Category: Show Biz

An award-winning Broadway star and a legendary musical based on the lives of a pop foursome are heading to the Blaisdell Concert Hall next year. Both shows were put on pause and postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lea Salonga, the Filipina songbird who evolved into a Broadway musical star, returns to the Blaisdell Concert Hall at 8 p.m. May 20 and 21, 2022. Salonga earned a Tony Award for creating the role of Kim in “Miss Saigon,” which was a Best Musical nominee in 1991.

Salonga also has deep connections with “Les Miserables,” becoming the first actress of Asian descent to play the roles of Eponine and  Fantine on Broadway.  She also enacted Eponine and Fantine, respectively, in the musical’s  10^th and 25^th anniversary concerts in London.

Movie fans also know her as the singing voice of two official Disney Princesses:  Jasmine in “Aladdin” (1992) and Mulan in “Mulan” (1998). She was named a Disney Princess in 2011 for her work with the Walt Disney Company.

Tickets: $35 to $125, .at www.ticketmaster.com …

And “Jersey Boys,” the hit Broadway musical which tracks the lives and tunes of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, will finally continue its roadshow  stop from Sept. 13 through 25 at Blaisdell Concert Hall.  The show was a Best Musical Tony winner in 2006, with original Valli performer John Lloyd Young snagging a Best Leading Actor in a Musical trophy. The show ran through 2017 and an off-Broadway revival emerged prior to the health crises, then was shuttered but was scheduled to return in the smaller venue this month.

The current touring production was sidelined, like most other shows here and abroad, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but original ticket purchases will be honored, if you already have seats. Otherwise, tickets are available at  www.ticketmaster.com …

‘Tis the season

Must be the season – a cluster of new CDs are being released, clearly in time for the holiday season.

Jake Shimabukuro’s “ Jake & Friends,” with guest chirpers including Willie Nelson, arrived earlier this month. It’s chock full of guest singers, whose presence give the disc global interest. Folks like Bette Midler, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Jimmy Buffett, and Ziggy Marley join in this tidal wave of ukulele cheer.

Robert Cazimero’s  new album is entitled “Mine,” just out. Haven’t heard it, but if it’s Robert, it’s gotta be heavenly great.

John Kolivas and his Honolulu Jazz Quartet will preview their new jazz collection, with a University of Hawaii Outreach College telecast at 7 p.m. Friday (Nov. 12), viewable without cost by registering at outreach.hawaii.edu/events/honolulujazzquartet…

Streetlight Cadence’s newbie “Midnight” will be out after the holidays, with the quarter launching a $30,000 kickstarter campaign to help finance the product.  Visit http://kck.st/307Jibh …

And that’s Show Biz …

Leo Days, the Elvis Presley impersonator, and Shari Cheri Grubb, a dancer-choreographer in the “Legends in Concert” assembly of pop stars, tied the knot last Thursday (Nov. 4) at Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Gardens in Kaneohe.

No, Days didn’t don his bejeweled costume of The King –he chose a customary tux instead — to  exchange vows with his bride in an intimate gathering.

Al Waterson was the officiant and Gary Kissinger provided music. Nancy Bernal was the photographer and yep, there was a post-nuptial celebration, appropriately at at Rock Island Cafe in Waikiki. …

Congrats to the show biz couple. …

A green Christmas for Zane

Greg Zane, the director-choreographer of Diamond Head Theatre’s recent “A Chorus Line,” will be helming the theater’s holiday musical, “Elf,” opening Dec. 3 (and running through Dec. 19). He was director-choreographer of the earlier staging of the show here, so it’s hana hou time.

Zane, a Hawaii native who has legit Broadway credits, has been associate choreographer of Lincoln Theatre’s “The King and I,” a Tony Award-winning revival that included Hawaii’s Ruthie Ann Miles as Lady Thiang, who earned a Tony.

Well, he was to return to the fold to work on a  London run of the Rodgers and Hammerstein evergreen, but that mounting is canceled for now because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Consequently, instead of a potentially white and cold Christmas, Zane will be extending his work-and-vacation agenda in a green and warmer Christmas climate, anchored at his family’s Hawaii Kai home. Sounds good to me. …

Shorts of sorts

Crossing Rain, a local boy band inspired by the K-Pop phenom, is one to watch. The six-member act did a Hawaii Theatre gig over the weekend, and an upcoming tour is on the agenda. Instagram images and videos reflect the harmonies and choreographic influences of Korean boy bands. …

KITV has acquired KIKU TV, and will restore the popular array of Japanese programming. So fans and followers of the array of Nippon shows, can breathe a sigh of relief, when the travelogues and dramas return to the small screen. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

Kudos to Irenio and Lilian Paulo, who recently marked their 70^th wedding anniversary and 90 years of life together, in a celebration at the Kahaluu Pond on the windward side.

