Show Biz Archives - Page 67 of 97

March 23, 2022March 23, 2022

‘DOOGIE’ LANDS SECOND SEASON

Not surprisingly, a second-season order has been granted to the Hawaii-filmed family series, “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.,” as first reported by Deadline.

The Disney+ series, starring Peyton Elizabeth Lee, follows the teen character’s criss-crossing challenges, as a medical doctor and as an adolescent high school student. The show is a reboot of “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” which made a youthful Neal Patrick Harris a media star after four seasons on TV.

“Doogie” also boasts a robust ensemble, featuring Jason Scott Lee, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Matthew Sato, Wes Tian, Emma Meisel, Mapuana Makia and Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman. The late Al Harrington had a recurring role, too, in his final acting assignment, a great credit for him and for the show.

The series was created and executive-produced by Kourtney Kang, with filming scheduled in the months ahead. Its half-hour format along with scripts and actors reflecting modern-day Hawaii, make it still the best locally-filmed TV show currently. …

‘Reginald the Vampire’

Hawaii actor Jacob Batalon – you know him best as Ned Leeds, sidekick to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in the big screen “Spider-man” hits – soon will be on the small screen as a not-so-common vampire in “Reginald the Vampire.”

Amazon and Hulu have tapped the Syfy dramedy, now in the completing status, for airing territories this summer. Hulu has secured U.S. rights, with Amazon earning rights in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The show is based on Johnny B. Truant’s “Fat Vampire” novels, with Batalon portraying a hefty vampire in a world of fit, beautiful and vain vampires; he falls for a human girl he can’t have and dodges a vampire chieftain who wants him dead. But Reginald has some life-changing powers. …

Correction

We misstated, in an earlier mention, Miguel Cadoy III’s new position at Farrington High School. Cadoy, who directs the Farrington Performing Arts Academy’s musicals annually, will continue in that capacity.

But his new job will be as director for all the academies at Farrington –Creative Arts & Technology, Business, Engineering, Public Service, and Health – and will entail a more visible prominence within the community. …

Calendar notes

Richard Marx will perform his chart hits, “Hold on to the Night,” “Satisfied” and “Right Here Waiting,” in a Blue Note Hawaii gig at 8 p.m. June 23 and 24. Tickets are $125 and $95, available at www.bluenotehawaii.com or (808) 777-4890. …

Kumu Kahua launches Ryan Okinaka’s “Who You Again,” at 8 p.m. tomorrow (March 24), for a run through April 24. With its sensitive but a realistic theme – a family wrestles with the challenges of its matriarch with fading memory due to Alzheimer’s – so the theater is embracing an ambitious outreach program as part of the play’s run.

For instance, a post-show conversation will follow the March 25 performance, with participation by the playwright and Dr. Poki‘i Balaz, chair of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Aloha Chapter.

A Talk Back session will follow the April 1 performance, with participants Okinaka and Balaz.

A pre-show addition –music by Every Single Day, a trio – will be featured from 1 to 1:45 p.m. on the theater’s lanai on April 3 and 24.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, through April 24 (no matinee on April 17).

A digital offering will be available later.

Tickets: $5 to $25, at www.kumukahua.org or call (808) 536-4441.

And that’s Show Biz. …

March 20, 2022March 20, 2022

’39 STEPS’: GROANS, GIGGLES APLENTY

Step by step, flinch by flinch, “The 39 Steps” is a romping Hichcockian mystery, laced with vaudevillian mirth, requiring precise timing and awesome versatility … and wholly enacted by a remarkable company of four.

A true ensemble piece, Manoa Valley Theatre’s staging of Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of John Buchan’s novel and Alfred Hitchcock’s film, is full of belly laughs, high energy, quick pacing, breathless antics and theatrical shenanigans that may make you flinch, groan and cheer. As directed by Rob Duval, the production utilizes a minimalist set by Andrew Doan that involves a theatrical proscenium arch with closable curtain and seating boxes at both stage left and right, slamming doors, and a scrim that enables moments of giddy shadow puppetry. The versatile props by La Tanya Faamausill-Siliato include oversized trunks that serve as tables as well as train seats. In short: non-stop groans and giggles, with efficient surroundings.

Rachel League and Garrett Hols, in “The 39 Steps” at Manoa Valley Theatre

It’s a short run, however; “The 39 Steps” opened Thursday (March 17) and closes March 27, so you have today (March 20) and the upcoming weekend to catch the laughs.

The characters are Richard Hannay (a steadfast Garrett Hols, nimble and agile, confident and comedic), a somewhat bored London bachelor who meets a shapely Annabella Schmidt (Rachel League, versatile and mobile, whose other roles are Pamela and Margaret, achieved with wigs and costume changes and perhaps some tongue in cheek.. She is killed in his presence in a hilarious demise, but not before she recites a few clues, and he dispatches himself to Scotland as a potential murderer attempting to prove his innocence. (Kinda like Dr. Richard Kimble, played by David Janssen on the old TV serial, “The Fugitive,” dodging his pursuers of a crime he did not commit. But waaaaaay funnier).

