Category: Show Biz

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‘HAMILTON’: UNDERSTUDIES MATTER, TOO

I revisited “Hamilton” for the third time earlier this week (Dec. 21) at the Blaisdell Concert Hall,  experiencing a different Alexander Hamilton, Tre Frazier; another Eliza Schuler, Emma Claye; and a new George Washington, Ellis C. Dawson III.

It was a half-full house, on a week night, and I hope the empty seats get filled in the coming weeks since “Hamilton” runs through Jan. 29.

Tre Frazier

Simply put, it’s a pleasure to experience different performers since cast members have days off. So  it matters little who’s doing a role. It was my third time here watching this incredible show … and three earlier viewings in New York and Chicago. I never tire of seeing something I like, over and over.

A touring company like this one, dubbed “And Peggy,” commonly will have cast adjustments and a high bar to contend with, but in reality, anyone cast in any role must be capable of working up to the level  established by the original New York company that originally showcased Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The understudies, like the aforementioned, are vital for a big production like “Hamilton.” They fill in for principals, who get a night or day off from the tight schedule, not only in tours like this cast but in sit-down shows anchored in such markets as Broadway and the West End. Understudies provide a valuable role and doing leads bolster their profiles.

A standing ovation, for “Hamilton,” at Blaisdell Concert Hall.

When you attend a show, here or elsewhere, that inserted white sheet in your playbill will list alternates filling in for the regular leads. Since you don’t know traveling casts, you won’t know who’s principal or who’s understudy, so just soak in the performances. Better yet, revisit the show and see others in action. You won’t be disappointed…remember, understudies matter. …

Broadway grosses, week ending Dec. 16

It’s a toasty Christmas for “The Music Man,” which grosses $3.255 million last week. You might thing the No. 1 hit featuring Hugh Jackman hit the cast is chirping, “It’s a Most Wonderful World.”

No. 2 was “The Lion King,” earning $2.449 million. Its anthem just might be, “O Come All Ye Faithful.”

No. 3 was “Hamilton,” pulling in $2.255  million. Its shot could be, “Joy to the World.”

Lea Michele

No. 4 was “Wicked,” logging $1.159 million. Its bewitching popularity merits a bouncy ditty, so why not “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”?.

No. 5 is a  newbie in the million dollar club, “Funny Girl,” amassing $2.005 million. The thematic “Jingle Bell Rock” could apply here, since the cash registers have been ringing like crazy since Lea Michele became Fanny Brice.

The listing is courtesy The Broadway League:

And that’s Show Biz. …

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KEALA SETTLE JOINS ‘WICKED’ FILM

Great to learn that some of our Hawaii-reared talent are finding their way to the big screen.

No, not referring to the likes of Jason Momoa and Dwayne Johnson. They are in their own league, with signature projects under way.

Talking about the likes of Keala Settle, who will play Miss Coddle in the Jon M. Chu-directed movie version of “Wicked.” You know Settle best as the former Kahuku actress who famously portrayed the Bearded Woman in Hugh Jackson’s mega-hit musical, “The Greatest

Keala Settle

Showman,” in which Settle might have been a sideshow attraction but wound up performing and scoring a huge musical hit, “This Is Me.”

Headliners in this Broadway-to-cinema transition of “Wicked” will be the earlier announced Cynthia Ervo and Ariana Grande, who will take over the leads of Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) originated by Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth (Glinda the Witch of the South), respectively. “Wicked” (the movie) also will bring together Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, and Bowen Yang as Pfannee.

Director Chu, who  helmed Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” in its film incarnation, has expressed an opinion that “Wicked” ran 2 hours and 45 minutes as a Broadway show, but opined on Twitter that “it would be impossible to wrestle the story of ‘Wicked’ in a single film without doing some real damage to it.” Omitting or trimming tunes or character roles felt like fatal compromises to the original sources, and composer Stephen Schwartz seconded the motion. Thus, a two-parter is in the works and composer Schwartz has agreed that Act 1 will conclude with “Defying Gravity,” and he will write a new original addition to the flick version, as reported in Variety. “Wicked Part 1” is due to be released  by Universal on Dec. 25, 2024, and “Wicked Part 2” will follow on Dec. 25, 2025. Talk about a multi-Christmas present. …

Auli’i Cravalho

Elsewhere,  Auli‘i  Cravalho, who voiced Moana in Disney’s “Moana” animated film, has been cast in the forthcoming Paramount+ film version of “Mean Girls,” which will be directed by Arturo Perez and Samantha Jayne. Cravalho will portray Janis, with Renee Rapp reprising her role as  Regina George (she did it on Broadway), Angourie Rice as Cady, and Jaquel Spivey as Damian in other key roles…

Still strumming and teaching

The annual Ukulele Festival no longer is in founder Roy Sakuma’s rear view mirror. He’s moved on.

