Challenges aside, singer Shari Lynn and her keyboarder Jim Howard are back at the Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Paradise Lounge, located outside of the Bali restaurant in the Rainbow Tower.
She’ll be back, doing three sets from 7 p.m. on Feb. 18. Her agenda: performances on the second and fourth Saturdays each month.
Distractions and obstacles aside, Shari is a splendid optimist, sharing her skills of a stage actress, educator (retired) advocate of the Great American Songbook music, communicator and sometimes nightclub attraction, like this gig.
Ultimately, she distinguishes herself as a true chanteuse, with her ditties evolving as mini-stories that probe the essence of the lyrics, resulting in exquisite theatrical powerhouses. She’s on the money and she certainly works hard at her craft.
She focuses and digs deeply into the emotions of her tunes, as if she were delivering a romantic ballad or a swing-thing from stage center. It’s not just her voice that sings, but her hands become part of her accentuate-the-positive expressions..
Shari Lynn
This, amid several pillars that restrict viewing for her devotees, and occasional hotel diners criss-crossing while she sings. She asks a restaurant aide to turn off a TV screen facing her from an opposite wall (a distraction for her, but not the audience – the volume is off) and the errant chit-chats from diners awaiting a table can be heard, too.
Through all of this, she soldiers on with a repertoire that taps Broadway and screen classics, a bit of jazz, for which she’s known. This is not the perfect venue, but she has the manner and motivation to entertain and enchant her listeners nonetheless.
Over two sets, you’ll know and embrace her selections: “This Could Be the Start of Something Big” (with altered lyrics mentioning Waikiki and the Bali), “Send in the Clowns” (the Stephen Sondheim signature, perfect for a little night music serenade), “If He Walked Into My Life” (high drama, packed with sentiment).
Musically, Shari covers a lot of ground. Oldies are crisp, when she taps “Where or When,” “The Gypsy in My Soul,” “Getting to Know You,” “The Best Is Yet to Come.” Even “It’s Not Easy Being Green” is rich in texture, and whoa, her bossa nova parody is one to experience, too.
Mary Gutzi
On this night, her pal Mary Gutzi, a star of Broadway and Hawaii stages, gets up and hits homers with “ ‘Swonderful” (‘Smarverlous, perfect rendering) and “Someone to Watch Over Me” (sustaining the power of the lyrics). Gutzi is on hiatus here, waiting for New York to defrost, but also has been offering vocal coaching.
Jim Howard
This joyous serenade couldn’t happen without pianist Howard, who gets and deserves generous solo-keyboard interludes on many selections, a gift not commonly shared by other warblers. But he connects with the singers. Or, as Shari opines, “He breathes with you,” referring to Howard’s absorbing style of expression via his fingers.
He also is kinda of one-man geek squad; with his Roland keyboard momentarily posing problems, he finds the right plugs to keep the ball rolling. And his remarkable solo of Vince Guaraldi’s “The Charley Brown Christmas Song” was note-for-note as good as the original. …
What’s happening with the mounting exit traffic at the Koko Marina Shopping Center in Hawaii Kai?
You know that Zippy’s will discontinue dine-in, with the last day for service on Feb. 5. However, take-out will continue at the snack bar — at least through the end of this year.
But Hawaii National Bank — on Lunalilo Road, next to the service station –will cease operations for good, too, on May 5. Unlike one-time neighbor Bank of Hawaii, which previously had a spacious facility but downsized at another location facing Kalanianaole Highway, Hawaii National is instructing customers to do future banking at its Kaimuki branch.
Another merchant — Al Phillips, the laundry — shut down last November with little notice.
Thus, there are many open spaces in this suburban mall.
What’s in the water there, with so many closures and abandoned retail space?
After the former Ben Franklin craft store closed to move to the Kaimuki vicinity, across Kaimuki High School, there were other tenants, including Pricebusters, a discount store, and it had a good run. Years after it shut down, an emporium targeting gaming fans opened and shut quickly, due to scanty patronage.
Across the way, a Japanese restaurant opened, then closed, and did a re-launch, but finally threw in the towel for good, following a dismal run. A new tenant, Happiness, is a set to occupy that space, next door to Assaggio, though dubiously; this new operator may not have heard that Sophie’s pizzeria closed a few doors away last year.
I support many neighborhood merchants, so it’s worrisome that that the eight-screen Koko Marina multi-plex is struggling to draw cinephiles. Hope it can survive the skimpy viewership until new blockbuster titles — like sequels such as “Avatar” and “Top Gun” — start filling the seats. At the large-screen No. 8 theater last weekend, there were only five patrons at a matinee screening.
