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FOR KEAUHOU, TIME FOR FUN MELE

Keauhou, the prolific Hawaiian trio, will host and perform at its “i le‘a” album release launch, from 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday  (Sept. 17) at Moanalua Gardens.

The Na Hoku Hanahano Award-winning trio features Kahanuola Solatorio and brothers Nicholas and Zachary Lum, Kamehameha School graduates primed to preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian mele, inspired by those who have previously nurtured and embraced traditional Hawaiian music.

Had to inquire Keauhou on what the album title means; so Zachary Lum solved the mystery.

Keauhou members, from left: Kahanuola Solatorio, Zackary Lum and Nicholas Lum.

“To answer your question,’ i leʻa’ means ‘for the sake of fun/joy.’ After our first series of albums being heavily themed around a through-composed narrative, we felt it would be appropriate to offer mele for the sake of enjoyment first,” said Lum.

Surely, in these commonly turbulent times, there’s always room for more joyful, fun mele.

A roster of Hawaiiana faves also will be featured, including Robert Cazimero, Hoku Zuttermeister, the Ha‘eaha‘e Girls, Ka La ‘Onohi Mai o Ha‘eha‘e and Pi‘ikea Lopes (the reigning Miss Aloha Hula 2022 from the Merrie Moarch Festival).

Mele Apana, Lina Girl and Davey D will share emcee duties.

Kau kau will be available for purchase; lawn seating mats and chairs may be brought.

Tickets: https://ileakeauhou.eventbrite.com …

The ‘Magnum’ buzz

Still no official announcements on when “Magnum P.I.” will assemble here to begin production on season five, but the buzz is that the cast is already assembling (and maybe hugging each other) to prep for the beginning of season five under the auspices of NBC instead of CBS.

Amy Hill

Met Amy Hill, who plays Tutu on the series, and when I asked her “when,” she quickly said “soon.” No other details. This happened last weekend at Manoa Valley Theatre’s “Cabaret.”

The season will include only 10 episodes and writers have been quietly completing scripts for the moment when someone yells “action,” to begin filming. Supposedly, on Monday.

Clearly, “Magnum” likely won’t be in its Friday slot nor will it be airing this season. Details are yet to come. Hope it lands a network slot, meaning NBC, instead of its streaming Peacock network.

And surely, since season four ended with that smackeroo between Magnum (Jay Hernandez)  and  Higgins (Perdita Weeks), the storyline should begin there and proceed to a formal “couple” status. So Magnum should bring out the ring. . …

Broadway grosses, week ending Sept. 11

Something’s amiss, in this week’s roster of Broadway show grosses, provided by the Broadway League. Simply, there’s at least one omission — numbers for Hugh Jackman’s “The Music Man” are missing. It’s been the No. 1 for weeks now.

So peruse, if you’re interest in the sums provided:

And that’s Show Biz …

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FOR CIONE, A FALL ALTERS OUTLOOK

Jack Cione, veteran show biz entrepreneur, earlier nightclub operator  and lately known as the director of the “Follies” musical revues, has cancelled a planned  cruise to Tahiti, with good reason.

A week ago, he blacked out in the lobby of the Arcadia, where he resides, falling and breaking two ribs and bruising his face.

“I was rushing to go back to my room, to get my glasses to go to lunch, and I blacked out,” Cione said. “Lucky I didn’t have my glasses.”

 Aides helped him up, and he was rushed to the ER for a checkup. Currently, he’s taped around his chest, tending to the sore ribs, and under a doctor watch.

Jack Cione

At 95, he’s still active,  but slowing down, and this fall has altered his outlook and plans.

He canceled tickets to Manoa Valley Theatre’s “Cabaret” and Diamond Head Theatre’s “Anything Goes.” Too bad; these are his kind of shows, with lots of dancing.

He used to rely on a cane, to hobble down the lobby to catch rides to dinners or lunch. “Now, I use a walker,” he said.

He had ordered, and already is enjoying, a new chair that does more than recline. “It lifts you up,” said Cione.

But since his mishap, he’s ordered — and is anxiously  awaiting delivery in the weeks ahead — a scooter to ease  his mobility situation.

For three years, the pandemic wiped out his plans for a Broadway visit.

“I guess I won’t make my last trip to see shows,” he said, reassessing his situation.

But with a pause, he opined: “But the scooter folds up and fits in a bag for carrying aboard the plane.”

So perhaps a New York trip still might be possible. …

Bruno Mars, bartender?

So Bruno Mars had three concerts in Boston recently, but folks there were abuzz about his unexpected bartending ahead of his last performance.