You know ‘em better as Rene and Akemi Paulo, veteran entertainers on the show biz scene at a time when talent mattered a lot. He’s always been a wizard on keyboards and she was his trusty sidekick singer.

Their daughter, Kathy Paulo-Hirai, noted in a recent Facebook post, that the ‘ohana gathered to toast and reflect on their rich lives and contributions over the decades. This, of course, has always been a musical family, with the likes of Michael Paulo (a stellar jazz performer himself) among the clan carrying on the show biz franchise.

An astounding and inspiring photo recap of the hoopla is posted online. Though both Rene and Akemi now are part of the wheelchair generation, it’s quite obvious they are a picture of enduring life and love. Belated congrats to the couple, their kids and their grandkids. You don’t commonly find this kind of bonding. Oh, and a belated birthday shout-out to Rene, who just turned 91. …

A Makaha Christmas

Add the Makaha Sons, led by Jerome Koko, to the roster of acts staging a holiday concert.

“Makaha Kalikimaka” unfolds at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17 and 18 at the Hawaii Theatre.

Guest acts will include Iolani and Natalie Ai Kamau’u, Marie Raquel Higa (aka Rocky Brown) and Robi Kahakalau.

Tickets: www.hawaiitheatre.com …

And that’s Show Biz. …

Matthew Sato, co-starring as Kai Kamealoha in Disney+’s “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” — streaming towards its 10^th and finale episode —  has joined the cast of Peacock’s revival of “Saved by the Bell,” premiering its second season Nov. 24

Sato will be seen as Gil, a handsome and somewhat nerdy student council vice president on “Bell,” who catches the eye of Daisy, played by Haskiri Velazquez, as fellow newbies in the hallways of Bayside High.  It will be a recurring role for the Mililani youth.

Thus, Sato is becoming somewhat a junior king of sit-com reboots.  On “Doogie,” he is the older brother of Lahela, the 16-year-old Harvard Medical School graduate who is a youth medic portrayed by Peyton Elizabeth Lee, aka Doogie. The series is based in Hawaii.

In “Bell,” Sato will join returning original cast members Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, Mario Lopez, John Michael Higgins, Mitchell Hoog, Alycia Pascual-Pena, Belmon Cameli and Dexter Daren, along with other characters, set in California. …

A Sonic boom ahead

Noteworthy on the Silk Sonic front: the duo comprised of Hawaii’s Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, will drop a new single, “Smokin’ Out the Window,” on Friday (Nov. 5). It’ll be the third track released from “An Evening With Silk Sonic,” not yet available.

The album – teased by two previous singles, “Leave the Door Open” last March and “Skate” in July – was due to be released in 2022, but now is expected to arrive earlier, on Nov. 12. Thus, it appears that there will be some Sonic booms in this year’s Christmas stockings. …

Valentine with strings

Johnny Valentine, who is the uncle of the aforementioned Bruno Mars, will concertize at 7:30 pm. Saturday (Nov. 6) at Medici’s at Manoa Marketplace.

The evening, themed “Songs With Strings,” will feature the Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner with guest musicians Daniel Bayot, Valentine’s son, an Emmy Award winner, on cello; Duane Padilla, on viola; and Lauren Holt, on violin.

Dad will also feature another son, Jesse Douglas, on percussion.

The event is sold out …

Off and on switch buttons

That delayed and delayed again Daryl Hall & Oates concert –the most recent rescheduled date was Nov. 13 at Blaisdell Center -– has been canceled again, along with a companion Maui Arts and Cultural Center performance.

The act, known for such treasures as “Maneater,” “Private Eyes” and “Out of Touch,” had sold outs scheduled but decided that a lack of logistical planning time triggered yet another cancellation. Refunds are available at the point of purchase. …

But Filipino American comedian Jo Koy will proceed with his rescheduled gig, a sold-out three-nighter Nov. 26-28 at Blaisdell Concert Hall. …

And that’s Show Biz. …