Posted on

BRIAN WEBB EXITS STREETLIGHTERS

Cellist Brian Webb, one of the original members of the indie-pop group, Streetlight Cadence, has exited the band, after 13 years of on-street singing, recordings, online videos and club gigs here and abroad.

Of his departure, he said, “I am leaving Starlight Cadence and I do so freely and without any issues, tensions or conflicts with current or past members. I adore this community, what it’s meant to people, what it’s given me and other members, and I am so grateful to all of you for your support over the years.

Brian Webb

“I hope you’ll continue looking out for my brothers (and now sister!) in arms. Please, please, please continue to answer the call when the next Kickstarter arises or when they re-push for their Patreon.”

Webb had been a founding member of Streetlight, along with violinist Jonathon Franklin, and accordionist/foot percussionist Jesse Shiroma. Franklin remains the lone original musician, since Shiroma is on academic leave, seeking a graduate  degree in library studies at the University of Hawaii.  Ben Chai is current banjoist, though not a ground-floor original, and Clara Stegall is now the lone woman in the band, a guitarist.

No word on who will replace him. …

Wild about Harry


With little fanfare, Prince Harry marked Remembrance Day last Friday with an appearance at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.

Prince Harry

The  Duke of Sussex toured the USS Arizona Memorial, the resting place of more than 1,100 crew members who were killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Harry donned a navy suit accentuated with a red poppy pinned to his jacket lapel. The poppy has been a tradition to commemorate wartime  military members who have died in war.

Island keyboarder Don Conover, who happened to be touring the Arizona, described Harry friendly and kind. “He kind of approached us,” Conover told People magazine. “I moved out of his way because he’s royalty; I figured I’d let him do his thing. He basically gave me a greeting.

“He was very respectful and courteous and nice. I moved out of his way, and he kind of patted me on the back and said, ‘You’re all good mate.’ It was a simple interaction, but he was very nice and courteous and respectful.”

Don Conovee

Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, also released an official statement on their Veterans Day/Remembrance Day appearance. She posted on the Archewell website,

“We honor service members across the world. These brave men and women, as well as their families, have made tremendous sacrifices and embody duty and service.”…

Lifetime achievers

The Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts’  2022 Lifetime Achievement Awards luncheon will be held from 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s Monarch Room.

Inductees are:

  • Dr. Randie Kamuela Fong.
  • Cecilia Mona Joy Lum.
  • George Kahumoku.
  • Jim Linkner.
  • Glen Smith.

Other key awards to be presented:

  • Krash Kealoha Industry Award, to the Hawaii County Band and the Kamaka Ukulele ‘Ohana.
  • The Legacy Recognition Award, to Ka‘iulani Martin.

Tickets are available at www.harahawaii.com. …

Broadway grosses, week ending Nov. 13

The ranking of the top three shows on Broadway has been staple recently. Meaning, “The Music Man” grossed $2.926 million, a skosh short of $3 million.

“Hamilton” is at a steady No. 2, with $2.039.

And “MJ” has been a reliable player, with $1.815 million.

The list here is courtesy The Broadway League…

And that’s Show Biz. …

Posted on

FEB. 19 LIFT-OFF FOR ‘MAGNUM’ ON NBC

It’s not yet widely announced, but “Magnum P.I” – discontinued by CBS after season four, but picked up by NBC for an abbreviated season five – will return to prime time 8 p.m. Sundays, beginning Feb. 19.

Thus, fans hoping for a mid-season welcome will get their wishes come true.

Sure, it will be a downsized season five, with only 10 episodes, but “Magnum” surely will make an impact.

The series, which has been filming here the past few months, is ready for its closeup amid the Peacock network’s roster of serials.

Jay Hernandez is Magnum, Perdita Weeks is Higgins.

The show stars Jay Hernandez (Thomas Magnum), Perdita Weeks (Juliet Higgins), Zachary Knighten (Rick Wright),  Stephen Hill (Theodore “TC” Calvin)  Tim Kang (Detective Gordon Katsumoto ) and Amy Hill (Teuila “Kumu” Tuileta). …

Miranda signed to Disney+ ‘Percy’

Lin-Manual Miranda will be heading to Mount Olympus, playing Hermes, in. Disney+’s new “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series.

