Posted on: Thursday, August 5, 2004
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SHOW BIZ
Local maestro's baton gets a workout
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
Music, maestro: Matt Catingub, Honolulu Pops conductor, is off to conduct the Atlanta Symphony Pops tomorrow night. Guest artists will be Toto, the 1970s-'80s rock group, which performed with the Honolulu Symphony May 7 and 8, their first-ever symphonic jaunt. The group's doing many of their hits in the current show, as they did in Honolulu. ...
Catingub will also guest-conduct the Oregon Symphony Pops Aug. 28. And he recently did a gig with his Big Kahuna and the Copa Cat Pack at a one-month Arttown arts festival in Reno. Busy fella. ...
Kevin Anderson, the tenor in town to sing Nanki-Poo in Hawaii Opera Theatre's "The Mikado" (premiering tomorrow at Blaisdell Concert Hall), met his soprano wife, Jami Rogers, when they appeared as the title figures in Hawaii Opera Theatre's "Romeo et Juliette" in 1998. Anderson says the Islands are a special place for the couple. "We met here, got married, and now we have a son, Beckett, who's a year and a half old," said Anderson. "We became good friends with Fred Cachola, who works as a docent here, and he's helping us find a Hawaiian name for Beckett. We hope to have a name by the time we leave." With Beebe Freitas as accompanist, Anderson and Rogers gave a private concert at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Kona before he delved into full rehearsals for "The Mikado." Rogers might have done the Yum-Yum part in the show but is playing her real-life role as mommy instead. ... Datebook: "Aloha Shorts," a live recording session, is set for 7 p.m. at the Atherton Studios at Hawai'i Public Radio. HPR, the Honolulu Theatre for Youth and Bamboo Ridge are collaborating, with works by Eric Chock, Mavis Hara, Juliet S. Kono and R. Zamora Linmark read by BullDog, Nara Springer Conaty, Jason Kanda and Janice Terukina. Details: 955-8821. ... When Kukui Grove marks its grand re-opening ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday in Lihu'e, there will be some great entertainment by Kelly Boy DeLima and Kapena, The Brothers Cazimero and the youth group of the Taiko Center of the Pacific. At 8 p.m., there will be aerial fireworks. ... Also out Kaua'i way, "South Pacific" is in an indefinite dinner-theater run, at 6:45 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at the Jasmine Ballroom of the Radisson Hotel. Greg Shepherd, former Advertiser music critic, portrays Emil DeBecque, and hotel concierges have helped keep the show going since its January launch; sell-outs are very common. Reservations: (808) 742-2273. ... Random notes: When NBC's "Hawaii" drama was filming beachfront at the Hilton Hawaiian Village last weekend, series stars Michael Biehn and Sharif Atkins paused during a break to approach and chat with a star-struck lad, about 9 or 10. The actors noticed that the boy's back and shoulders were pink from the sun, so they called for sunscreen, and a production assistant spread it on the delighted young fan, who watched the next "take." ... Jordan Segundo will be featured on "Stir T.V.," airing here at 5 p.m. Saturday on KHNL-8. He taped the segment during a San Francisco visit. ... As a prelude to the 22nd Slack Key Festival, slated from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 15 at Kapi'olani Park, ki ho'alu workshops will be held at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Leahi Room of Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. Raymond Kane leads the morning session, Jeff Peterson, the afternoon one; cost is $15 for each 90-minute session, and reservations should be made with Ethan Chang at 921-9731. Besides Kane and Peterson, the festival assembles Maunalua, Henry Kapono, Jerry Santos, Mike Kaawa, Del Beazley and Walter Keale. ... Bits 'n' pieces: Vivien Stackpole, chair of Ballet Hawai'i's Black and White Ball, set for Sept. 25 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, is back from New York, where she visited with daughter Dana, who was in the Broadway musical "Movin' Out." Stackpole scored a pair of autographed dance shoes from star John Selya, which will be one of the silent-auction items at the fund-raiser. She chuckled when she put the "vigorously used" shoes in a sealed plastic bag in her suitcase. Selya, formerly of the American Ballet Theatre, is a friend of Ballet Hawai'i, having performed in a "Nutcracker" here. ... 'Ukulele virtuoso Gordon Mark will give a free concert at the Hawai'i State Art Museum tomorrow evening as part of the First Friday series of gallery walks downtown, held the first Friday of each month. The HiSAM will be open for extended hours, 5 to 9 p.m. ... Konrad Gar-Yeu Ng has been named film manager for the Honolulu Academy of Arts' Doris Duke Theatre. ... And that's Show Biz. ...
Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com or fax 525-8055.
