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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, June 19, 2008

SHOW BIZ
'Rap's Hawaii' cast offers sneak preview

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Columnist

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser
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Honolulu Theatre for Youth's "Rap's Hawaii" cast — Kimo Kaona, Pomai Lopez and Charles Timtim — performed at the 40th reunion of comedian Rap Reiplinger's Punahou class of 1978 last Friday on the Punahou campus, before opening its remount for the public at Tenney Theatre last Saturday. One of Reiplinger's classmates brought an old picture of him in his ROTC uniform — and voila, no Afro 'do. And Paul Palmore, Punahou drama teacher, was in the house — he was Timtim's drama teacher when Timtim was at Kamehameha. ...

"Rap's Hawaii" continues its hana hou gig at 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday and on June 28. New box-office number: 457-4254. Or go to www.htyweb.org. ...

AND TALK ABOUT A TIME WARP: The aforementioned Lopez is a busy bee. Not only is she reprising "Rap's Hawaii," she also is in Manoa Valley Theatre's "Rocky Horror Show" as Magenta. You might also know her Bankoh/Hawaiian Airlines TV ads. You go, girlfriend! ...

The trio also did "Room Service" and "The Young Kanakas" at the Perry & Price radio show at John Dominis last Saturday for a full house that included lots of notables: Cecilio Rodriguez and Henry Kapono, Frank DeLima, Society of Seven Las Vegas with Jasmine Trias, Jordan Pruitt from the Disney Channel, Ku'uipo Kumukahi, and Son Caribe with Eddie Ortiz. The place was hot, hot, hot. ...

TRADE WINDS: Don Tiki, the exotic music combo led by Lloyd Kandell and Kit Ebersbach, has been invited to the Wassermusik Festival in Berlin July 25. The group will perform at the venerable House of World Cultures, an open-air event on a river bank, and Don Tiki fits the day's theme of inspiration amid tiki, surf and shanty music.

The 14-member ensemble will assemble, meaning the cast will include Perry Coma (Ebersbach), Fluid Floyd (Kandell), Lopaka Colon, Abe Lagrimas Jr., Delmar de Wilde, plus Hai Jung, Willow Chang and Sherry Shaoling. The wildly costumed Don Tiki Dancers will be aboard, too. ...

Rocker Todd Rundgren is celebrating his 60th birthday with a new album, "Arena," and a celebration in Hawai'i — at Princeville, Kaua'i, where he resides part of the year. His birthday is Sunday, when the new CD will launch. The national release will be in September. ...

DANCE FEVER: Mark Kanemura, a former choreographer and dancer with Marcelo Pacleb's 24-7 Danceforce, has been carrying the Hawai'i banner in Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance." You probably have seen him in his salad days, as a Show Kidz performer, in Diamond Head Theatre's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," in Army Community Theatre's "Grease," in Hawaii Ballet Theatre's "Nutcracker," in Tau Dance Theater's "Hanau Ka Moku," and sundry Danceforce spectacles. His agility and show biz looks make him a prime candidate for stardom, win or lose. ...

Kanemura's choreography will be featured in the opening and closing number of 24-7's "Strategy" concert, Friday through Sunday at the Ronald E. Bright Theatre at Castle High School. He worked the moves prior to SYTYCD auditions. ...

Other 24-7 alums are prepping for a Janet Jackson tour, including her choreographer, Gil Duldulao, and dancers Laurel Thompson, Whyley Yoshimura and Yuri Kim; Preston Meneses is Jackson's personal makeup artist. ...

Another Island dancer, Cara Horibe, is part of a dance group called Fanny Pack; she was a finalist on MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew." Cara is the sister of Cole Horibe. ...

And brothers Etienne and Guillaume Carreira were in town visiting family; Guillaume is a featured dancer in Las Vegas' "Stomp," and Etienne was a dancer in the Toni Braxton show at the Flamingo was shuttered when Braxton fell ill. In September, Donny and Marie Osmond will inherit the slot at the Flamingo. ...

FINALLY: Kailua's Raphael Leonard, a member of the Hawaii Young Actors' Ensemble, which staged "The Tempest" at the Hawai'i Theatre recently, is off to New York with his family to meet former HYAE member Ian Weir and his folks, including sister Channing ("Annie," "The Secret Garden" and "Seussical"), before his dad, Russ, moves to Florida after he leaves the service.

In New York, they all went to see "A Chorus Line" and got a backstage tour through the efforts of local publicist Lisa Josephsohn, who got kokua from her friend Heather Parcells, who did "Chicago" here but now is with "ACL." The teens phoned Josephsohn from Times Square, after meeting Mario Lopez (who's in "ACL") and Randy Jackson ("American Idol") at the theater. ...

And that's Show Biz. ...

Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com or fax 525-8055.