The pandemic can’t be wholly blamed, but other smaller malls across Oahu don’t seem to have this kind of declining traffic and empty spaces after shut-downs.
What goes? Can’t merely point to inflation either; everyone’s hurting but clearly, merchants can’t keep up with the loss of profit margins due to a lack of patronage. …
Steel guitar festival in Kona
A three-day Kona Steel Guitar Festival is slated for March 23, 24 and 25 at the Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa in Keauhou, on the Big Island.
Alan Akaka
Participating steel guitarists performing March 23 include Alan Akaka, Pomai Brown, Al Greene, Jr., Bobby Ingano, Kapono Lopes, Patti Maxine, Greg Sardinha, Dwight Tokumoto, and Geronimo “Geri” Valdriz. NextGen steel guitarists include Enosa Lyman, Makamae Lyu-Napoleon, Isaballa Bertelmann, Joey Misailidis, and Pono Fernandez. Kimo Kahoano will be master of ceremonies.
On March 24 and 25, the kanikapila will welcome community guitarists to bring their instruments and perform along with other festival troupers. Those requiring amplification should bring their own batter-operated amplifier.
The event, free to the public, is sponsored by the Hawaii Institute for Music Enrichment and Learning Experiences (HIMELE), Ke Kula Mele Hawaii School of Hawaiian Music and the Outrigger Kona hotel.
Information about all HIMELE-produced Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festivals and livestream events is available at http://steelguitarfestivals.com/.
Broadway grosses, week ending Jan. 29
Posting a closing date has been beneficial for “Phantom of the Opera,” which again tops the weekly gross list.
The show, Broadway’s longest-running musical, has posted an extended April 16 at the Majestic Theatre, and fans continue to flock to see hear the music of the night and watch the chandelier fall.
The top seven shows with the top grosses in New York:
1 – “Phantom,” $2.483 million.
2 – “Funny Girl,” $1.872 million.
3 – “Hamilton,” $1.871 million.
4 – “The Lion King,” $1.695 million.
5 – “MJ,” $1.584 million.
6 – “Wicked,” $1.549 million.
7 – “Moulin Rouge,” $1.376 million.
Here’s the full tally is courtesy The Broadway Guild. …
To my network of friends and allies, check your mailbox: mailings are out to you.
The pins were fun to make, but had a last-minute burst of creativity: concocted one shadow-box for Valentine’s, already distributed to a longtime buddy, and shared here.
So you must know that Zippy’s Hawaii Kai will shut down its dining room with last meals served on Feb. 5. The take-out counter will continue, possibly through the end of this year.
But it’ll be a sad day when the Zippy’s in my East Oahu community closes its doors.
The location, formerly Castagnola’s, is the chain’s only restaurant boasting a spectacular marina view. Daytime, boats and ducks share the watery view, and nights without moons enable the businesses across the way provide twinkling lights.
It’s not magical, but it’s been a precious location for family meals, take-out, and breakfasts with friends and allies. But location isn’t a factor in the closure. There are several issues at stake.The senior discount cards/program, which provided 10 per cent discounts for everything, from table meals to carry-out, party platters and birthday cakes, though not for special orders like Thanksgiving turkeys. It was a popular promotion, but perhaps too popular, eating into the bottom line: profits.
Zippy’s crispy fried chicken
The issues at Hawaii Kai are understandable. The restaurant can’t find workers/servers and two but seldom three servers usually have to seat folks, get and place orders, serve the meals, sometimes do table bussing work, too. And deliver the check, too. Sometimes only two diners are waiting to be seated; 20 minutes later, there may be 10 or 12, and it’s not surprising that a party or two or four walk out because no one pays attention to the back-up.
The exterior is deteriorating, losing its glory day looks; the dining room was tuned up with plexiglas, a sign of the pandemic. But inside story is plain and simple: business is way down, food prices have risen, and marina views no longer are cherished.
What I’ll miss: the fried chicken, with its crispy skin; the Zip-Min or the wun ton min, with generous extras like the eggs, and char siu, and the Napoleon Bakery’s Napples. I assume the bakery, next to and part of the dine-out windows, will linger, and limp along without the declining walk-ins at the dining room.
What’s also been great: You can order your coffee and eggs-and-meat combos or pancakes and waffles, made fresh, and patter and chatter will include coffee re-fills. Elsewhere, the eateries still open for three meals a day, don’t appreciate your over-stays because they need the turnaround business.
The glory days at Zippy’s Hawaii, at the Koko Marina Shopping Center
I still patronize the restaurant, particularly after an early movie visit at the Koko Marina film complex. I fear that the theaters could shut down, too, with fewer and fewer turning out to watch a movie on a big screen. A blockbuster helps fills the corridors on opening night, but otherwise, you don’t see folks bustling to their seats. Streaming at home could be a culprit, ‘cuz there’ve been times when my wife and I are the lone souls watching a new movie. But that’s another story for another time.
