SHOW BIZ
Midler tour likely to skip Islands
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
DATELINE NEW YORK: Bette Midler, born in Hawai'i, is embarking on a major tour that starts Dec. 10 in Chicago, and she's been rehearsing in New York and Los Angeles. The production will be directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, a familiar name in the local theater community for his earlier ties with "Les Miserables" and "Miss Saigon."
Over dinner at Carmine's in the heart of Broadway, Jay-Alexander said Midler summoned him to her apartment for a summit and signed him on after she fired her original director. "Ask her to come to Hawai'i," we suggested, since Honolulu is not part of the announced itinerary. "She's doing the big halls," said Jay-Alexander, so it would have to be Aloha Stadium. But since the Divine Miss M hates to frolic in front of her hometown crowd, a gig is unlikely. Meanwhile, Web sites list prime tour tickets going for $800 to $900 — a very pricey proposition. ...
Jay-Alexander has directed Barbra Streisand's and Bernadette Peters' concerts and seems to gravitate to folks whose names begin with B; he's at the helm of Barry Manilow's December gig at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. ...
• • •
AROUND TOWN: In New York, we lunched at a Columbus Avenue bistro with Cris Groenendaal, who's teaching English as a second language between selected gigs, but we were unable to connect with Craig Schulman. Both are veterans on Broadway, but neither is currently on stage (shameful!). Groenendaal and Schulman were the pair who headlined the Manoa Valley Theatre fund-raiser this year, and they're negotiating to do a Hawai'i Theatre fund-raiser. ...
We also dined at Marlowe's in the theater district with Peter Lawrence, a former Hawai'i resident, who is associate director of "Gypsy." (He allowed us to step onto the Schubert Theatre stage, where Bernadette Peters does her star turn.) Lawrence wanted to hear about local pals Glenn Cannon, Terence Knapp, Jo Diotalevi and Gary Anderson, colleagues from his University of Hawai'i days, plus folks like Ron Bright and the acting Anguays. He's hankering to buy Waimea (Big Island) property, but realizes that New York is his domain. Ryan Rumbaugh and his mom, Dawn, showed up, too — the once-little kid, now a towering 17, is still cherubic in looks (remember him as Gavroche in "Les Miz"?), but eager to do techie work. He's a senior at the Performing Arts School. ...
• • •
ORDER IN THE COURT: Thanks to localites Cindy Balfour (script supervisor) and Yvonna Balfour (a dresser), we were able to do a "Law and Order" set visit at Chelsea Pier, when the episode titled "Embedded" was being completed. During a break, we got to meet Elizabeth Ršhm, who plays assistant district attorney Serena Southerlyn; she has fond memories of Hawai'i from the time she worked on "Fantasy Island." Venerable Sam Waterson, who plays assistant district attorney Jack McCoy, was prepping for his court scene. Got to sit in the judge's chair and witness box; also got quick peeks at the police headquarters (alas, Jerry Orbach was not on call), even read graffiti on the desk of Jesse L. Martin (who plays Detective Ed Green). Radford grad Michael Medeiros was playing a lawyer for the episode. ...
• • •
SHOW BREEZES: We took in nine shows over seven days and found charm, thrills and excitement aplenty in most of the productions, including "The Boy From Oz" with Hugh Jackman, "Gypsy," "Avenue Q" with localite Ann Harada, "Movin' Out," "Take Me Out," "Never Gonna Dance," "Hairspray," "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Wicked." We'll do a review roundup shortly in the Travel section. ...
And that's Show Biz. ...
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.