Bruno Mars

Yep, Mars dropped by the Envoy Hotel’s Lookout Rooftop bar, to pour dozens of drinks for eager, lucky fans. See, he’s co-owner of the SelvaRey Rum, a luxury rum, so this was a commercial tie-in, of sorts. Seems, too, that SelvaRey rum had a role in the music video of Mars’s “Leave the Door Open” video, as part of his Silk Sonic partnership with Anderson .Paak. …

By the way, Mars continues to ban cell phones at his shows, partly to maintain an orderly performance and also to prevent and curb those YouTube clips of his performances. Yeah, a disappointing nuisance for loyal fans, who truly want a keepsake of the Hawaii-born trouper’s lively presence. …

‘Jersey Boys’ finally opening

After  nearly a three-year delay, “Jersey Boys” will open a two-week run at 7:30 p.m. today (Sept. 13) p.m. at Blaisdell Concert. The production continues through Sept. 25.

The popular Broadway musical is a jukebox filled with signature hits of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, whose biography frames this production. It’s the second of four Broadway in Hawaii attractions.

Lead players, subject to change, are Jon Hacker as Valli, Eric Chambliss as Bob Gaudio, Devon Goffman as Tommy DeVito and Matt Faucher as Nick Massi.

Surely, you know their hits: “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man,”  “My Eyes Adored You,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Oh What A Night,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “Working My Way Back To You.”

The playdates:

Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 7:30pm

Thursday, Sept.15 at 7:30pm

Friday, Sept. 16 at 8pm

Saturday, Sept. 17 at 2 & 8pm

Sunday, Sept. 18 at 1 & 6:30pm

Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 7:30pm

Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7:30pm

Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7:30pm

Friday, Sept. 23 at 8pm

Saturday, Sept. 24 at 2 & 8pm

Sunday, Sept. 25 at 1 & 6:30pm

Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com  or the Blaisdell box office; those with previously purchased tickets should visit  ticketmaster.com to confirm the rescheduled show date;  original tickets will be accepted at the  new performance. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

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DO WE NEED MORE ‘PINOCCHIO’ FILMS?

Does the world need another “Pinocchio” revival?

Methinks not. Let’s face it: Disney’s classic animated feature, treasured by old and young alike, suffices. It’s the beloved version everyone adores and knows. Older generations, for sure, and the current younger folks.

Yet there’s a new 2022 version, a peculiar mashup with live actors and animated figures, with Tom Hanks, of all people, as Geppetto, the elderly clockmaker of tick-tocking clocks. He is sad and lonely in his cottage after the loss of his son.

So he pursues a project – a wooden son?

The revival begins with good intentions and motives, and even includes  — why not? – the cartoon film’s anthem, “When You Wish Upon a Star,” the signature of the Disney franchise and theme parks. But why not? Familiarity sells.

“Pinocchio,” directed by Robert Zemeckis, betrays the concept and intentions of the tale of a clockmaker creating, and giving life (without the strings), to a wooden a puppet doll. This Pinocchio goes to school, where he is bullied and maligned, and even goes to a theme park (not a Disney complex), where he becomes emotionally bruised. Reason: he has no conscience and is poised to be someone who seeks to be famous, a journey that thrusts him into a Pleasure Island of threatening horrors.

Tom Hanks, as Geppetto, who creates a wooden puppet boy, in the newest “Pinocchio.”

The bottom line: Pinocchio wants to be real and in fairy tales, that’s a logical wish. Your nose shouldn’t get long if you have this wish; it’s an acceptable goal, after all. As for Hanks, bewigged and bewildered, he visually fills the bill. But the story is the problem.

The script, by director Zemeckis and co-writer Chris Weitz, is quite a mess with a mission gone astray. It should be family-friendly, but it is often frightening; it should be terrific, but it is terrifying in spots. Not a version or vision for the very young,

Cynthia Erivo

Jiminy Cricket is aboard,  in animation, and voiced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt,  and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, voiced Pinocchio. Cynthia Erivo, appearing as the Blue Fairy, renders the famous “Wish” ditty in live action, so this is a fantasy within a fantasy, and her version is stunning—she has the wand that will make the wooden boy/toy “real.” Her presence is a good intro/promo when she co-stars in the planned film version of  “Wicked.”

But be warned: Whether you like or dislike revivals, be informed that Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion version of “Pinocchio,” will debut Oct. 15 at the BFI London Film Festival, then destined to have a theatrical premiere in November, followed by a Netflix kickoff Dec. 9. Online previews suggest a dark, perhaps grotesque, rendering is ahead. 