Miranda, who is part of a creative stable of artists at the Mouse House, certainly will enhance the cast of the streaming show, which is adapted from Rick Riordan’s series of “Percy Jackson” books that also was a Broadway musical, “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.” The musical had a brief run on the Great White Way, and a 60-minute version now is on a national tour.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The Jackson title character is a 12-year-old youth who discovers he is a demi-god and the son of Poseidon. The TV streamer will begin filming this summer in Canada. The series, comprising eight episodes, is set for the 2024 season.

Miranda’s earlier ties with Disney originated when his hit musical, “Hamilton,” was streamed under the Disney banner. His other Disney gigs include his role in the “Mary Poppins” sequel and the popular “Encanto” Disney+ series that featured a popular breakout tune, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which wound up at No. 1 on the pop music charts.

Miranda, the creator of two Broadway hit shows, “Hamilton” and “In the Heights,” is attached to the Kander and Ebb musical, “New York, New York,” creating new lyrics, based on the 1977 film, transiting into a new Broadway musical opening on March 24, 2023, at the St. James Theatre. …

Slack key fest in Seattle

The 14h Annual Seattle Slack Key Festival, set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 13), will be staged at the. Dusty Strings Music Store & School at 33406 Fremont Ave. N, in Seattle, Wash.

With the late Cyril Pahinui as the inspiration, the event will feature numerous ”names,” including Jerry Santos, Kamuela Kimokeo, Jeff Peterson, Kunia Galdeira, Sonny Lim, and Patrick Landeza. Honolulu emcees will be Rhonda Burk and Braddah Gomes, with Hula Halau Pulamahiaikelikolehua participating. …

And that’s Show Biz. …

Posted on

MEET THE KALAPANA TRIBUTE BAND

Six musicians will join existing Kalapana members in a two-night tribute to the popular island band. The gig is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 8) and Nov. 9 at Blue Note Hawaii, at the Outrigger Waikiki resort. And it should be heavy with memories and hurrahs.

According to Gaylord Holomalia, who has diligently performed with the band over the past decades, as well as shepherding the act’s legacy, these musicians will join Holomalia and Kenji Sano:

Gaylord Holomalia
  • Todd Yukumoto, saxophone.
  • Stacey Tangonan, drums.
  • John Valentine, acoustic guitar and vocals.
  • Alden Levi, acoustic guitar and vocals.
  • Jordan Kealoha Yamanaka, guest vocalists on two Mackey Feary hits.
  • Nate Brown, electric guitar.

Doors open at 5 p.m, for dinner and drink service. Tickets: $45 and $35. According to the Blue Note website, the first of the two shows is sold out.

Kalapana, in the early years

Kalapana has been a beloved and prolific band for nearly 50 years. The journey has been a bumpy ride, however, with unexpected deaths impacting the fan base.

The key members who connected with fans here, on the Mainland, and in Japan, are all deceased: Mackey Feary, Malani Bilyeu and DJ Pratt. Their gift to their fans is the illuminating catalogue of music — including such hits as “Naturallly,” “The Hurt,” “You Make It Hard,” and “Night Bird” — which have provided a vital soundscape of growing up in Hawaii.

Professional musicians, like the ones sitting in with Holomalia (a keyboard who also is a wizard of engineering in the studio) and Sano (recruited from Japan), are all familiar with the Kalapana songbook since the pop island band emerged in the era of Cecilio and Kapono and left its imprint in their music. …

Theater notes

Two island theater groups have announced casts for its new shows.

Kumu Kahua’s revival of Jon Shirota’s “Lucky Come Hawaii,” will play Nov. 9 through Dec. 4 at Kumu Kahua.

The comedy, set in wartime Hawaii, examines a time when a precarious balance exists between American GIs, local Japanese, and West Maui Okinawans. When Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japanese, martial law was imposed in the islands,  and the old world clashed with the new, with friction galore, until love and acceptance calmed the world.

The cast features Denise-Aiko Chinen (Tsuyu Gusuda), Andrew Chow (Tengan), Brandon Hagio (Kenyei Shiroma), Stu Hirayama (Kama Gusuda), Kirk Lapilio Jr. (Bob Weaver),  Devon Nekoba (Ikehara-San, Understudy: Kama Gusuda, Narrator and Ishi), Marcus R. Oshiro (Narrator, Ishi), Thomalin Sirivattha (Kimiko Gusuda), Noah Kai Nalu Schuetz (Howard Specks), Cori Matsuoka (Understudy: Tsuyu Gusuda and Kimiko Gusuda).

