A YEAR OF WEBSITE SHARING, CARING

The month of May marks the formal first-year anniversary of my website, https://www.harada.com.

If you’ve seen some of the posts, mahalo for your interest. For others – it’s never late to join in.

While I experimented and posted articles, columns and reviews during a trial run in March-April of 2021, it wasn’t till May that the website’s theories and plans were fortified.

And here I am. Up and running. Surviving and surprisingly active.

It’s been a fun, productive first-year. It started as a whim, and slowly developed into a resource for mutual communication – via reviews, chatter, some reflection – with an audience mildly or keenly interested in the kind of stuff I used to pursue while fully employed (now retired) from the morning Honolulu Star-Advertiser, which, like it or not, became a one-daily newspaper town when fused with the evening Honolulu Star-Bulletin, which became the combined Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

A self-run website, I’ve focused on the Hawaii entertainment scene, with alternating coverage and attention paid to local music, Waikiki nightlife, Hawaii-based network television, selective movie reviews, Honolulu theater and general show-biz chit-chat.

The website emerged while Hawaii – and the world – was immersed and saddled with the COVID-19 pandemic, when movie-going in theaters and show-watching in clubs and showrooms halted.

Since then, I’ve been following acts and destinations rebound and return into action – think the likes of Henry Kapono and Blue Note Hawaii – as a sense of normalcy returned.

Broadway is all about the energy at Times Square.

Like others, I started returning to dine-in spots that reopened and took in movies initially  with some caution and trepidation.

The one element that that I’ve not yet revisited has been travel. Over the decades, I wrote about some of my trips, normally hopping aboard an airplane two to three times a year. My principal destinations were Japan or New York City, where I would explore the charms of both Tokyo/Osaka and Broadway NYC.

Tokyu Hands, a place for crafters in Japan.

There were instincts and trends to examine, like the marvels of Daiso and Tokyu Hands in Japan, where the crafts sections were an attraction for me in Japan, and the mighty perks and charm of Broadway theater – notably, “Hamilton” the tantamount of all these endeavors – and discuss how difficult and expensive it has become to secure pricey seats especially in the show’s first year run with the original cast, led by creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr. You’ve forgotten, but I’ll remind you: I simply couldn’t find tickets in the time frame of my visit at prices I could afford. So, gulp, I paid $750 per ticket (bought two, for my wife and me), in the next-to-the-last row in the Richard Rodgers Theatre and proclaimed that yes, this was astronomical, but worth it to see the original key players in all their glory. Risks matter .Ditto, money.

The Playbill for “Hamilton”

I happily wrote, a few years later, that I was lucky enough to catch two Island actors in “Hamilton:” Joseph Morales, from Honolulu, in the Chicago company, playing the titular lead role on Sundays, but now doing the Hamilton lead in a re-launched national touring company, and Marc delaCruz, from the Big Island, in the ensemble and understudying both the Hamilton and the King George roles in the Broadway company.

Tracking such accomplishments is my mission; sharing that kind of achievement is my privilege.

My Show Biz column, which was part of the daily paper for 45 years before I retired in 2008 (and appearing for another dozen years as a freelancer), has been the primary venue for my reportage. It’s hard to believe, in retrospect, that I posted more than 170 Show Biz columns since this website was launched. Can’t begin to count or accurately assemble the number of print columns filed over the decades.

Column logo

As part of the mission of the website, I periodically take nostalgic strolls down memory lane – 14 so far, and counting — to reflect on old traditions of growing up in Hawaii and remembering such stalwart musical greats and popular venues now gone, too. People like reminiscing about the fave places they frequented, whether it was the Civic Auditorium for early-era rock shows championed by budding entrepreneur and show presenter Tom Moffatt, Char Hung Sut for manapua, or Bea’s for custard pie.

Thus, life issues have been part of the plan, sharing and comparing aches and pains of transiting to seniorhood.

In a sometime frivolous but popular mode, I’ve posed questions in a Just Asking feature, tackling such matters as why Libby’s corned beef still comes in a tin can with a key or seeking responses from readers to list songs with Monday in their titles or wondering how folks are coping with high gasoline prices.

I’ve also shared my decades-old tradition of creating lapel pins for Valentine’s, Easter, Halloween and Christmas, and during the pandemic, the pins landed on many facemasks around town

My Hawaii-themed note cards.

My other craft interests have appeared on the site, like my Wild Cards notecards comprised of such designs as aloha shirts, musubi, sushi, pandemic-related face masks, and just recently, a bunch of postcard-inspired Hawaii notecards. Perhaps I will try to make some of these creations available to the public for purchases. Till now, it’s stress-busting recreational fun to produce these cards, even if card-sending has become nearly extinct in favor of, sigh, emailing.