Zippy’s management has not provided vital support for more hands on deck, or tending to reports of the air-conditioning going down and other ills of running a restaurant. Zippy’s Hawaii Kai ran out of printed menus in the last weeks of operations, and refills were not provided since the closure was near.
The restaurant had a special-area bar, which shut down years ago, and when business was brisk, it provided overflow space for diners. During the pandemic, that site was supposed to be an employee lounge, but only once did I see a worker actually in that dark and unfriendly room. At one time, Rotarians booked it for monthly luncheon meetings, but no more.
Wait staff has mentioned the restaurant wanted to pare down its lease rent with the shopping center; no one has confirmed or denied.
Since there’s no knowledge if Zippy’s still has to pay for the vacant dining room, in the months ahead, or even if there might be a turnabout and change of plans and a future reopening decision. Perhaps the community needs to rally and sound off, but also put its money where the mouth is … and dine in, like the old days.
What do you think?
Meanwhile, down the street on Kalanianaole Highway, Roy’s Restaurant – which recently marked its 35th anniversary and survived the devastating decline of business during the pandemic – has sorta become my neighborhood restaurant. Yes, it’s many steps above Zippy’s, and costlier to dine there. No, there’s no breakfast service but I’ll drive to Zippy’s Kahala. But I don’t want Roy Yamaguchi to close his flagship restaurant. …
Oldies and still goodies
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons will concertize at 8 p.m. March 18 at the Tom Moffatt Waikiki Shell. But Valli will be the lone voice in the Broadway musical that depicted the original “Jersey Boys.”
Frankie Valii
The popular foursome in the hit Broadway musical explored the life and times of Valli and his buddies. The act, of course, concocted such hit songs as “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “Dawn,” “Rag Doll,” and “Bye Bye Baby.”
The original Seasons, led by Valli, were Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito, and Nick Massi. Over the years, other singers-musicians provided the music and vocal harmonies to support Valli’s trademark high notes …
The Doobie Brothers are also booked for a show at 7:30 p.m. May 5 at the Waikiki Shell.
This rock-and-soul group has produced such best-sellers as “Listen to the Music,” “Black Water,” “Takin’ It to the Street,” “What a Fool Believes,”and “Long Train Running.”
The Doobies include Michael McDonald, Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons and John Hartman . …
We’re reviewing two stage musicals here — Diamond Head Theatre’s “Cinderella,” the first show in its new facility, and Manoa Valley Theatre’s “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”
We liked one, but not so much the other…
‘Cinderella’
“Cinderella,” the Rodgers and Hammerstein version of the fairy tale about a servant girl who has dreams of good fortunes, is the first musical in the new $22.37 million Diamond Head Theatre.
It is not to be confused with the popular animated Disney version, though the characters are similar: Cinderella has a stepmother and two dipsy stepsisters, in a kingdom where a Prince is staging a ball and looking for love.
Of course, there is a Fairy Godmother who grants Cinderella her wish to attend the ball, but there is no “Bibbidy-Bobbidy -Boo” song here.
The last Broadway revival of this R&H version was known for the incredible and inventive costume design, which won a Tony Award for William Ivey Long, who literally turned rags to riches into marvelous garb with the changes instantly right before your eyes. I saw it on Broadway and not much more mattered, considering this gift of instantaneous wardrobe change.
DHT’s rendering boasts great voices, but redundant choreography scenes, and its fab costume switch, with Ella’s ball grown drifting downward on a hanger from the venue’s new fly space is effective –with kokua from a few huddled cast members – with the unseen switcheroo happening as quickly as possible.
The palatial ball, however lacks sparkle and party frou-frou, with a skimpy wooden frame depicting a staircase for Ella’s entrance, almost as if funding for a prettier set fell short because money was spent on the theater, a priority over a glitzy party décor.
Christine Kluvo has the right look and voice to render Ella, but the “find” is Paula Fuga as the Godmother, a rather calm savior who brings command and wisdom to the plate; “It’s Possible” is her motto, not “Impossible,” and “Fol-de-Rol” is her answer to “Bibbidy-Bobbidy-Boo.”
Larry Paxton as The King and Anna Young as The Queen also provide vocal enchantment, and in this telling, the stepmother (Lisa Konove) and her two diddley daughters Portia (Stacy Pulmano) and Joy (Barrie Kealoha) are simply cartoonish figures in flamboyant costumes and giddy but not genuinely funny.
