SHOW BIZ
Tino & the Rhythm Klub score 2 Vegas gigs
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
VEGAS VIBES: Tino & the Rhythm Klub, the popular lounge/showroom act featuring Tino Ibach (who goes by the single moniker Tino), will appear in two Las Vegas gigs next month: La Scene in the Venetian Hotel, Aug. 11-17, and Sinbad's Lounge in the Aladdin, Aug. 19-24. If you're in Vegas, stop by and offer your aloha.
It's a major pop for the Waikiki act, ensconced at the Esprit Lounge of the Sheraton Waikiki for the past two years. "We've worked diligently for two years to get to where we are today," said Lucky Salvador, group leader and drummer. Tino, who was a driving force of the now-defunct group The Krush, also had a solo spotlight when he appeared on the syndicated "Your Big Break" TV show, on which he did his Stevie Wonder impression. ...
Charo, the hot tamale who lives in Las Vegas, says she's being wooed to reopen at the exact Aladdin club where she says she encountered financial woes with the previous management (she is suing.) Now new owners want to reopen and are trying to make her an offer she can't refuse. "I miss Hawai'i," said the coochie-coochie cutie. And she yearns to do a show here again. ...
Frannie Kirk, Outrigger Hotels' entertainment director, is back from a Vegas trek, where she met up with Tony Ruivivar and the Society of Seven, who are headlining at the Aladdin. Sons Michael and Shawn Kirk drove up from Phoenix for a brief reunion — and SOS reunion — since both have worked either lights and sound, or sales, for the SOSers in Waikiki. By the way, Ruivivar has bought a home in Vegas, suggesting some permanence in the Vegas stakes. ...
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HERE 'N' THERE: "A Child's Garden of Grass," originally produced and released in 1971, has been reissued by Rhino Records in a limited numbered edition of 5,000 copies. The local connection? Its producer is Kane'ohe resident Ron Jacobs, the veteran radio personality (remember Whodaguy? "Homegrown" albums?) and an industry veteran (a co-creator of "American Top 40"). He has fond memories of the "Grass" album, not only because it was the first record project he ever did, but also because of where he did it.
"We built a studio in an old house off the Hollywood Freeway," said Jacobs. "The carpenter was a shy, young actor. He didn't own a car. I'd pick him up every day and give him a ride to the job site. That's how Harrison Ford and I met and became friends." Jacobs' latest project, a comedy CD, is due in August. ...
Steve Knox, executive director of Ballet Hawaii, brought lei to New York and caught the Billy Joel-Twyla Tharp musical, "Movin' Out." The lei were for performers who danced in previous Ballet Hawaii "Nutcracker" productions and are now in the Tony-nominated show: John Selya, Ashley Tuttle and Keith Roberts, plus fellow cast members Alex Brady and Ben Bowman. ...
When Paul Ogata, the comic-deejay, was in Los Angeles for gigs at the Laugh Factory and the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, he heard a familiar voice hollering his name; it was ex-local comic-deejay Myk Powell, talking on a cell phone with Jaz Kaner, another ex-local and a stand-up. ...
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NAME-DROPPING: Gov. Linda Lingle and Lenny and Marcia Klompus (he's Lingle's communications chief) dined Saturday night at Ruth's Chris Steak House. They're regulars there. ...
Fans of Kurt Kipapa can catch him twice this weekend: He joins The Brothers Cazimero from 7 p.m. Saturday at the Hawaii Kai Towne Center. He's also part of a Ward Warehouse show, noon-2 p.m., featuring Christian acts such as Omni, Jan Kaeo, Mark Matthews and 7 Simple Pieces. ...
And that's Show Biz. ...
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.