Tickets: $24 to $45. Call: (808) 536-4441 or visit  kumukahua.org

Manoa Valley Theatre’s “The Game’s Afoot,” a comedy by Ken Ludwig, will run Nov.  17 to Dec. 4. It is a hilarious  mix of murder and mystery, with lots of mayhem, so the show is properly subtitled “Holmes for the Holidays.” It’s set in Connecticut on Christmas Eve, as acclaimed 1930s actor William Gillette invites his Sherlock Holmes co-stars to his eccentric mansion but  one of his guests is murdered..

The cast features Mathias Maas as William Gillette, Betty Bolton as Martha Gillette, Adrian Khactu as Felix Geisel, Therese Olival as Madge Geisel, Noah Bilinski as Simon Bright, Rachel League as Aggie Wheeler, Ashley Litz as Inspector Goring, Courtney Booth as Daria Chase, Alexandria Holloway as Radio Broadcaster.

Tickets: $24 to $44. Call (808) 988-6131 or visit www.manoavalleytheatre.com …

Broadway grosses, for week ending Oct. 30

Not surprisingly, the top banana on Broadway continues to be “The Music Man,” which grosses $2.716 million.

Close, but no banana: “Hamilton,” with $1.947million, and “MJ,” with $1.810 million.

The compilation, courtesy the Broadway League:

And that’s Show Biz. …

Posted on

LIFE LESSONS FROM ‘WORDSWORTH’

HILO –‘Wordsworth, the Musical,” a musical fantasy about a poet mouse, is an unlikely resource that tackles life issues such as Alzheimer’s and caregiving, based on poet Frances H. Kakugawa’s two books popular among school children and family audiences faced with dilemmas and seeking comfort and support to turn frowns upside down.

The show made its world premiere last night (Nov. 4) at the Performing Arts Center at the University of Hawaii Hilo campus, after a three-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A core of devoted Big Island collaborators created the show, from previous experiences with Kakugawa, an award-winning poet who also has been an established speaker on AlzheimHer’s and caregiving, founded on her personal experiences of caring for her aging, ill mother.

Kakugawa is a former Kapoho native, who lived in Honolulu while working as an educator and poet. She currently resides in Sacramento.

The musical, playing again at  7 p.m. today (Nov. 5) and 2 p.m. tomorrow (Nov. 6), is a testament to Kakugawa’s work as a writer and a practicing caregiver.

The play focuses on the titular character, a poetry-writing mouse named Wordsworth, and his ‘ohana, living in a rainforest in Hilo. Portrayed by Kamau Beaudet (as the mouse poet, with mouse ears)  who is taunted by his peers because of his devotion to writing poems. When darkness and fears evolve, folks start listening to Wordsworth bring back the sun and the fun of life, and embrace poetry as a panacea of things hurtful and haunting.

Jackie Pualani Johnson as Grandma, Kamau Beaudot as Wordsworth

Jackie Pualani Johnson, who wrote the script and portrays Grandma – who becomes forgetful because of approaching Alzheimer’s in the story —  demonstrates that her failing memory affects everyone in the circle of life. Kids and neighbors ponder, about Tutu not remembering their names; and ultimately, the words and rhymes of Wordsworth are a rare gift, instrumental in recovery.

Wordsworth’s waltz number with Johnson is a high point, and kids will enjoy seeing him on surfboard with rocker-like “wheels” to mimic riding the waves. Another brief, but fetching moment, involves Jon Sakurai-Horita as Old Mouse, and Mia McGrath as Emily is a standout in the large cast.

Butterfly dancers

The show,  directed by Justina Mattos, runs a terse 50 minutes, so is an easy pill to swallow with numerous babes in arms and toddlers in attendance. Scenic designer Ariana Bassett’s vivid colors in the  primary set of forest greenery is appealing, and this rainforest boasts rain that resembles bright pearls, a recurring image of rainbows, plus a swarm of butterflies who contribute a variety of dances with impressive Monarch buttery wings while dancing ballet, waltz and modern numbers choreographed with flair by Kea Kapahua.

While not the custom in any rainforest, this one also includes a wing-ding of a circus crew, again in brightly-hued attire (by Lee Barnett Dombroski) reflecting roles of acrobats, clowns and frou-frou dancers.