The website would not have been part of my game plan, were it not for tech whiz Ryan Ozawa, who emailed one day asking why I didn’t have my own site but proceeded to register my name to make the impossible possible. So a huge mahalo to Ryan, who was the one who pushed the button (and me) to kick off the proceedings. And please, Ryan, when your hectic pace subsides, please let me know how much I owe you for keeping the site. up and running.

And to followers and friends, old and new, thank you for your interest and support. I toiled long and hard back in the day, but the current jolt of busy-ness has been the best panacea for a retiree  with some pain issues who still adores activities and creativity to keep the ticker pumping.

IN FAST FOOD, IS SHORT NAME BEST?

Just asking…

Have you noticed, in recent times, that several fast food brands have stylized their names, going with shorter monickers?

KFC now uses initials, possibly to downplay the “fried” in Kentucky Fried Chicken. For an identifier, an image of The Colonel is part of the logo.

Jamba is the single-term name after Juice was squeezed out.

Ditto, Dunkin.’ The Donuts is gone, maybe because the pastry shop offers a lot more than mere doughnuts.Is this a trend?

Single names kinda work best. From Arby’s to Zippy’s, you’ll find a bunch of one-word branding: Denny’s, Subway, Wendy’s, Starbucks, McDonald’s, for instance.

Which begs a few questions: Will Jack in the Box go someday with only Jack? And Papa John’s, cutting back to Papa or John’s? Domino’s would serve the pizzaria; Popeye’s could drop the Louisiana Chicken and still be known by followers; In-and-Out is vastly popular elsewhere, but not here, and its three-word name is very much in. But King would be presumptuous without the Burger, but Caesars would be recognized without the Little.Can’t quite get it, however, with Raising Cane’s, a chicken hut whose name does not reflect its fame; I researched and discovered the name honors the owner’s Labrador Retriever, Raising Cane’s. Hmmm…

Any reactions/comments?

2 JUDASES TO CLOSE OUT ‘SUPERSTAR’

Here’s an update on the status of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” heading into its final weekend of performances. Just so you know, there will be two Judases!

There’s a logical Plan A, Plan B and Plan C  in place, which sounds like a win-win situation regarding the role of Judas Iscariot. To backtrack: Taj Gutierrez was ill last week and last Friday was his last performance, with show cancellations looming. But Miguel Cadoy III was tapped to substitute, and did so, at last Saturday night’s show as well as last Sunday’s matinee.

So for the finale, a three-pronged schedule exists:

Plan A: “It’s been confirmed that Miguel will go on Friday night and Saturday afternoon,” said musical conductor Roslyn Catracchia, whose idea it was to invite Cadoy to fill the unexpected vacancy.

Plan B: Gutierrez, who has recovered from his voice problems, will resume his performance Saturday night.

Plan C: Gutierrez is scheduled to close out the run at Sunday’s matinee, but if he’s unable to do it, Cadoy is on standby to take his curtain call, if necessary.

Taj Gutierrez: He’ll be back as Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

The emergency of unexpected illness has fueled cheers for Gutierrez and Cadoy alike. First, Gutierrez was not hospitalized, as earlier reported, but did get ER attention, and has had time to recover and save his voice, so to speak. “Right off the bat, I want to extend a giant thank you to Miguel for stepping in for me,” he said. “It takes an incredibly skilled performer to jump in head first the way he did. Thank you and BRAVO to you, sir,” Gutierrez said in an email to Cadoy.

Miguel Cadoy III

“Over the last few days, I’ve been showered with love and support from the cast, crew and creative team of JCS, and it has healed my voice and soul,” said Gutierrez. “The theater ‘ohana in Hawaii is such a powerful force, and I feel so lucky to be accepted and supported by it.”

Indeed, cast-wide prayers and get-well shout-outs have enabled him to speed up his wellness.

And audiences who experienced Cadoy in his pivotal decision to take on Judas with iPad in hand at the last moment, also have expressed  hoots and hurrahs for jumping in, so it seems prudent that he hangs around Sunday, even if his services are not needed, to share the final curtain call. …

Broadway grosses, week ending. April 17

The leaders of the pack are:  No.1, “The Music Man;” No. 2, “The Lion King;” and  No. 3, “Hamilton.”

The chart, in alphabetical order:

