Revisiting Hawai'i's music, hula heritage
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor
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| Tony Conjugacion, above, joined forces with Hawai'i Theatre manager Burton White to produce a show in the spirit of the old "radio hula" days. The Alama Sisters and their halau are among the performers Conjugacion persuaded to appear as part of the Hana Hou Hawaiian music series.
'Hapa Haole Hou' Featuring Tony Conjugacion 8 p.m. today Hawai'i Theatre $30; discounts for students, seniors, Hawai'i Theatre members and military 528-0506 Also featuring: Karen Keawehawai'i, Leilani Alama, Puanani Alama and Beverly Noa; pre-show entertainment from 7:30 p.m., with Kilinahe |
"Hapa Haole Hou," tonight at the Hawai'i Theatre, is part of the ongoing Hana Hou series of Hawaiian music, with a flashback wrinkle and a good-fun twinkle.
It revisits the "radio hula" days of old, assembles three hula legends absent from the show scene for years, and puts Tony Conjugacion smack dab in the middle of this nostalgia geyser. But he's not complaining.
"I wanted to get together with some real cool people, and Burton White (he's the Hawai'i Theatre manager who also is producer of tonight's show) had this idea to do a retro show," said Conjugacion.
"Tony was one of the first people I met when I came to Hawai'i at the time KCCN played a lot of chalangalang music," said White. "So we had this idea to share an appreciation of the people who came before us. I had the house (the Hawai'i Theatre), but he had the contacts."
White also had the atmospheric props (including an applause sign that lights up, common in old radio studios) and decided to replicate the spirit of "Hawai'i Calls" and encourage audience participation.
Though he could have hogged the limelight and done a Hana Hou show to herald the arrival of his new Hawaiian CD, "Na Hulu Welo (Family Treasures)," being released March 15 to coincide with the birthday of his mother, Conjugacion decided to assemble his pals and go reflective, on a course down memory lane.
"I guess I'm reaching that point in my life where it's not important for me to be in the forefront all the time," he said. "I love directing, producing, even getting older. I love the challenge of doing something different."
In a coup of sorts, Conjugacion coaxed the Alama Sisters, Leilani and Puanani, to bring their halau dancers for the nostalgic outing. "In her time, Pua was known as the Dorothy Lamour of Hawai'i and Lei was the Betty Grable," said Conjugacion. "They both were dishes when they were younger."
"Burton was shocked that they both agreed to perform, and bring along their dancers," said Conjugacion. "Even Robert (Cazimero) said they never take the stage and they made that clear with Burton."
"We'll have a total of 55 dancers, so it will be fun," he said. "Five of my girls will do a cellophane hula (skirt) number, but the aunties are doing ti-leaf dances, real old-fashioned."
Conjugacion also was able to enlist Beverly Noa, who had just quit her Chanel job, to recreate the "Silhouette Hula" popularized by the late Lani Custino. In the heyday of Waikiki showroom productions, Noa was known for her lovely hula hands.
And, he said, Noa's hula garb will be created by Jeffrey Yoshida Couture.
And he managed to get Karen Keawehawai'i, a ranking specialist of hapa-haole hoedown, to join the roster and bring along her beloved two sidekicks, Auntie Flo Koanui and Auntie Mapu Yasue, mischievous ways intact.
The program will introduce Ryan Lympus, White's assistant at the Hawai'i Theatre, who will appear as Prince Kalani, a haole singer. "Our token haole," Conjugacion joked. "He's in 'Mame,' and he's trying really hard to learn Hawaiian." He performs "Keep Your Eyes on the Hands."
The "house band," called the Radio Hula Serenaders, includes Kimo Bell on bass, Conjugacion on 'ukulele, Charles Fukuba on steel guitar, Leila Ki'ahi on piano and David "Chino" Montero on guitar.
