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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 18, 2005

SOS finds damsel (in a dress!) a 'perfect fit'

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

The Society of Seven — from left, Tony Ruivivar, Gary Bautista, Randy Abellar, featured vocalist Lani Misalucha, Bert Sagum, Wayne Wakai, Roy Guerzo and Hoku Low — offers four shows at the Hawai'i Theatre.

SOCIETY OF SEVEN WITH LANI MISALUCHA

7:30 p.m. today and

Saturday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday

Hawai'i Theatre

$35, $45; $5 discount for students, seniors and military

528-0506

From the start, it was a risk and an experiment — a woman singer joining the bastion of gents in the Society of Seven.

Exit tradition. Enter a new chapter in the life and times of the "classic" SOS.

"In 35 years of putting a show together, we've discovered that Lani Misalucha brings us up to a different level," said Tony Ruivivar, co-founder of the SOS, the premier show band that prevailed in the Waikiki mainstream — the Outrigger Waikiki's Main Showroom — for more than three decades. The all-guys production has boasted faux females, with members Gary Bautista, Bert Sagum and Roy Guerzo in wigs, dresses, earrings and even heels.

But in the past six months, the SOS has been glowing anew with the real McCoy — a Filipina songbird Las Vegas audiences have dubbed "the new diva."

So now buzz and wonderment are here, as the newly expanded SOS — the "classic" group, not the spin-off act still performing in town — makes its Honolulu debut with Misalucha tonight through Sunday at the Hawai'i Theatre.

"I knew very little about them," said Misalucha, who was initially cautious about joining the bandwagon. "Would they prefer a female as part of the act? Would they want to work with an outsider, to incorporate another element to their show?"

Yes, yes and yes, it turns out.

Misalucha, a solo star in her native Manila, has invigorated the veteran show group with her five-octave voice and her ability to do impressions — a big part of the SOS tradition — as the act rebuilds its following in the gambling capital. They closed earlier this month at Bally's Jubilee Showroom, where they performed at 3 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and a lone evening set at 8 p.m. Fridays, but already have a nine-month return engagement starting up March 26.

"She brings something special," Ruivivar said during a recent Honolulu visit to show off the group's latest find. "We got her up on stage earlier, at the Aladdin, where she did one song and got a standing ovation, then another song and another ovation, and a third one. We signed autographs after the show, and her line was longer than ours."

Misalucha boasts a great sense of humor and brings that to the plate. Plus an ability to do impersonations, from a Britney to a Whitney, from a Streisand to a Dion, and lots more — Gladys Knight, BeyoncÚ, Shania Twain.

"When we do 'Phantom of the Opera,' we now have a Christine," said Ruivivar.

"We're not the Society of Eight," said Ruivivar. "But we've integrated Lani into the show, rather than making her a featured guest star. "She's the perfect fit; the chemistry is right."

For Misalucha, 35, the opportunity to perform in Vegas means uprooting her family (a husband and two daughters, 14 and 11) to America. "I wanted to start up a life here and raise the family. Is Vegas a tough place to grow up? I don't know. So far, it's been good."

She was sort of forced into show biz when an older sister who was performing with a group had to beg out, and Misalucha was asked to do the sisterly thing and fill in.

She later appeared in clubs, made four solo albums and quickly established herself as a bona-fide singing star in the Philippines.

"It's a new chapter for us," Ruivivar said of the makeover. "We're reinventing ourselves; right now, we're the only Asian act doing regular shows in Las Vegas — definitely a challenge in our growth."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.