The Prince (Nick Amador) has a competent voice, but seems to be a boring royal who finally takes an interest in the ball after Ella shows up in his life. You know the drill; she cuts short her visit because, well, you know what happens after midnight if she’s tardy.
Though the theater has that aerial loft, some set pieces (Ella’s home and the palace exterior) still are rolled on and off stage, the old-fashioned way. And while there is an orchestra pit, musical conductor Lindsay Rabe didn’t take that post-intermission bow.
Alas, director-choreographer John Rampage can’t manufacture laugher or emotion if they’re not in the script. And with obvious budget constraints, set designer Dawn Oshima and prop designer John M. Cummings III could not fill the stage with grand embellishments. Even the chariot that brings Ella to the ball – the re-imagined pumpkin-turned-coach – is flat with a lone merry-go-round pony.
In her finale as costume director, the retiring Karen G. Wolfe creates elegant gowns and suits favoring hues of sherbet, salmon and white, for the cast of nearly 40. Or perhaps she can squeeze a dollar from a quarter.
Rampage, as DHT’s artistic director, has been a tireless and innovative craftsman for decades but misses the mark here. The magical spell is missing.
The new theater is awesome, offering comfortable seats, leg room. and great sight patterns, though there’s no far left or far right aisle, if your seats are in the first six or seven rows. The interior looks like a work in progress, so the space has no personality.
There’s a concession bar plus ample restrooms (outdoors, not within the theater).
The capacity is nearly 500 seats, equaling the old DHT, now demolished. The new main entrance is on the makai side of the new facility, instead of the usual back of the house entry facing the street, so if you park at Kapiolani Community College, there are steps or a wheelchair walkway, to get below street level and the side “front” door.
And parking at KCC currently is a maze, because of construction work and coning and barricading, the only entry is from Makapuu Avenue and one way is out via Kilauea Avenue, so caution is advised.
‘Cinderella’
Plays Thursdays through Sundays, through Feb. 12. According to the DHT website, the run — including a week’s extension — is virtually sold out.
Manoa Valley Theatre boasts a stunning revival of “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” playing through Jan. 29, and the impressive music-hall set, designed by Andrew Doan, is the first thing you see. The two pairs of box seats (three are utilized as staging areas, the fourth houses orchestra) punctuate the setting of a show house in the London of 1895.
Update: MVT has extended the run of “Drood” through Feb. 5.
The velvet curtain opens, and you start meeting and hearing this vigorous and vital ensemble, and they’re having fun and you can’t resist joining in. Enticing entertainment follows,.
Directed and choreographed by Miles Phillips (with Taylor Gruver as co-choreographer), this little musical, written by Rupert Holmes, is a play within a play, inspired by an unfinished Charles Dickens novel, which enables the show to engage the audience in deciding who among the cast is a murderer.
Being an ensemble piece, everyone is a somebody and every move might be a clue in this whodunit. If there are “leads,” it would be Christopher Denton as the Chairman, Mr. William Cartwright, Miguel Cadoy III, as Mr. Clive Paget as John Jasper; Susan Johnson Green, as Miss Angela Prysock as Princess Puffer; Kim Anderson, as Miss Deirdre Peregrine as Rosa Bud; Chelsea Carline as Miss Alice Nutting, as Edwin Drood; and Alexandra Zinov as Miss Janet Conover as Helena Landless.
Some of the ensemble characters in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.”
The score offers a gamut of styles, from quasi-opera to show-tune ballads, from light rock to jaunty gems, but no hummable tunes you’ll remember. But Denton as the emcee-chairman, and Cadoy as Jasper, engage in a jewel of a tongue-twister and rapid-fire “Both Sides of the Coin.” Worth going just to experience and applaud this one.
Musical director Jenny Shiroma, as orchestra maestro, has a couple of occasions to shout out a reply from an actor, and she plays the game like the rest of us.
Hannah Jitsukawa’s costumes reflect the era, from bright and showbizzy to dark and somber.
A raise-your-hand survey, to determine the culprit, is somewhat overplayed, and yes, votes matter.
‘The Mystery Edwin Drood’
Playing Thursdays through Sundays, through Jan.29. Update: The show has been extended through Feb. 5.
Tickets: $24 to $45, discounts available for seniors, military, and youths up to 25, at (808) 988-6131 or www.manoavalleytheatre.com …
Broadway grosses, for week ending Jan. 22
With the closure of “The Music Man,” Hugh Jackman’s $3 million-plus blockbuster during most of its run, guess which show now is the No. 1 hottie. The top seven productions, for the week ending Jan. 22:
No. 1 — “The Phantom of the Opera,” $2.227 million. It winds up its extended run on April 16.
