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The roots are deep, director-choreographer Greg Zane has been learning via his latest project, “A Chorus Line,” as the musical hit winds up at Diamond Head Theatre.

Since the award-winning show opened July 16, a number of island folks who’ve previously performed in “ACL,” have responded to the production and shared indelible memories and ties with the late Tommy Aguilar, whose legacy and spirit have driven and prevailed during entire run. The show has another weekend of performances, Thursday through Sunday (Aug. 8).

Suzen  Murakoshi and Ron Kurowski, now Honolulu residents, are alumni of “A Chorus Line,” who have worked with some of the DHT ensemble here to keep the legacy alive.  Suzen played Connie Wong in the Broadway and National Tour companies; Ron portrayed Bobby Mills in the 1979 Blaisdell Concert Hall cast and was in the original cast of the London production, and logged seven years during “ACL’s” original Broadway run.

“I consider his Bobby (like Tommy Aguilar’s Paul) as definitive portrayals. Both Suzy and Ron have ties to Tommy by performing with him during his time on tour and on Broadway,” said Zane. “Having learned the show from its creators, they have given the cast amazing insights into their characters. Invaluable details that only Ron and Suzen know, and have culled over their years with the show, have given our actors and production a tremendous depth. Both Suzen and Ron are keeping the legacy and show alive through coaching this new cast. We are so grateful to have them and their amazing support. We are so lucky!”

Zane still has two “ACL” original T-shirts and have donned them over the past few months, further keeping the spirit and tradition alive.  “I guess, they help keep me connected to that ‘ACL’ legacy and to Tommy. I mean, ACL is ‘The Greatest Musical Of All Time!’” …

Isle actor Alvin Ing dies

Alvin Ing, a Hawaii native with a lifelong career in Broadway musicals, has died at age 89.

The date and cause of his death have not been revealed; he was a Los Angeles resident.

Years before he made an imprint on Broadway shows, Ing performed in the islands in such shows as “13 Daughters” at the Hawaii Theatre. He was one of the first-from-Hawaii residents to star in a number of musicals in New York and in national tours, including “Pacific Overtures,” “The King and I,” “South Pacific” and “Flower Drum Song.” He is believed to be the actor with longest run playing Wan Ta in “Flower Drum Song.”

He also starred on TV in a gamut of shows, including “Third Watch,” “Law and Order,” “Dynasty,” “Dallas,” and “Falcon Crest,” and in such films as “Final Countdown” and “The Gambler.” …

Smooth as Silk, with skates

Silk Sonic, the duo/group featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, has dropped a new single, “Skate,” as kind of a mid-summer surprise.

The tune, on YouTube, is sleekly infused with rhythm ‘n’ blues combined with Latino vibes, with Mars on congas and .Paak on drums, in the new video. The tune is Silk Sonic’s second single, providing a better sense of how the pair will ultimately pace its anticipated first album.

Because the two are on instruments, it’s hard to know how much their own body language would play out if they perform the tune live in concert. The video depicts dynamic, skate-sensitive choreography with a cluster of women sliding and gliding and skating their way with animated glee.

Clearly, Mars and .Paak are leaving the door open for more surprises in the weeks/months ahead.

See the video here: https://thissongissick.com/post/anderson-paak-bruno-mars-skate/

And that’s “Show Biz.” …

First Lady Jill Biden apparently left Hawaii with an unwanted souvenir – an unidentified object in her left foot encountered during a brief walk on a beach.

Network media have been mentioning Biden had a visit to Walter Reed National Medical Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, to remove the foreign object, upon her return to the Capitol, according to the first lady’s press secretary Michael LaRosa, in a statement. President Biden was by her side.

FLOTUS had two official meet-and-greet sessions while here, including one to promote vaccinations during this pandemic. …

KHON2  veteran Joe Moore did not anchor the Wednesday and Thursday editions of the 5:30 and 6 p.m. newscasts, as he rested from a badly sprained ankle  earlier this week.  He’s scheduled to return to the Friday evening lineup as usual.  Alas, the ankle injury also triggered some back pain. “Feel like a hundred years old at the moment,” he emailed Thursday.

Moore and his Army buddy, Pat Sajak, will co-star in Neil Simon’s “The Sunshine Boys” comedy June 16 to 26 2022 at the Hawaii Theatre. In the comedy, they play senior citizens Willie Clark (Moore) and Al Lewis (Sajak). “I feel like I won’t have to act at all to play the old fart Willie Clark,” said Moore. “ I’ve become Willie Clark! ).”

The pain has impacted his daily routine, like “sleeping in the wrong position, turning awkwardly, sitting too long…and on and on and on.  :-(.” …

A rom-com film

Taiana Tully, a singer-actress-dancer-model from Honolulu, has a role in the Hallmark Channel’s “Love, for Real,” a rom-com airing at 6 p.m. Saturday. She plays the character Bree.

You may have seen her previously in “Magnum P.I.” and “Hawaii Five-0,” and on a Zippy’s commercial, too, a valuable credit indeed.

She stars with Chloe Bridges as Hayley, Scott Michael Foster as Luke, and Corbin Bleu as Marco, in a tale about a reality dating show complete with friction and melodrama before

a dramatic finish. The film is part of a wave of summertime love stories. …

Global reach growing

Kevin Iwamoto, who released a cache of digital tunes from one decade of his performing/recording career in Hawaii, continues to receive a wave of new international fans.

His album, “The Best of Kevin I,” has logged streaming and sales that astound him. No, it’s not current stuff, but a mixture of his 1980s music and performances that have resonated anew with pandemic-era listeners. And he hasn’t performed since he moved to California and established a vigorous profile in the business community.

“I’m continually fascinated by the weekly top countries that streamed or bought my music worldwide according to Apple Music,” he said on Facebook. “In the beginning it was the U.S. hands down, in June/July each week has been a different country,” he said of his mounting global reach.

“Recently it’s been Peru, Norway, Thailand, India, Japan, South Korea, and the UK,” he said. “Thank you so much to the global listeners!”

A peculiar trait of his reborn “career” as a digital crooner: his fan base in Hawaii knows him – he visits home frequently enough — but hasn’t shown the kind of devotion expressed by an international audience. Wassup, Hawaii? …

And that’s “Show Biz.” …