Roy Sakuma

“Boy, how times have changed,” he said in an email. “ I am still teaching (mostly on Zoom) but do go to the studio on Wednesday mornings to teach.  It’s still a lot of fun to teach.”

Of course, the folks love him since he’s a jovial sort, with not just teaching skills, but with memories to share.

Meanwhile, wife Kathy still has been busy running the studio. Almost like a mom-and-pop operation, like the good  ol’ days. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

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HAWAII’S MILES IN ‘SWEENEY TODD’ REBOOT

Hawaii’s Ruthie Ann Miles, a Tony Award winner, will be part of the cast of a revival of “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” the acclaimed musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler.

Miles will  play the Beggar Woman in this reboot, headlined by Josh Groban as the murderess barber Sweeney Todd and Annaleigh Ashford  as Mrs. Lovett, the pie maker.

Ruthie. Ann Miles

Miles, a Kaimuki High School graduate, earned a Best Supporting Actress in a Musical Tony for her portrayal of Lady Thiang in an earlier revival of “The King and I.”

Other supporting roles include Jordan Fisher, from “Dear Evan Hanson,” as Anthony, and Gaten Matarazzo, of “Stranger Things, “as Tobias.

Thomas Kail, who directed Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning “Hamilton,” will helm the show.

Previews begin Feb. 26 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, with opening night set for March 26…

Hiccups on KSSK

I’ve been listening to KSSK, to get into the holiday mood, and it’s a most wonderful thing to hear the likes of Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Brenda Lee, and many others whose vocals are not commonly on the airwaves these days.

But the radio station has a peculiar hiccup/stutter distraction, where a word or two is repeated. Sounds like those old phonograph records, which can jump or be stuck while listening, but KSSK’s music resources are all digital, so something’s quirky on air and that shouldn’t be happening.

Makes me wonder if anyone deejaying on air listens to what’s playing, to fix the problem.

Just wondering …

Broadway grosses, week ending Dec. 11

“The Music Man” still prevails at No. 1, in Broadway gross tallies, with $3.389 million.

But there’s been a bit of up-and-down rankings last week.

No. 2 is “The Lion King,” with $2.365 million.

No. 3 is “Wicked,” with $2.083 million.

No.4 is “Hamilton,” normally second, but dropping to $2.077 million.

No. 5 is “The Phantom of the Opera,” with $2.020 million

The list is courtesy of the Broadway League…

And that’s Show Biz. …

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STAYCATION: THE RISK AND THE WRIST

Even a one-day (overnight) stay at a Waikiki hotel is a wondrous way for a staycation.

Here’s the background: I covered two back-to-back shows Sunday (Dec. 11) at Blue Note Hawaii, located at the Outrigger Waikiki resort.

The first show  (Frank DeLima) was at 12:30 p.m., a brunch event, followed by two later shows at 4 and 8 p.m. (Makena, aka as Ho’okena and members of The Makaha Sons), a Christmas and Hawaiian show. Took in the later performance.

Made no sense to drive in (during the Honolulu Marathon on Kalaniana‘ole Hwy.) only to return home in Hawaii Kai, and commute back a few hours later.

So I took the risk and checked out kamaaina rates, but they were $325 a room. Imagine what regular rates might be!

Contemplated the kamaaina rate. It was easiest to book a room where the shows were, but at those prices? An expensive risk, perhaps.

Waited a bit, then rechecked several days later via phone what rates were and the price had gone down, I guess, to $225, with no resort fee and half-price for overnight parking ($45 regular price).  So I decided to book ‘em, a holiday gift to myself and my wife.

At check-in, we were enticed into signing up for an upgrade ($89 more) for a room on a higher level with access to the hotel lounge, where breakfast and happy hour/dinner meals were included. Hmmmm. Decided to go up in price and room level, figuring we’d just eat at the hotel, utilizing the included dinner at night and breakfast the next day before checking out. After all, meals for two in Waikiki at a restaurant would cost more than $89. And our wrists became a gameplayer (why and how, more later).

The room was spacious, on the 16th level (17th is the penthouse), not super-duper elegant but comfy, clean, and convenient, with wi-fi, upgraded soap and shampoo amenities and an exclusive lobby-to-room access located near the Blue Note club.

