half of the fifth season will be the last, because the sixth season still is canceled. Because there are new episodes in the vault,  the Hawaii-filmed show – without a specific timetable – has earned a fall kick-off.  After that, it’s aloha – a fond farewell – for Magnum and his colleagues…

‘Grace and Glorie’

“Grace and Glorie,” a play by Tom Ziegler, will be the next presentation of The Windward Readers Theatre at The Actors Group in Iwilei.

Jo Pruden and Shari Lynn, pictured below, are veteran stage actors and life-long friends, who are regulars in Readers Theatre shows, will be featured, with Marjorie DeSantis as the Narrator. Vanita Rae Smith will direct.

Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the tale focuses on Grace (Pruden), a feisty 90-year-old cancer victim who has checked herself out of a hospital to return to her beloved cottage, where she wants to die alone. Glorie (Shari) is a hospice worker with baggage – guilt-ridden, due to  the loss of her daughter – whose life is transformed  with new perspectives.

Performance dates are at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7, 8 and 9 at TAG. Tickets: $20 at taghawaii.net…

And that’s Show Biz. …

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BELATED CHEERS FOR JACKMAN IN ‘OKLAHOMA’

They’ve opened the vaults on a fabulous filmed version of Hugh Jackman, singing and portraying Curly in the Rodgers and Hammerstein evergreen, “Oklahoma.” Oh, what a beautiful musical!

I took in a matinee screening of this cinematic treat at the Kahala Theatres, where the classic will be shown one more time, at 7 p.m. Wednesday (July 19). It’s part of a national celebration to herald Rodgers and Hammerstein’s very first musical, “Oklahoma,” conceived 80 years ago, which was superstar’s Jackman first stage production in London 30 years ago.

Of course, Jackman also starred in two Broadway shows since, winning a Tony for portraying Peter Allen in “The Boy From Oz” in 2004, and setting box office records, grossing $3 million-plus  a week last year, starring as Prof. Harold Hill in “The Music Man.”

But trust me, make time to go see Jackson in this special revival marking the milestone. What a revelation!

Hugh Jackman as Curly in “Oklahoma’: Oh what a beautiful voice.

Youthful and handsome, effusive and expressive, he is amazing and alluring as a cowboy in this frontier musical, taped in 1998 in the West End, with an unheralded DVD released some years back. What a find!

 From the moment his voice is heard on the show’s first tune, “Oh, What Beautiful Mornin’,” the sunny mood of the production brightens the stage. So animated and immersed in his role, Jackson’s solos and duets (“The Surrey With the Fringe on Top,” “People Will Say We’re in Love” with Josefia Gabrielle as Laurie) are compelling and flawless, clearly demonstrating he would become a major musical star. Curly was his groundbreaking role, decades ago, that portended his later performances in filmed musicals such as “Les Miserables” and “The Greatest Showman.”

Maureen Lipman as Aunt Eller, with Jackman in “Oklahoma.”

With nostalgia as part of a selling point now, “Oklahoma” is like meeting a friend you wish you met years ago. An obscure discovery now, it’s fitting and proper to watch it on a big screen, with lounge seats, of course. This would have been a buried treasure were it not brought to our attention now.

It’s delightful to discover the supporting cast, too, performers genuinely ingrained in the roles they play. Maureen Lipman is precious as the salty but in-command Aunt Eller, leading the singing and dancing ensemble’s animated and storied “The Farmer and the Cowman,” a battle cry with a theme of territoriality that evolves in a call for unity, solidarity and togetherness. She’s also kind of a helicopter aunt to Curly and Laurie, protective and there when they need her. Hers is the voice of wisdom here, never tolerating foolishness.

Vicki Simon as Ado Annie is irresistibly romantic but adorably confused, and likely an audience favorite with her giddy and fluctuating heart, which puts Jimmy Johnston as her beau, Will Parker, reeling. Then there’s Shuler Hensley as Jud Fry, the misinterpreted wave of darkness who lives in a smokehouse, and  Peter Polycarpou as the comedic traveling Persian salesman Ali Hakim, who also is a likeable conman infatuated with Ado Annie.

Josephia Gabrielle, as Laurie, with Jackman in “Oklahoma.”

Remember, this is a staged production, with action within the proscenium of the theater, yet director Trevor Nunn (“Cats”) gives the production grandness with minimal sets, but supported by a huge and versatile revolving turntable stage.

The singing and dancing ensemble in “Oklahoma’: A dream cast.

R&H shows always include a mid-way dream sequence, to sort out conflicting issues and choices, so the Agnes DeMille’s choreography of this phase is stunning with wavering moods. The legendary Susan Stroman (“Crazy for You”) updated the choreography,  including cowboy-type leaps and twirls, aptly tuned in to the countrified storyline.

One of the quizzical elements of the movie is the lack of audience response (applause after each tune, as in an actual stage performance), so sometimes the quiet seems eerie. Those in the theater also were calm and quiet, till the film was over, then offering a few hoots and some clapping.

Further, since this production was a stage effort, it’s amazing that you don’t see body mikes on the actors. Also, the movie runs nearly three hours, so a stage-type intermission is part of the experience.

A film with an intermission: When’s the last time you’ve seen this?

I was so enraptured with this film, I ordered a DVD of the show at Amazon.com yesterday.

In retrospect, this is truly a unified theatrical vision, sewn together like a colorful quilt, seamlessly fusing music with dialogue, story with dance.

And in another 20 years, when “Oklahoma” logs its milestone 100th anniversary, perhaps there will then be a star of the future starring in this proven hit to evolve as his generation’s Jackman. …

And that’s Show Biz. …