ShowBiz
Maui theatrical gets new general manager
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor
THE LOCAL ANGLE: Stan Michaels has become general manager of the "'Ulalena" production, the Maui-based multimedia extravaganza anchored at the Maui Myth & Magic Theatre. Until recently, he managed the IMAX Theatre and the Waikiki Theatres 1, 2 and 3.
Michaels is in the midst of moving to Maui, but continues to be chief barker of the Variety Club of Hawai'i. He says that the ARRA Montreal team, the producer of the show, has been working with the performers to polish and tweak the popular attraction ...
WHEE, THE PEOPLE: Billy Van Osdol and Charly Espina were singing the praises of Wayne Brady's new ABC variety series last week, when lo and behold, Brady himself called to talk story with the KCCN-FM morning drive duo. He told them that ratings were unexpectedly high for a new summer show, and that he and localite wife Mandie Taketa plan to do an original musical here entitled "The Only Game in Town" in the future ...
Claus Hansen, owner of Affordable Casket? Not exactly true. Contrary to an item in the Aug. 8 Show Biz column, the groom-to-be of KHNL anchor-reporter Diane Ako has done wonders for the company and is a partner, but the legal ownership rests with John Hutton Corp., owned by John Weiser. Hansen is the idea man, and Weiser holds the bankrolls. That item, based on information from a source, also may have given the impression that Affordable Casket isn't a local company. It is ...
Konishiki was the grand marshal in Los Angeles' Nisei Week (equivalent to our Cherry Blossom Festival) recently, which was held in Little Tokyo. Our resident Festival queen, Catherine E. Toth, took part in the parade, which honored Japanese American veterans. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, was there, and emcee for the Nisei Week pageant was Rob Fukuzaki, a sports anchor on KABC-7, formerly of Honolulu ...
The upcoming Miss Teen USA Pageant is conducting an Internet contest for Miss Photogenic; you can vote for Hawai'i entrant Alana Paulo-Tamashiro at www.missteenusa.com, but do so pronto; voting started Monday and ends tomorrow noon, Hawai'i time ...
The folks at Loomis Inc. are mighty proud of broadcast production manager Phyllis S.K. Look, an actress-director who recently won a Po'okela Award for directing Manoa Valley Theatre's "Sisters Matsumoto." But more exciting is an invitation from the Sundance Institute's theater program to mount "A Thousand Cranes," based on a story of Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who died of leukemia in 1955 as a result of radiation from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. She is credited with inspiring the tradition of folding paper cranes for peace. For the project, Look is taking a three-week leave to prepare the play for a school tour in Utah in the fall. Still another local link: Taiko master Kenny Endo is handling the music ...
CLUBLICITY: Those who remember Kit Samson's Sound Advice, the mainstays of the old Kahala Hilton, should be happy that Samson's longtime buddy, Russ Trinidad, will join him in merry music-making from 8 tonight at the Mahina Lounge of the Ala Moana Hotel. Trinidad is recovering from a quadruple bypass but feels fit enough to swing back into action. "It's been 11 years since he came to Hawai'i," said Samson. (Trinidad had moved to California). Samson already has tagged him to join his New Year's Eve band. Could Connie Kissinger be next?...
And that's Show Biz ...
Show Biz runs Wednesdays and Fridays; reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or 525-8055 (fax).