Wendell Ing’s music taps several forms, including a do-woppish tune, and his lyrics are faithful to Wordsworth’s inspirational views. And there’s everything from a chant to rap, from hula to waltz.

There is one curiosity in Wordsworth’s delivery of lines – in the third person – which could easily be reimagined to make his words more meaningful and effective.
The opening night house had a jolt of sorts, when an errant warning with flashing lights informed spectators to rise and exit the theater, nullified by a voice that this was one of a recurring false alarms.

Tickets: $20 general, $15 UHH students with valid IDs, $7 children 17 and under.

Tickets: $20 general, $7 UHH students with valid IDs, children 17 and under.

And that’s Show Biz, ,,,

Posted on

‘MUSIC OF THE NIGHT’ & MORE

“The Three Phantoms,” in a two-day visitation at the Hawaii Theatre, is more than three dudes uniting in songs for fellowship and fun.

The show, organized by Broadway vet Craig Schulman, opened last night (Oct. 29) and repeats at 2 p.m. today (Oct. 30).

Schulman, beloved in Hawaii for his two-visit performance as Jean Valjean in  “Les Miserables” back in the day, clearly is the centerpiece of the revue though his colleagues Gary Mauer and Keith Buterbaugh.  are singularly impressive. Together – in solos, duets and trios – The Three Phantoms (yep, they all have headlined as the masked marvel in their careers) put on a panorama of Great White Way tunes you know or have forgotten.

Over a splendid two-hour retrospective of  tunes from Broadway musicals performed by gents, the trio shared 18 songs, in an appealing stroll down memory lane that revived tunes rarely sung today. Schulman, Mauer and Buterbaugh are tenors, able to reach the upper-register notes, but Buterbaugh also has depth as a baritone. And these voices emphatically show that each actor is a leading player in the theatrical spectrum.

Craig Schulman

I loved the segments that featured awesome overtures/instrumentals, no vocals, including “Oklahoma,” rendered by a tireless and expressive six-member local orchestra featuring John Kolivas, bass; Abe Lagrimas Jr., drums; Todd Yukumoto, sax; Rick Broadwell, trumpet; and Monica Chung, synthesizer.

The show’s pianist-conductor Dan Riddle shaped a rhapsodic and awesome “Phantom” montage leading towards a trio delivery of “Music of the Night,” the highly anticipated ballad with shadings expected from a gang who’s been there, done that. This finale had comedic preludes as the guys feigned singing the tune solo during several false starts that were part of the scheme.

So what, among the numbers, were stunning?

Certainly, Schulman’s iconic signature, “Bring Him Home,” from “Les Miz,” rich with emotional wallop, bringing down the house. He is the actor who has played Valjean in 2,500 performances, the most ever by anyone, so yes, he “owns” the tune. A close second among his conquests: “This Is the Moment,” from “Jekyll and Hyde,” with its requisite roller-coaster vocal dynamics. Boy, his pipes are still sizzling-hot

Gary Mauer

Certainly, Mauer’s “Gethsemane” from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” embodied the intensity of the Jesus he played on stage.

Certainly, Buterbaugh is expressive medley from “Sweeney Todd,” a show he’s conquered earlier.

The threesome got good mileage from “They Call the Wind Maria,” from “Paint Your Wagon,” one of the rarely-heard-these-days treats.

Perhaps the “Brotherhood of Man,” from “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” underscored the mantra of The Three Phantoms; rapport comes from togetherness, bonding minds, hearts, and spirits. Consequently, “Standing on the Corner,” also a trio entry from “The Most Happy Fella,” reflected a similar sentiment.

Keith Buterbaugh

 The show’s format was logical: background show title templates were flashed, providing clues on what’s coming. And the tunes from each show must’ve required some curating; like, “Damn Yankees,” one of two encore ditties, focused on “You Gotta Have Heart,” a baseball-oriented tune that spills over into everyday life. Heart and hope matter.

The second encore, “White Sandy Beach of Hawaii,” was joyous surprise and the local-song-choice endeared the audience. The Three Phantoms know how to anchor a show!

Access to the Hawaii Theatre was difficult because downtown crowds gathered by the hundreds for a pre-Halloween street party, which blocked sidewalks and made access to parking garages a challenge. Folks attending today’s final matinee shouldn’t have barriers and blockage; the tricks were outside last night, but treats awaited inside…

And that’s Show Biz. …