A happy hour trek to the lounge, located on the former Chuck’s Steak House site on the lobby level, provides an efficient but no-choice meal, with the largest taro chips plus traditional corn ships with a slightly zesty aku dip, a couple of fruit options, and fried noodles with chicken and pork protein. Enough to satisfy the hungry, but lacking lounge-level fare choices and perks I’ve experienced at Mainland brand-name hotels at much higher tariffs.

Henry Kapono, ‘neath the tarp in black shirt, on the beach at Waikiki

A Sunday visit meant that Henry Kapono was doing his beachfront jam sessions near Duke’s, his signature show for decades. From a stone’s throw away, I peeked and listened from the lounge, noticing that swimwear folks were truly enjoying the moment.

Breakfast was satisfactory but also pedestrian – buffet eggs, bacon, bread and bagels for do-you-own toasting, tiny strawberry yogurt, fruits like honeydew melon and sweet pineapple.

Turned out to be a working staycation, since I was at my computer following the DeLima show to write and post a review, while my wife ventured out to reacquaint herself with some of the Waikiki spots we used to but haven’t visited since before the pandemic. Also got up early Sunday morning to do a Makena review, which I completed later from home.

Wrist band is room key for lounge guests a Outrigger Waikiki.

The most convenient discovery of the staycation was that the Outrigger, and likely other chic hotels elsewhere,  provides lounge guests with a new kind of wristband that includes your digital key (no more plastic cards to slide or wipe) to access the elevators and enter your hotel room.

Convenient for beachgoers and swimmers and no more misplaced or lost plastic card key.

That was the most eye-opening element of the staycation. And no complaints for the upgrade fee – worth it!

And that’s Show Biz. …

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FRANKLY, IT’S ALL ABOUT HOLIDAY CHEER

Comic Frank DeLima, an Island favorite, put a Christmas spin at his Blue Note Hawaii gig noontime today (Dec. 11) at the Outrigger Waikiki resort.

He entered the stage as Lolo Bono, the sumotori, with a body costume reflecting a bulky Japanese wrestler. When he undid the bulky piece, he uttered, “I wish losing weight was that easy.” ‘Twas an apropos lament blending reality with show biz.

Between sit-down patter and chatter and a few stand-up routines with his trademarks such as Foo Ling Yu Chinese character, DeLima had some mobility issues but managed to wobble and toss out punch lines familiar and new.

His ethnic faves prevailed, led by the timely “Filipino Christmas” with DeLima as a lit-up Christmas tree, with audience members chiming in appropriate vocal support. An errant strand of tinsel from his head occasionally danced along, and in typical DeLima ad-libbing,  he managed to get his right hand to stuff the garland into his neck zone.

Frank DeLima, decked out in a lit tree, sings “Filipino Christmas/”

Frankly, his mood and message was all about yuletide cheer … to share the gift of laughter.

He offered two new shticks to his silliness:

DeLima with sock puppet.
  • “76 Hormones,” a parody to the tune of “76 Trombones” from “The Music Man,” to address the issues of aches here and there among seniors, from neck to knees, from back to shoulders. The parody was a collaborative effort between DeLima and sometimes parody creator David “Kawika” Talisman, who has personally endured beaucoup pain treatments.
  • “Blue Christmas,” his new parody with the familiar holiday ditty, bemoaned the pain of high prices for everything, from hamburgers to bananas to gasoline. The tune, a bit uncertain with DeLima (in Santa coat with faux beard) embracing a sock puppet for the first time, could be tweaked with an expanded intro about the reality of soaring prices that affect the pocketbook of many.
DeLima as sumotori Lolo Bono.

DeLima also revisited his “Twelve Days of Christmas,” the local version beginning with “one mynah bird in one papaya tree.” Unable to stage this one at the height of the pandemic, this revival had funny moments in his effort to secure audience members to utter each of the 12 days, with the viewers taking on No. 5, with a chorus of “five big fat pigs.”

Yes, there was a brief revisit to his No.1 from yesteryear, “Lucille.” However, the pair he selected from the audience were not familiar with his trademark, though his wahine visitor had expressive bursts as Lucille.

The strength of his material included childhood recollections of growing up in Pahoa as a Portuguese kid living among Chinese and Japanese households from where he picked up the skills of mimicking. Reproducing these ethnic lingo for comedic effect, his intent is to honor the mixed plates of island life. No racism here, because he respects the ethic differences that constitute island life.

With musical support from Bobby Nishida and David Kauahikaua, DeLima is the lone stand-up comic who sings.

A wish for next year: Hope DeLima will bring back his singing voice on the likes of “Waimea Lullaby,” which is a splendid departure from his comedic style. …

And that’s Show Biz. …