'Legends' show due back in Waikiki
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
Elvis is coming back to Hawai'i — at least in the Legends in Concert show at the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center.
On Stage Entertainment Inc. said yesterday that it plans to resume the Legends in Concert program of celebrity impersonators' performances that ended in May 1999 shortly before its then-owner filed for bankruptcy protection.
On Stage, a Las Vegas company that produces Legends in Concert shows in four cities, said it is close to acquiring a five-year lease to run one dinner and one cocktail show nightly in the 800-seat Aloha Showroom on the fourth floor of the Waikiki shopping center.
The theater has been unused since the last Legends in Concert show more than three years ago. On Stage said it will renovate the theater for the new shows, expected to start next year. Reopening of the show could provide a significant boost to Waikiki retailers and businesses, drawing 5,600 visitors a week to the area.
On Stage, which has produced Legends in Concert shows at the Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas since 1983, has been in talks for more than a year with Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center owner Kamehameha Schools and the center's managing agent, Pauahi Management.
The Waikiki shows would start after agreement on final details of the lease and after On Stage acquires permits.
Sanford Murata, director of commercial assets for Kamehameha Schools, estimated that renovations to the theater will cost $1.5 million, which On Stage would be responsible for. Murata estimated that the lease would start Dec. 1, and the show could start after three months of renovations.
On Stage chief executive Tim Parrott said his company plans to employ about 60 to 80 part-time and full-time workers, including about a dozen impersonators. The company will likely hold auditions and interviews in Honolulu as well as on the Mainland. On Stage rotates acts around its venues — Las Vegas; Atlantic City; Branson, Mo.; and Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The most recent Legends in Concert show here was run by now-defunct RBLS Partnership of Nevada, which had licensed the name Legends in Concert from On Stage but was a separate company, Parrott said.
RBLS ran into problems as the Islands saw a decline in Japanese visitors, who accounted for as much as 60 percent of the show's audience, and after a 1997 lawsuit alleging wrongful firing of two managers resulted in more than $550,000 for fees and the award.
After the breakdown of negotiations for potential buyer Odyssey Inc. of Las Vegas to enter a lease with Royal Hawaiian, RBLS eventually converted a Chapter 11 reorganization filing into a Chapter 7 liquidation.
Parrott said he is optimistic that the new show will appeal to both Japanese and Mainland visitors.
"We're confident that we'll bring a show that is popular and successful," Parrott said. "We realize that the eastbound market is still soft and we can't change that, but we've met with over the last year the largest eastbound tour operators and I think we understand what acts they want."
Legends in Concert shows include performers emulating Marilyn Monroe, the Blues Brothers, Madonna and Celine Dion. The company has also held limited-
engagement shows on tour in Japan, where Parrott says younger audiences prefer impersonations of celebrities such as Ricky Martin, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lopez.
Elvis is not negotiable.
"We certainly will have an Elvis," he said. "All the shows have an Elvis. But we haven't determined which Elvis we will send."
