"Heartbeat Hawaii," the Chinese martial arts action musical at the Royal Hawaiian Center's Level 4 showroom, closed Sunday night.

The review, featuring an imported 75-member cast of Chinese martial artists and dancers, opened July 17 to mixed reviews with a fusion show that boasted ethnic elements in a spectacle that was more fantasy than cultural, with the Hawaiian elements raising brows among traditionalists. Attendance never reached expected levels in the 700-seat showroom amid the sluggish economy.

"Heartbeat Hawaii" was the second failed show in the high-tech multimillion-dollar showroom; earlier, Roy Tokujo's "Waikiki Nei" opened and closed also because of poor attendance in a weak economy.

The company that operates the venue, Royal Hawaiian Showroom LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SPEND $160M

International students and their dependents spent $160 million in Hawai'i during the last academic year.

That's according to a study released yesterday by the state and the Hawaii-Pacific division of NAFSA: Association of International Educators.

The financial estimate is based on surveys of Hawai'i schools authorized by the Department of Homeland Security to enroll nonimmigrant students.

The institutions include universities and colleges, as well as vocational, language, technical and high schools.

According to the survey, the top five places of origin for the more than 13,000 international students were Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and China.

MILITARY AWARDS 3 CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS

Three local companies have been awarded major military construction contracts.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded two contracts worth as much as $100 million each to Innovative-Shintani LLC of Aiea and Niking Corp. of Wahiawä, according to the Army Corps of Engineers . Both contracts are for multiple projects within the corps' Honolulu district.

The third contract, for $1.1 million, was awarded to Grace Pacific Corp. of Honolulu for pavement and overpass repairs at Hickam Air Force Base.