Show Biz
'Ale'a saying farewell to one member
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor
COCONUT WIRELESS: Kala'i Stern, a member of the Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning ensemble 'Ale'a, is leaving the ensemble in the next month. A going-away party is planned for July 29 at Gordon Biersch, where other groups will also perform.
Despite the success of 'Ale'a, Stern faced the decision of sticking to music or returning to the academic — and schooling won. A music major and a junior at the University of Hawai'i, where he is studying choral music, Stern wants to get that degree.
But he's also embarking on another challenge, taking on the musical directorship of the Honolulu Boy Choir. As if that were not enough, he'll become stage-active in the fall, landing a slot in the cast of Manoa Valley Theatre's "Smokey Joe's Cafe" in September. So while he is bidding aloha, he'll not exactly be invisible. His 'Ale'a chums — Kale Hannahs, Chad Takatsugi and Ryan "Gonzo" Gonzalez — will continue on as a trio, as they were before Stern joined. But Stern will stay with the group through a number of commitments through summer ...
Understand, too, that Jeannette Trevias, the musical director and an up-front singer with Honolulu the Band, is exiting the ranks shortly at Esprit ...
And 'Ehukai's Kaulana Pakele has joined The Mana'o Company, 2001 version, whose "Spread a Little Aloha" CD will be released next Tuesday ...
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NAME-DROPPING: Look for Lanai and Augie T to reopen their Comedy Shack gig July 20 at the Dole Cannery ballroom. And the group to be featured: The Mana'o Company ...
Haunani Apoliona is this year's Ka Himeni Ana honoree and will be duly recognized at the Aug. 18 contest in the Hawai'i Theatre. You know her as an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee, musician, songwriter and sometimes-member of Olomana. She joins a prestigious list that includes Nina Keali'iwahamana and Bill Kaiwa ...
When Keola Beamer guest stars in the "Ke Kani O Ke Kai" series July 26 at the Waikiki Aquarium, he'll bring along dancing wife Moanalani, beloved mom Nona Beamer and longtime musical ally John Kolivas (on acoustic bass) ...
Don Ho, back at his Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel slot, was the subject of a nice profile ("He bubbles with good humor") in the Los Angeles Times. A photo of Ho and daughter Hoku accompanied the story, which also quoted — no surprise — the late Kimo Wilder McVay ...
OK, who won that 2002 Ford Explorer in last week's Susan G. Komen Hawai'i Race for the Cure promotion at Restaurant Row? No one; though 10 finalists qualified, no one was able to do a 50-foot putt on a hole-in-one. But $6,000 was raised in the battle to find a cure for breast cancer ...
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ITEMIZATIONS: Comedian Rip Taylor will be in the Islands shortly, which means confetti season is near. He's still trying to find that elusive penthouse apartment so he can live here ...
Emily Tam, the musical theater grad of Punahou School and the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, recently performed aboard the Royal Norwegian Cruise Line. She was home in time for brother Jason Tam's graduation from Punahou. Jason, who was Gavroche in "Les Miserables," will begin his musical theater studies this fall at New York University. Emily will be anchored in Los Angeles, where an agent is seeking out job prospects ...
With today's column, Show Biz will be on vacation, resuming July 18...
And that's Show Biz ....