Show NameGrossGrossTotalAttn Capacity%Capacity
A STRANGE LOOP$202,402.502,7563,68874.73%
ALADDIN$1,737,855.4815,04915,54396.82%
AMERICAN BUFFALO$543,713.905,7336,00895.42%
BEETLEJUICE$1,457,718.0010,72911,21495.68%
BIRTHDAY CANDLES$302,958.005,1125,81687.90%
CHICAGO$829,219.428,0338,64092.97%
COME FROM AWAY$588,164.466,6878,36879.91%
COMPANY$691,727.846,3108,36875.41%
DEAR EVAN HANSEN$758,577.606,6627,87284.63%
FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE / WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF$130,359.343,7716,18460.98%
FUNNY GIRL$1,415,085.509,7609,752100.08%
HADESTOWN$1,044,339.407,3047,34499.46%
HAMILTON$2,453,319.0010,63810,592100.43%
HANGMEN$209,195.103,3544,81269.70%
HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD$1,964,665.0012,81812,97698.78%
HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE$237,890.004,3025,09684.42%
MACBETH$1,170,012.576,2836,30699.64%
MJ THE MUSICAL$1,462,484.2010,84111,09697.70%
MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL$1,468,216.8010,11910,40097.30%
MR. SATURDAY NIGHT$652,920.005,4748,33765.66%
MRS. DOUBTFIRE$528,807.005,8876,20494.89%
PLAZA SUITE$917,819.004,5094,87592.49%
POTUS: OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE$152,727.003,4675,80459.73%
SIX$1,357,276.008,1568,24898.88%
TAKE ME OUT$397,313.354,2124,68090.00%
THE BOOK OF MORMON$1,134,628.708,3808,52898.26%
THE LION KING$2,560,960.0015,15215,26499.27%
THE LITTLE PRINCE$373,831.006,70411,85656.55%
THE MINUTES$304,074.004,5445,33685.16%
THE MUSIC MAN$3,328,253.0812,12612,20099.39%
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA$1,073,263.2010,00912,84077.95%
THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH$138,610.003,8428,46445.39%
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL$826,820.507,16411,82460.59%
WICKED$2,314,088.0015,94816,26398.06%

 And that’s Show Biz. …

‘EVERYTHING‘ CONSIDERED, IT ROARS

Nothing is simple or sane, and nowhere does it say it has to be.

So “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a stew of incredibility and imagination, perhaps everything and anything you might not expect in a film.

It’s maniacal, but magical; it’s whimsical, yet wonderful; it’s delightful yet disastrous;  and it seemingly doesn’t end, so it offers twin endings. Like, “The End” twice.

Basically, it’s an original oddity, starring an agile and admirable Michelle Yeoh, as an operator of a laundromat who doesn’t quite know how to pay her bills so has ills with the IRS. She is the essence of a wreck-a-holic on steroids, in a grand way.

As directed by a pair of Daniels, who like to be known as the Daniels (last names, Kwan and Sheinert), this is an action film disguised as a comedy yet plays like a superheroine adventure complete with matters of the universe. It’s like a video game run amok, a family sit-com with kicks and kinks leading to a cosmic explosion of emotions and antics, a vision or version of apocalyptic end-of-the-world with more domestic ripples anchored to getting along with grandpa and a gay daughter, etc.

Whew!

Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan

It’s a longish journey (running time, 2:20, but seems endlessly longer) that dodges the finish line with extended gags, which results in lags, and it certainly is overwhelming and overpowering in the constant conflicts of relationships between leading and secondary characters.

Yeoh is remarkably athletic in stamina as Evelyn Wang, who ditched the family while she was young, who now owns a laundromat with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan, the once-young lad in “Indiana Jones and the  Temple of Doom,” now converted into a modern-day comedic Jackie Chan), who unite with patriarch Gong Gong  (James Hong), the aging but able great-grandfather of the Chinese elderly dude), to celebrate Chinese New Year. But life is complex; the washing machines are below the parental residence, Waymond is seeking a divorce from Evelyn, who has to face the music and madness of an IRS audit; the couple’s daughter (Stephanie Hsu), has admitted she’s gay and brings home “good friend” partner Becky (Tallie Medel) for the family shebang.

Jamie Lee Curtis

Evelyn’s nemesis here includes Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis), the irrepressible IRS investigator who threatens the demise of the laundromat unless its owner can settle its questionable tax debt. Curtis is recognizable in face, but is padded with body prosthetics, and turns in a wacky, wicked performance as an IRS-er you don’t want to mess with.

The themes of filial love and respect, parental patience, spousal connections, and a heavy dose of metaverse threats and invasions where nothing is as it seems, everything and everywhere is blended into a toxic brew as if thrown into a food processor. Time is bent, twisted, flashing backward and forward, blurring reality.

And there are some icky, sticky, even sickly mess of elements, like a discomforting anal moment with a trophy substituting for a sexual device. And silly, recurring instances of googly eyes; you know, the kind of stick-on fake eyes.

On the other side of the spectrum, there are frequent unexpected sci-fi gems: hotdogs posing as fingers, toes playing the piano, for starters.

Because of its original, fresh storytelling, unfolded in bursts of clever visual and aural trickery, the Daniels have created a logical Gen Z product with word-of-mouth assist in making this a buzzed-about hit.

However, “Everything” is not for everyone, since mostly everything is unconventional and stuff keeps popping up everywhere without expectation. But you will be awed and astonished at everything you understand and even astonished by everything you didn’t quite get.

However, everything considered, you’ll have a roar of a great time.

And that’s Show Biz…