Too many, too often? …

And that’s Show Biz. …

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THE TIMES THEY ARE-CHANGING, RE: DELIVERY

Just asking…

If you’re a newspaper subscriber, don’t you find it irritating when the paper isn’t at your doorstep, as expected?

And when you call to report the misstep (or complain), the ritual on the automated phone message is off-putting.

NY Times provides email notice re: missing paper.

My Sunday Star-Advertiser was delivered without a hitch this morn. But my bulky Sunday New York Times, which I subscribe to, was AWOL.

Because the Star-Advertiser oversees the home delivery for my Sunday New York Times, you need to dial circulation to report the problem.

But the set-up only refers to the daily local paper.

So imagine my delight when I received – for the first time in a couple of decades subscribing to the Sunday Times – a helpful email the explained a transportation issue; the edition simply was not in HNL today, so delivery will be tomorrow. (The email is shared here).

Of course, it would be too much to expect from the local guys to provide that kind of premium service, automatically

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DHT’S ‘ANYTHING’ HAS EVERYTHING

If ever there was an evergreen musical with just about everything, it just might be Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes,” now playing through Sept. 25 at Diamond Head Theatre.

Consider:

  • Tap dancing , Act 1: You could leave at intermission, when the title tune gets a spirited boost,  as energetic tappers click their shoes and sing and dance their hearts out, as if this was the finale. You’d get your money’s worth and feel fulfilled.
  • Tap-dancing, Act 2: The closing tapper, which brings down the curtain, also is rich with voices and shoes tapping, and yep, might trigger your animated trek to your car. Disclosure: there’s another awesome show-stopper  (won’t reveal it) when you’ll momentarily feel like you’re seeing “42nd Street” and “A Chorus Line.”
  • Career-best performances, from the romantic leads: Jody Bill, as nightclub singer Reno Sweeney, has the pipes and verve and vocalize with skill, and is a knock-out dancer, as well. Andrew Sakaguchi, as stowaway Billy Crocker, is a triple-threat, singer, actor and dancer with batteries that don’t need recharging. He certainly, and deservedly, carries the flag as an API trouper  and a poster boy for blind casting that works.
  • The rich and everlasting score by Porter still connects:  his words and music  are part of the DNA of the Great American Songbook.

All aboard, for DHT’s “Anything Goes,” sailing through Sept. 25. Cast images not available.
  • Splendid direction and choreography:  John Rampage, who is the unseen skipper of the SS American, the setting for this shipboard, steers through one of his favorite musicals of all time, in what will be the final production in the “old,” soon to be retired Ruger Theatre, which also has been a playhouse earlier known as the Honolulu Community Theatre, and now Diamond Head Theatre; with additional kudos to Caryn Yee, whose tap choreography is a joy to experience (for performers and spectators), with solo, couple, and ensemble units joyfully tapping, tap-tap-tap.
  • Glorious, colorful and costumes: Karen G. Wolfe has outdone herself with a mountain of wardrobe styles and hues, brightening the needs of scenes involving a diverse lot, from sailors to captains, from angels to devils, from clerics to whomever. Her creations could proudly fill a boutique.
  • Appealing depth in the secondary roles: Mathew Pedersen, as Moonface Martin; Akiko Schick, as Evangeline Harcourt, mother of Christine Kluvo’s Hope Harcourt; Ahnya Chang, as Erma.
  • Stage and lighting design: Dawn Oshima’s shipboard set, complete with occasional suites, are inventive yet essential, to address the multi-moods of  the time-tested rom-com treasure.

Further, there’s support and efficiency in the other realms of staging a huge musical; like hair and make up by Aiko Schick, and orchestral melodics helmed by Jenny Shiroma, who also is keyboardist, with four colleagues who sound like a band double its size.

 Ensemble excellence prevails – the  cast of 30 is huge – so their unity and output reflect dedication and generosity, from the show leads to the gallery ensemble folks, who perform with a feeling of genuine team pride. It’s also a thrill to remember young actors making progress and living the joy of theater. I point out the likes off Shane Nishimura, who is part of the ensemble principally as a singing-dancing sailor, but I remember him as a youngster portraying Gavroche in a “Les Miserables” in the past.

Performance schedule: 7:30 p.m.  Thursdays through Saturdays, at 3 p.m. Saturdays and at 4 p.m. Sundays (no Saturday matinee Sept. 10), through Sept. 25.

Tickets: $25-$35, available at www.diamondheadtheatre.com or (808) 733-0274.

And that’s Show Biz. …