A pair of workhorses, Matthew Miller and Andrew Baker, designated as Clown 1 and Clown 2, respectively, enact a barrel full of more roles than imaginable, from constables to London Palladium emcees/comedians, from bad-wigged women to train ticket-takers. Kudos and ovations, dudes, for turning bit parts into a mammoth tidal wave of guffaws.

The physical comedy is amazing, notably the sequence where Hannay is aboard a train and in pursuit by Miller and Baker; the gents have a raucous and remarkable imaginary “chase,” with hands and bodies supposedly dangling from the outside of the train car whisking on its tracks, and another dangerous venture on a ladder attached to two other ladders, requiring strenuous energy (and risks of tumbling down) by the gents, and grand imagination from the spectators.

All this, with the actors even employing the Brit accent for credibility amid the maze of the unexpected.

Tickets: $22 to $40 at www.manoavalleytheatre.com or (808) 988-6131…

And that’s Show Biz. …

March 18, 2022March 19, 2022

CLEVER NAME-GAME REBRANDING

What happens, when you’re in the group Ho’okena and you add a fourth member to the group who’s formerly from the Makaha Sons?

You take a bit of one group’s name and attach it to another. In the aforementioned case, Makena is the inventive, apropos result of the union.

Ho’okena has billed this group Makena in a couple of earlier bookings, but you can see ‘em live tomorrow night (March 19) at Kaneka Pila Grille at the Outrigger Reef Hotel. The Makana Sons’ Louis “Moon” Kauakahi will be joining Ho’okena’s Horace Dudoit III, Chris Kamaka and Glen Smith.

Clever, yeah?

So what if Ben Vegas, who is teaming up with John Valentine at Medici’s at Manoa Marketplace tomorrow night (March 19), decided to become semiregular musical buddies. Could they be Vegatine or Valgas?

Jerry Santos has been the head of Olomana for quite a while now. If he partnered with Jerome Koko of the Makaha Sons, would the twosome be dubbed Olokaha or Makamana?

Or maybe Olomana and Kalapana would blend for a show. Would they be Olopana or Kalamana?

And if Robert Cazimero and Brother Noland Conjugacion collaborate as a duo, could they be Nobert or Robland, or Cazigacion or Conjumero?

If Kapena and Ehukai bonded, would they be Kapekai or Ehupena? And what about Keauhou and Maunalua…would they be Maunahou or Keaulua.

Of course, this nonsense name-game would be inappropriate since they would make no sense and would be emphatically non-Hawaiian. Apologies to anyone offended. End of the fantasy. …

New direction for Cadoy

Miguel Cadoy III, the island actor, teacher, and musician, is the new Academy Director of the Farrington Performing Arts Academy.

Fresh off directing the school’s “Mamma Mia” a few weeks ago, Cadoy’s new position means he won’t be bound to music classes anymore. His role will outreach to the community to develop bridges to the school.

However, he still will be able to direct the annual musical in the Kalihi auditorium. Cadoy also has been active in local stage musicals with the late Ron Bright and the subsequent I’m a Bright Kid Foundation and continues to work with Johnson Enos‘ ongoing development of the fantasy family musical, “Honu by the Sea,” in Japan, the Mainland and Honolulu. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

March 17, 2022March 17, 2022

PEVEC, BARNES TOP ‘SUPERSTAR’ CAST

Diamond Head Theatre ‘s revival of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” opening April 1, boasts a cast that should bring vigor and vitality in the lead roles.

Aleks Pevec will portray Jesus of Nazareth and Bailey Barnes will enact Mary Magdalene. The powerful rock opera includes break-out titles such as “Superstar,” “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” “Gethsemane” and “What’s the Buzz.”

The score by Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice should resonate with a new generation of spectators encountering the rock opera with its biblical template.

Directed and choreographed by John Rampage, “Superstar” will run April 1 through 20; but already, two extension matinees have been added for 3 p.m. April 23 and 4 p.m. April 24. Tickets will be scarce, so order prior to opening.

Pevecs previously co-starred in DHT’s “Something Rotten” and Barnes will be remembered for her breakout role as Dorothy in the I’m a Bright Kid Foundation’s “The Wiz.”

Others in the cast include Taj Guttierez as Judas Iscariot, Aiko Schick as King Herod, Corin Medeiros as Caiaphas, Jay Flores as Annas, Jody Bill as Simon Zealots, Michael Abdo as Peter, and Laurence Paxton as Pontius Pilate.

The origin of the 1970s musical includes island singer-actress Yvonne Elliman, who created the Magdalene role and performed a pair of signature tunes, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and “Everything’s Alright,” in the concept album, stage vehicle and the resulting film. She earned a Golden Globe nomination in 1974 for her movie performance.

For tickets, visit www.diamondheadtheatre.com or call (808) 733-0274…

Manoa whodunnit

Manoa Valley Theatre’s “The 39 Steps” opens tonight (March 17). It’s a mixture of farce blending Hitchcockian mystery with Monty Python mirth. The playwrights are Patrick Barlow and John Buchan, whose spy novel whodunnit includes a murder and a mysterious group called “The 39 Steps” which tracks a manhunt to a hilarious finale.

Rob Duval directed the cast that includes Garrett Hols as Richard Hannay, Rachel League as Annabella/Pamela, Matthew Miller as Clown 1 and Andrew Baker as Clown 2.

Performances are Thursdays through Sundays, through March 27.

Visit www.manoavalleytheatre.com or call 988-6131. …

A football superstar weds here

Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chief’s all-star quarterback, and his sweetheart Brittany Matthews, tied the knot at the Four Seasons resort on Maui on March 13.

Both groom and bride are 26 and they’ve been a couple for a decade.

TMZ noted that Mahomes was attired in a gray suit, with Matthews in a traditional white bridal gown.

The couple’s daughter Sterling, 1, was flower girl and the quarterback’s younger brother, Jackson, was best man. Travis Kelce, a teammate, was groomsman and Kayla Nicole, his girlfriend, was one of several bridesmaids. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

March 10, 2022March 10, 2022

ISLE TWOSOME IN FAMOUS DUO GIG

Ben Vegas and Johnny Valentine, singers and guitarists alike, don’t normally work together.

However, they’re assembling a Songs From Famous Duos evening, at 7:30 p.m. March 19, at Medici’s at Manoa Marketplace.

No indication of which duo’s songbag they’ll explore, but I betcha among the teammates they could easily salute include Loggins and Messina, Simon and Garfunkel, Hall and Oates, The Carpenters, Sonny and Cher, Jan and Dean, Air Supply, The Righteous Brothers and The Everly Brothers, if you’re considering only performers.

But if they’re dipping into famous pairs of composers, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Elton John and /or Bernie Taupin and Tim Rice, and even Henry Kapono and Cecilio Rodrigues could fill the bill.

Vegas and Valentine are longtime performers in Hawaii; Vegas is an ex-member of The Krush and had been, in recent years, part of a duo with Maila Gibson. Valentine has been frontman for a band on the Waikiki circuit for decades, and he’s a much-in-demand musician in both concert and studio work.

Tickets: $59, includes dinner; doors open at 6 p.m. Information: (808) 351-0901. …

Cazimero, dancers in symphony show

Robert Cazimero will join the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra ai 7:30 p.m. April 22 at the Hawaii Theatre. It will be his biggest stage endeavor since the pandemic, and he provided a preview of what to expect.

Yes, he’s involving a few gents from his Halau Na Kamalei O Likolehua; yes, wahine from his Royal Dance Company will offer hula during his vocals; yes, all dancers will join him together, too.

His repertoire will include many songs from “Mine,” his newest CD; there will be moments when Cazimero will be at the piano, too; and for one song, it’ll be a true solo (only his voice and his keyboard artistry), so the gig is a wide representation of his astonishing artistry.

Tickets: $18 to $99. Visit www.myhso.org/concerts or call (808) 380-7720. Part of the Hapa Symphony series. …

Who else and where

More musical notes:

Raiatea Helm also sashays into the aforementioned HSO series, with a Hapa Symphony show at 7:30 p.m. May 13 at the Hawaii Theatre. Tickets: same as above. …
Jake Shimabukuro returns to the Blue Note Hawaii at 7 p.m. March 23. Tickets: $59. Visit: www.bluenotehawaii.com or call (808) 729-4718.
Streetlight Cadence also revisit the Blue Note at 6:30 and 9 p.m. March 20. Tickets: $45 to $59. Visit www.bluenotehawaii.com or call (808) 729-4718.

Opportunities for playwrights

Did you know that Kumu Kahua and Bamboo Ridge Press sponsor a monthly PlayWrite competition, enabling theatrical scriptwriters to get noticed?

Writers can enter the competition to test the waters of their competency and imagination. A 10-page maximum, devised from a monthly theme, might be your ticket to bigger and greater things. Mostly, you’ll get noticed!

Wynn Oshiro’s “Grandma Says” – about a police officer catching a grandparent teaching their grandkids to burn and pop illegal fireworks – won the January contest. The deadline for the February contest is past – the theme was a scene about first meeting of two characters, a local and a visitor, that develops into a relationship.

Information: www.kumukahua.org or 898-536-4441. …

And that’s Show Biz. …